Re: [Goanet] Have We Lost It? - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan
-- Forwarded message -- From: Roland Mascarenhas roland...@gmail.com Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 11:20 AM Subject: Re: Have We Lost It? - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan To: bo...@goanet.org Hi Bosco, Hope you're doing well. My comment below: - An interesting discussion sparked by a provocative, if not inflammatory column by Mr. Francis. Although my namesake is an eloquent writer, his claims (“What apologies can be made for very rich individual Goans who have winged their way into the economic stratosphere without a second glance to their hoi-polloi far behind?”; “Today's Goan corporate bigwigs have their noses so far up in the air they couldn't smell their own odors”) are questionable and lacking balance. It seems as if every few months a new comment has emerged focusing on the Goan identity crisis and its link to generational and cultural differences (East-West), and community organizations. But many of these auto-thoughts are superficial and polarizing in nature, lacking both social history and refusal to acknowledge the complexity of the modern day. As a 20-something cultural straddler born in the Greater Toronto Area, I have seen first-hand the harms of this ‘selective’ nostalgia for the past by my elders. Goa’s emigrant patterns in the first half of the past century are a product of economic circumstances, but have left our culture balkanized and fused with identity politics. The nation-state, be it Kenya, Uganda, Karachi or UAE, has replaced the village communal, but has splintered Goan diasporic communities into sub-cultural organizations. Correspondingly, nearly all of the organizations in Toronto - bar the 55+ associations – attempt to capture a niche market, leading to augmented attrition rates in membership, event and committee involvement, and dare I repeat Mr. Gabe Menezes’ comment, a higher proportion of interracial relationships. “Disco clubs” and “village feasts” are channels for young people to meet, but what constitutes a suitable number of participants is dubious: are 20 young adults enough? How about 60? The contemporary problem is not solely the deficit of avenues to meet, but also the perception we have of our community and the rampant self-loathing demarcated by the ethnic optioning (Goan young adults tell their friends they’re “Goan,” yet are oblivious to the history of the region and are fastidious in their selection of Goan traditions. When they leave the country on vacation they’re “Canadian”). As well as the common disassociation from our ‘homeland’ (“I’m African,” is the frequent mantra uttered by Goans. Tellingly, one Goan Soccer League team in Toronto, Margao Simba, maintains a strong bond with their African heritage, witnessed by the symbol of a lion, one player even getting an extensive back tattoo of a pride in a jungle. Read more here: http://alturl.com/gooqj). Post-2000 has been a time of technological advancement, but also cultural erosion. Years after its’ initial inception, the debate on what constitutes the current Goan Identity has yet to conclude. Instead, it continues to be ‘caught between two worlds,’ one of which is the nostalgia politics of the past (Mr. Francis’s comment), the other revealed in the subsequent responses about the Goan pioneering spirit. Goans continue to demonstrate this tension in the present: full-of-opinions yet unwilling to act on them. Have we ever truly broken the shackles of the colonial empire’s ‘Othering?’ Roland Mascarenhas Toronto, ON -- Thanks, Roland Mascarenhas Ed.M, Harvard University '12 B.Ed, University of Toronto B.A, York University -- Thanks, Roland Mascarenhas Ed.M, Harvard University '12 B.Ed, University of Toronto B.A, York University
[Goanet] Have we lost it ? Stray thoughts of a Toronto Goan
Mr. Manuel ( Eddie ) Tavares ( Oct 3 ) writes: '' When we migrated to the West.we lost our zeal .our communal cultural values . we became a Culture of Assimilators'' Comment: The whole truth ! A Goan always remained a Goan when he left the shores of Goa/Bombay for East Africa. And so were to a large extent his son and daughter,a second generation of Goans. But the third and fourth generations that followed are only faint images of original Goans. And by the way, who is an original Goan, not a faint image of the original Hindu. who by absorbing traces of the Portuguese civilization became what he proudly claimed to be vis a vis rest of Indians.
Re: [Goanet] Have We Lost It? - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan
On 3 October 2012 21:27, manuel tavares duk...@bell.net wrote: . Even the UK Goan Overseas Association which went further than us, had a Clubhouse, which due to constant bickering and mismanagement I believe is now non functional. Oft times, cultural events like Thiatr's and other social events like Village feasts are poorly attended and patrons tend to be the older strata of Goans. How to remedy this situation is hard to perceive but worth exploring in the interest if keeping the Communal values alive. Manuel (Eddie) Tavares. REPLY: Goan Association U.K. Ltd was unable to run the Club House and grounds. It was resolved to sell the property. Before a buyer could be found it got burned down to the ground. The Insurance pay out and then the sale of the grounds provided a big balance and nothing else. Many youngsters found their life partners through attending events at the Club House. Now there is hardly any avenue to meet, except at disco functions and booze ups! Consequently many girls marry outside the Community and some don't marry at all. -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
Re: [Goanet] Have We Lost It? - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan
On Oct 4, 2012, at Eugene Correia wrote: As for Pakistan, (1): many Goans made their personal choice to go to Karachi DURING the Partition and (2): those who were in Karachi CHOSE to remain there instead of moving into India. COMMENT: re #1: Nonsense! (Unless, the always ' verify before writing' journo meant that many Goans went from the border city of Lahore to the port city of Karachi which had several settlements of Goans). re #1: The 'troubles' surrounding the circa 1954 blockade of Goa and TAIP with direct flights from Dabolim to Karachi meant that those who could took that route out of Goa. The earlier 'steamer' and land routes were subject to the 'blockade'. (There apparently was another route out of Goa - but that one reportedly had hungry tigers and lions patrolling the borders.) re #2: That is possibly correct, subject to the understanding that the blockade meant that there was NO route for them to do that + the 'relations' between the two parts of the former British India were not really conducive to allow for the movement from (say) Karachi to Bombay. jc Recommend that Bondollam be separated from facts.
[Goanet] Have We Lost It? - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan
Roland Francis has given us a nostalgic glimpse into our past wherein we Goans lead the way in leaving an enviable and awe-inspiring footprint wherever in the world we went. Our pioneering spirit enabled us to brave severe and persevereably insurmountable obstacles venturing into remote inhospitable places like Namasagali in the Northern Frontier district of Kenya known to be snake infested, populated by hostile Somali tribesmen and the dreaded Black Water Fever and emerged triumphant. This same pioneering spirit took us to the interior of other lands like Pakistan, Mozambique even Burkinafaso which were in the infancy of civilization and we triumphed there also. During our exploits, we managed to build Schools, Churches, Clubs and contributed immensely to the emancipation of the local peoples. The Goans were revered by our colonial masters and respected by the locals for our honesty and humanity. We treated the locals better than any other Indian community. The culture that we left behind rubbed off on the locals and still endure to this day. When we emigrated to the west, although we progressed, we somehow lost our zeal or should I say our communal cultural values and after being a community of cultural leaders, we became a Culture of Assimilators being slowly but surely assimilated into Western Culture. This could be due to the fact that where we immigrated, the infrastructure such as Schools, Clubs and other social amenities already existed and instead of our having to build them, we only utilized the facilities which already existed mixing and mingling with the new locals finding no need perhaps of maintaining our cultural values as this came easily. This is a shame and it will lead to the demise of our culture as time goes on, as the older folks who really cherished these values are gradually fading away and the younger generation, having little or no exposure to it, do not have the same zeal of maintaining the Goan culture. One has only to look at the dwindling attendances at the Goan Overseas Associations annual New Year's occasion and the fact that although a plot of land was purchased more than two decade ago, we have not yet been able to erect a clubhouse on the property. Even the UK Goan Overseas Association which went further than us, had a Clubhouse, which due to constant bickering and mismanagement I believe is now non functional. Oft times, cultural events like Thiatr's and other social events like Village feasts are poorly attended and patrons tend to be the older strata of Goans. How to remedy this situation is hard to perceive but worth exploring in the interest if keeping the Communal values alive. Manuel (Eddie) Tavares.
[Goanet] Have We Lost It? - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan
By: Roland Francis Source: Goan Voice UK Daily Newsletter of 30 Sep. 2012 at www.goanvoice.org.uk It seemed eras ago that Goans all over the world made a really big difference wherever they lived. I am not talking about faithfully working for the British, Portuguese, Indian or Pakistan Governments. That was at the bottom line, a self-service. We can if you wish, admire but cannot stand in awe of it. The Wow Factor is when Goans built entire townships in a new country like Pakistan. When they cornered judgeships, erected country infrastructure through their engineering expertise, founded educational institutions to which the Pakistani elite still flock and when they achieved the stature of a community to whom the ruling class and national newspapers even today take a bow. It is when Goans in Africa came to the attention of Governors, when they fought for African causes that took them to leading positions in rebel national organizations, when their sportsmanship elevated them to the international stage. It was when in India's leading cities, they were in the medical field a class apart, discovering new diseases, devising new medical procedures and operations, becoming admired mayors and taking western and Indian classical music to new heights. A time when Goan Cardinals had the ear of the Indian Prime Minster and Goans were the backbone of the nation's administrative, civil, military and police services and in the highest positions. A time in Goa when Portugal considered Goans able enough to run the entire civil and judicial services of its most prized metropolitan district and for good measure a few others in their other colonies. Their services were so valued that in appreciation it got them Portuguese citizenship valid to this time. Salazar was not fond of easily giving such dispensations on a whim. I do not make an iota of exaggeration about all this and about those eminent and super achievers. If anything, I vastly understate. And then there was none, as the politically incorrect ditty said. Where have they all gone? Have they not sired sons and daughters that took their places in such pre-eminence? Were there no new generations in the community that not only equalled but also excelled in what their predecessors did? Sadly there is not a trace of anything of that sort. It is as if the Goans were strong enough only when their masters whether Brits, Ports or a different class of Indian from that now seen, were stiffening their backs. What other explanation is there? What answers can be given for the Goans in power in Goa who are as corrupt as any in the darkest hinterlands of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh? What apologies can be made for very rich individual Goans who have winged their way into the economic stratosphere without a second glance to their hoi-polloi far behind? In the days that once were, those leading Goans always had their minds in the skies but their heads on the ground. They did so much for the rest of the community, it seemed that they worked to better themselves only so that they could somehow help others. Today's Goan corporate bigwigs have their noses so far up in the air they couldn't smell their own odors. The large community of Goan doctors spread all over the globe have not learnt any lessons from the Baligas, the Borgeses , the D'Costas, the Shirodkars, and their unnamed legions who slaved their way through their professional careers so that others could be less afflicted and they had no thought to burning holes in their own pockets if their patients as a consequence did not have to be financially ruined. Perhaps a lack of their continuing legacy signals the end of the magnificent Goan empire. It was not a kingdom that was given to conquer other lands but more valuably to rapture simpler and less fortunate hearts and souls. Let us salute that breed of Goans before those of us who knew of them are no longer around to sing their praises. Roland Francis (roland.fran...@gmail.com )
