Roland Francis: Life Notes - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan Source: Goan Voice daily newsletter, 28 Apr. 2013 at www.goanvoice.org.uk
Some things take getting used to and other things, you never get used to at all. Such experiences are common with Goans settled in this part of the world although they may vary slightly depending on their origin. Start with the weather. In the East no one talks about the weather simply because there is nothing to talk about. Imagine a conversation starting like this: Isn't it such pleasant sunshine today (and tomorrow and every day after). In Toronto not only does daily weather change, it changes several times during a day sometimes by as much as 20 degrees C in winter. This is especially tricky when you have to decide what to wear when leaving home. Bright sunshine in Toronto does not translate into how warm or cold you are going to feel. When one arrives here, you have to quickly decide that reading a map is one of your first priorities, even if you perchance don't drive. I have met people who after living for several years still talk of left and right directions. GPS instruments are alien to them. They get themselves quite confused when left and right becomes relative to the direction from which they are coming. Talking of driving, I notice an inordinate number of our women don't drive and I am not talking of the older ones. This is all the more puzzling because road designs, lanes and signals are well laid out, the city is largely on a grid pattern and traffic follows the rules. The police make sure of that. In the Gulf, the more you argue with police who have stopped you, the better your chances of being let off. In India of course, all you have to do is slip the green stuff in the constable's palms. But experience does not always teach. Take me for example. When stopped for doing 110 in an 80 zone, I told the officer that I was late for a relative's funeral mass. This was the truth and I expected against my better judgment to be let off. Instead I was told that I needed to have left home earlier and not likely endanger my fellow drivers. He then proceeded to ticket me, as he should. The honor system that Toronto once followed has been slowly buried. The influx of immigrants over the years for whom trying to beat the system has been key, is responsible for it. When I arrived, any statement you made was taken at face value and no proof was required. It's not like that anymore. I try to avoid doing business with new immigrants especially from certain parts of Asia, Africa and the Far East. They have their own agenda which often is different from the one that was set, and it is usually hidden. What is asked upfront though, is always the question: What government benefits can I get. The talk about bettering themselves comes much later, if at all. The whole Roman Catholic Church hierarchy in this city it seems to me, treat their vocations more in the nature of a job than a calling. That is not so when one goes more inland where the priests still have a strong missionary zeal. There are exceptions of course, but as far as I am concerned, those exceptions only reinforce my observation. That was not the case as I recall, of the priests in Bombay city. They were more imbued with the enthusiasm and involvement in serving their parishioners and therefore more visibly active. On the subject of the religious world, I recently talked to my high school colleague who serves the Society of Jesus in Bombay in senior educational positions. When asked about the Jesuit Pope, he seemed to think that Francis will be boxed in by the crusty Vatican hierarchy in matters of progress. He also commented that the dogmatic Benedict took the Catholic world back by at least 25 years. Didn't ask him how, since that was what I thought too. Post secondary tuition costs are quite high and increasing at an education inflation of 7% or more, though Canada is still much cheaper (and has always been) than the United States with standards higher than them except in their Ivy Leagues. It makes me feel ridiculous considering the penny-ante costs of similar education in India in the day. It was probably heavily subsidized by the Indian Government through grants-in-aid that virtually paid off all lecturer and professor salaries. And we repaid that country by taking overseas those skills l learned without any regard to reimbursement. Of course some alumni tried to do what they could for their old institutions but that debt could never be repaid, in my case to the Jesuits. Enjoy the sunshine and until next week.