Oh dear! Let me accept FR's bait for a change, particularly since he names me.
He writes, "Those who "settled" in Goa (their parents insisting on eating and being interred in "Goenchi matti") assimilated reasonably well,driving around powerlessly (like ex-Power minister Aleixo Sequeira!) in these famous Morris Minors, until they died away from lack of spare parts. Not their owners, I mean! These merely stumbled from the large chip on their shoulders - more on that from the kindly Augusto Pinto, who steadfastly refused a voucher!" I guess the sniggering of FR is one way of looking at those who returned from Africa or from the Gulf. Around the 70's and later, I know it was the natural thing to do for those who lived in Goa at the time, and did not possess the advantages that the people who returned from these places. But what FR carps about - clothes, hairstyle, speech - are all superficial things. What he misses I think, is that those who came back to live in Goa changed the culture of the place, albeit in a subtle way. Socially, for instance, they were much less caste-conscious than their Goan cousins, more independent from their parents than them, hence more ready to make their own choices in life, and hence much less inclined to give into the pernicious demands of match-makers on the dowry front. I am not sure if this is well documented. Ben Antao in a novel called The Tailor's Daughter does portray one side of the Afrikander - a sexually liberatted side - which given the mindset of Goans - indeed most Indians - on the issue, could lend itself to snide comments. Another area in which they brought whiff of fresh air to the Goan scene was in sports. The Afrikanders particularly had imbibed a love for sports and around the 70s it was they who dominated sports in Goa with their love for different sports and games. Maybe I am generalising here, but it would be worth checking this out in a more systematic way. BTW FR, my father came to Goa not with a Morris Minor, but with a Mercedes Benz, which he then sold to the Archbishop of Goa. Cheers Augusto -- Augusto Pinto 40, Novo Portugal, Moira, Bardez, Goa, India E [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] P 0832-2470336 M 9881126350