Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan. By Roland Francis. Source: Goan Voice UK Newsletter of 30 June 2013 at www.goanvoice.org.uk
Goa like the rest of India is a land of unfathomable contrasts. Dirty, overcrowded, unplanned, corrupt and almost lawless, it continues to draw tourists who call it heaven and it earns rave ratings in global travel rags. With its beauty denuding however, how long this will last is anybody's guess. People in Goa have by and large transformed from simple and trusting to cynical and conniving. Don't know whether 52 years of Indian rule is responsible or whether it's just a sign of the times. Hospitality however has remained a redeeming feature but violence is a new one. Britain's course of action in requiring visitors from 'high risk' countries to post a 3,000 pound deposit is an unfair and ineffective method of preventing overstaying. Those who mean to illegally immigrate will be unfazed and those who mean to return (the majority) will be unfairly penalized. Somewhat similar to the United States giving the governments of South American countries a hard time, accusing them of being implicit in exporting drugs. Uncle Sam would do better to restrict their own population from consuming them. Global warming and its changing weather patterns causing extensive havoc is here to stay. We can expect it more frequently. The recent heavy rains and landslides in North India and flooding of Calgary, Canmore and the surrounding towns in the Banff resort area of Alberta showed how nature in an instant can make mice out of men. Nothing demonstrates it better than the melting of huge bergs and frozen tundra, increasing water levels in the seas and oceans, continents away. Two multi-storied buildings came crashing down in Bombay's suburbs. While that is nothing new for Bombay, it used to be restricted to 150 year old buildings with poor maintenance. Now it is happening to buildings recently but illegally built with shoddy materials and no supervision. How such construction can come up within the jurisdiction of one of the largest municipalities in Asia with a budget greater than many developing countries will indicate the kind of corruption that puts no value on human life. The authorities are not the only ones to blame. When notices of evacuation due to impending danger are given, residents routinely ignore them. It won't be long before Goa follows this sorry state of affairs. Toronto's mayor is in a way like New York's Teflon Don, the famous John Gotti of Mafia fame. The more the accusations flung at him by the media, the less they seem to stick on him. In fact people feel he is being unfairly and excessively targeted and sympathize with him. His popularly in opinion polls is increasing rather than decreasing with every new expose. Talking of oily skins, Narendra Modi the recently elected-in- Goa president of one of the two largest parties in India also seems to have a duck's back. Several major criminal charges originating from a mass killing incident which he is alleged to have condoned or even caused, seem to have amounted to nothing. A tramp steamer loaded with heavy armament, small arms and ammunition sent by the US to rebels in Syria fighting the almost unbeatable (with Russian help) Assad regime, has broken up off the coast of Goa. Ex KGB Russians, vacationing Israeli soldiers, Al Qaida agents, handsome Kashmiri refugees marrying lonely older British women - I thought we had them all. It took this ship to remind that CIA financed arms smugglers were missing. It is amazing to read the achievements of Goans throughout the world as recorded in Eddie Fernandes' Goan Voice. With a magical sweep of the world's press, he brings to our table news of industry moguls, famous chefs, airline czars, software geniuses, crusty generals and everything in-between - as long as they are Goan or Goan connected. We even read of our very own Mata Hari, a special agent once operating in Italy who outsmarted her own employer, the CIA. Eddie is tight lipped about how he does it, but takes pride in the fact that he doesn't originate anything. To people who like to keep in touch with Diaspora news, people and milestones, GVUK is required reading.