[Goanet] Goan, Goan... (Indian Express)
--- *** Follow Goanet on Twitter *** http://twitter.com/goanet --- Goan, Goan... Maseeh Rahman FOR the last four years an extraordinary people’s stir has been on in Goa. As this movement against a politician-decreed idea of economic progress consolidates itself, a united front of grassroots groups will be formed at a rally in Panaji on Thursday. The movement began in 2006 in opposition to a regional development plan that proposed to sell off huge swathes of land to big Mumbai- and Delhi-based developers. The buzz in Panaji then was that prominent politicians stood to collect Rs 1,000 crore in kickbacks. Though many projects were frozen as a result of the stir, others are still on, while the development plan remains in limbo. But one thing is for sure: a middle class-led people’s movement of this sort could only take place in Goa. Goa, as novelist Graham Greene and countless advertising copywriters have said, is unique. But Goans never tire of complaining that the rest of India often misconstrues the state’s special character. Extended Portuguese rule (450 years and 23 days, according to a local historian) is one reason why it’s different. But there are other factors — the most important of which has to do with pre-British, preMuslim, Brahminical India. As photographer and cultural theorist Richard Lannoy points out, Goa’s distinctive culture has been shaped by its unique communal system of agricultural land ownership, a leftover from ancient Brahmin-dominated times. This is particularly so in the three coastal districts of Bardez, Tiswadi and Salcette: the Old Conquests area, the territory first occupied by the Portuguese in 1510. It is primarily villages in these districts that provide the setting for the popularly-imagined Goa of today — cosmopolitan, carefree, lush, exotic. Since ancient times, the “gaonkar” or “comunidade” system has ensured that the best rice-producing land was common village property. As a result, in a quirk of history, Goa bypassed feudalism. Village produce was shared between different castes, a system that was retained by the Portuguese colonisers. It is Goa’s unique relations of agricultural production that helped create an educated village middle class. Jesuit and Franciscan schools also helped. “Nowhere in India does one find such a substantial middle-class presence in a rural area,” Lannoy wrote in 1980, well before economic liberalisation began changing the rural landscape in the rest of India. Greene noticed it during a visit shortly after the Portuguese left in December 1961. “There are few extremes of poverty and affluence” in a Goan village, he observed. But as he crossed the state border, though the landscape remained verdant, shanties and other signs of impoverishment appeared. It is this well-provided and educated rural middle-class, closely connected to the international Goan diaspora, that admitted and tolerated the hippies in the ’60s. Forty years on, much has changed in Goa. Calangute is a concrete eyesore. The foreign “freaks”, who are also largely middle-class, have fled to smaller enclaves. Hordes of men from other states regularly invade the beaches to ogle or harass women in swimsuits. And crimes against tourists get more lethal. Arambol Beach, where a nine-year-old Russian girl was raped last month, is regarded in today’s counter-culture universe as “one of the last resorts for an alternative lifestyle in Goa”. Just before the outrage, it hosted the third Indian Juggling Convention, attracting jugglers, musicians, dancers and “wellness” gurus from across the world. It is the kind of place where women can not only get an Ayurvedic massage but also attend workshops to “discover a new Lover/ Queen/ Goddess archetype.” But both the quaint imported beach culture and the very special indigenous village ethos are under threat. Goa is India’s smallest state by area. In its villages it is also the most exceptional. Jawaharlal Nehru, writer Maria Couto once told me, did a lot for Goa, but made one mistake — he forgot to give it protection from land sharks. Is it too late to enact laws similar to those in Himachal and Uttarakhand, where outsiders cannot purchase land? Goa’s politicians will probably be the first to oppose such a move. It may be trite to blame politicians for all society’s ills. But in Goa you cannot escape them. “Every MLA is involved in making money illegally, and in a tiny assembly if you touch even one he or she threatens to bring down the government,” said a former officer in the Goa police. Though Goa’s police are as venal, one cannot but agree with the officer. Someone I knew was organising a “rave party”. How does he intend to ensure that the police don’t bust it, I asked?
[Goanet] Is Goan Indian?
I accept that birth is one of the criteria that allow a person to claim citizenship of a country. But this reminds me of the late British comedian Bernard Manning known for his xenophobic commentaries. One of his quips that always drew a big laugh from the racists amongst his audience was: “Just because a bitch gives birth in a stable does not make her puppies racehorses.” Now Mr Alvares, unpleasantly put as that was, tell me what besides birth makes you an Indian. Also what does it make those born before 1963 when Goem was part of the Portuguese nation? What about all those Goemcars born outside Goem? I stress again, I do not want to insult you or your obvious pride in your Indian citizenship. I am just worried that our pride and patriotism in our Indian-ness may be making us blind to the damage that Liberation has brought along with freedom and relative liberty. I am still trying to make sense of the fact that in 1963 after having rid ourselves of the influences that drastically altered, if not destroyed our traditional culture; we have now been saddled with a plethora of other Indian nationalities vying like hell to make Goem in their own image. I would have been extremely proud to declare my affection and pride in my mul Indian heritage if only my Goemcar one had been preserved and not swamped by an overwhelming tsunami bent on subjugating Goemcar-ponn and pouring in torrents from the rest of the subcontinent. Sincerely Xanno Moidecar
[Goanet] Is Goan Indian?
And Mr Alvares please clarify whether the person completing that sentence would have been born post or prior 1945 Secondly Mr Alvares pray tell me why you consider yourself an Indian. Xanno Moidecar Does not matter post or prior. British and Portugalees were invaders of the Indian Sub. Any one born in India is Indian, If the British or the other wanted you to be one of them, it is their prerogative.
[Goanet] Is Goan Indian?
I thank Mr Goveia for intimating that I may be ‘xanno’. I am grateful for his kindness but I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I hasten to assure Mr Cajetan Alvares that my assumption of the ‘xanno’ sobriquet has merely been an attempt for the last couple of decades or so to play with the hereditary tag my fellow ganvcars have been saddled with for centuries. It is a bit sad though that Mr Alvares has such a low opinion of Moidecars per se. But then weighed down with intelligence as he so obviously is, it must be difficult for one of Mr Alvares’ calibre to suffer fools gladly. Now for Mr Alvares’ fill in the blank: “I am born on the Indian subcontinent, etc., etc., hence my nationality is…….” I wasn’t. And Mr Alvares please clarify whether the person completing that sentence would have been born post or prior 1945 and if after the end of the British Indian State in which of the three nations of the sub-continent. Secondly Mr Alvares pray tell me why you consider yourself an Indian. I insinuate no insult here. I just want Mr Alvares’ notion of nationhood delineated. Sincerely Xanno Moidecar
[Goanet] Is Goan Indian?
--- http://www.GOANET.org --- Happy New Year Twenty-Ten --- Is Goan Indian? Wishing all Goanetters a very happy New Year. Belatedly nonetheless sincerely meant. A nationality is determined by a number of common factors. Unless of course coercion is the glue that binds. Hence what is it that makes a Goan and an Indian? Language? Religion? Cuisine? Dress? Mannerisms? Culture? Sports? Ethnicity? For anyone to lay claim to common modern Indian nationality I believe the above criteria needs be fulfilled. Hence is there commonality in all or at least a majority of the requirements betwixt Goemcars and the modern nation of India? Is Goan Indian? Sincerely Xanno Moidecar
[Goanet] Is Goan Indian?
--- http://www.GOANET.org --- Happy New Year Twenty-Ten --- Xanno Moidecar No matter how much I explain to you, you will never become xanno. Obvious reason being which place you were born in! Therefore xanno or no xanno, if born in Indian subcontinent, now, before or after, no atter what colour or creed or shape or size. You are _ _ _ _ _ (fill in)
[Goanet] Is Goan Indian?
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:08:01 + From: Cajetan Alvares cajul...@googlemail.com No matter how much I explain to you, you will never become xanno. Obvious reason being which place you were born in! Therefore xanno or no xanno, if born in Indian subcontinent, now, before or after, no atter what colour or creed or shape or size. You are _ _ _ _ _ (fill in) Mario observes: Not true, Cajetan, this Moidekar actually happens to be xanno, though we have no idea who he is. I see you, too, have been distracted by Samir's red bangadas. Where you were born is a matter of random chance you had no control over. The country you later choose to be a citizen of is a matter of informed and intelligent choice. In most case the informed and intelligent choice is to ratify the random chance. In many cases it is not. There are entire countries where almost all the citizens, except for small numbers of indigenous people, have an ancestry, now, before or after, from somewhere else. Perhaps you have heard of these countries which are Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Now, can we get back to the discussion about the growing mess in Goa and what to do about it?
