Global Goan Convention 2011
In its global headquarters in Porvorim, the air would have been full of
excitement as staff prepared to take the 2011 Global Goan Convention to
the United Kingdom having been to other countries previously since 2005.
I feel sure that in this euphoric atmosphere, it can be excused that
in no-one’s mind, either in Goa or London, it was felt necessary to
check whether the membership of the host organization i.e. members
currently on their books, was proportionate to number of our people
living in the United Kingdom, to ensure it genuinely represented their
views, or did they check?
There were also two other major distractions running simultaneously i.e.
the recent events in Swindon and of course News of the World. The
Goans in Swindon were really considerate, high tec and provided
up-to-the minute uploads on U-tube of where, what and why their Festival
was cancelled at the last minute. The major by-product of these
uploads is that it taught those of us who don’t speak Konkani very well
how to put full sentences together. Things look like they are still
simmering here so we can all look forward to further uploads and more
opportunities to brush up on our native language.
The News of the World episode, a British national newspaper for over 150
years but recently shut down, wasn’t so Goan friendly but it did teach
two valuable lessons, when you are on the top the only way is down and
if the journey down is long at least you have some humble pie to eat!
Getting back to the Goan Convention, my excitement was so great that by
the time it came round I was too burnt out to participate. However,
the Goan communication network the way it is, family, friends and global
guests kept me fully informed and entertained as to what went on, in
fact I felt I could have started by very own blog without ever attending.
Hearsay was that major issues were identified and discussed one of them
being visas, it appears that six month visas are too short a period and
we want them for longer. Someone is kidding, Goans living in Goa can’t
wait to get their hands on a Portuguese passport so that they can make
their way to the UK and live and work here and Goans living here can’t
wait to go to Goa for longer than six months! Not being there, I hope
that no-one complained about the current visa procedure, it’s so much
better now compared to the old days when you had to join a queue that
went round and round and round India House, London that you dared not
drink lest you needed the toilet. If we ever went back to those days,
someone’s life won’t be worth living!
The next hot topic I hear presented was mining, our esteemed Goan guests
must have found it interesting that having travelled half way round the
globe to be with us in London they had to hear what was happening in
their own country, of course it appears no-one can present a problem and
a solution better than we can, I mean Powerpoint, Graphics, etc. One
attendee said he really enjoyed the presentation made by a Brazilian
lady. Forgive me into thinking but I thought these mines were in Goa!
Then came the important Goan Festival, providing a comprehensive one
day showcase of all that is truly Goan. This day not only provides
Goans from all over the country an opportunity to meet, greet, eat and
hear some of the finest Goan entertainment around, it also provides a
wide range of ideas for new inventions to take into Dragons Den (a
British TV programme where members of the public present their
inventions to a panel in the hope of gaining funding for manufacturing
their product). One such inventive idea could be a miniature handbag
sized microwave to heat up food just in case by the time you get served
it may have gone cold. Some Goans have waited a whole year to taste a
samosa and they want it hot, hot, hot. But not too hot that they get
Sunburn!
Once our esteemed guests return to Goa, I hope we all have pleasant
memories of their time in London. Above all, I hope we realize that at
the heart of things we all love everything that is Goan and it is this
love and sense of humour that keeps us Goa-ing.
Melvyn Fernandes
London
[email protected]
24 July 2011
