* G * O * A * N * E * T *** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S *
Sangath, www.sangath.com, is looking to build a centre for services, training
and research and seeks to buy approx 1500 to 2000 sq mtrs land betweeen Mapusa
and Bambolim and surrounding rural areas. Please contact: contac...@sangath.com
or yvo...@sangath.com or ph+91-9881499458
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-July/180028.html
Let me open a can of worms
What qualifies one to be called a Goan ? Is it an identity one is born with
and like Caste,one can never shake off nor can anyone else aspire to this
ultra exclusive club ?? Until 1510 or thereabouts I dont believe that there was
a geographical location called Goa. With the coming of the Portuguese a new
geographical entity came into being called India Portuguesa, later linked with
some location within that entity called Gomantak and later Goa. Prior to that,
waves of settlers including the Saraswats settled this fair land
previously occupied by the indigeneous tribes. In time all these folks came to
be collectively known as Goans.
Portuguese occupation halted in-migration for many decades and perhaps
cemented our identity as Goans. After Liberation we are seeing a continuance
of the natural human migratory pattern. Throughout the history of mankind, in
every continent, humans have migrated in search of a better life, better
pasture, access to arable land, access to water better economic conditions
etc. The influx of people from Karnataka, Bihar, Orissa etc. into Goa is part
of the natural migration of mankind. Will they ever qualify to call themselves
Goans ? If so, after how long ? Many if not most of them have acquired
fluency in Konkani. I bet that hearing their offspring speak in Konkani, one
cannot differentiate them from native Goans. As far as I am concerned, they
are Goans.
Being of Goan parentage but born abroad, I decided a few years ago to come and
spend my Golden years in Goa. I remember with considerable angst being
referred as Tu Bhaillo murre ? when I went to apply for a drivers license.
Are Goans so prejudiced that we cannot
accept new comers in our midst ? On the other side of the coin, when Goans
migrate to other
countries they proudly call themselves Canadian, American, British, French,
Kenyan or whatever
citizenship they acquire. It is time that we accord the same treatment to
settlers in our midst.
