Dear Paulo, Thanks for your reply. If Contacto Goa was made for the purposes you state then it has definitely achieved its goals.
Regarding your assertion that there are Goans who deny Portuguese influence in Goa, I beg to differ. It is not the Portuguese influence that they deny, it is the commonly held misconception that life was better under the Portuguese that they deny. It is mindless statements like "In Portuguese times we used to sleep with windows wide open or justice was on the spot....." that are the stones I believe need to be kicked out from our shoes. We will never progress if we keep pandering to our erstwhile masters. Before you label me a lusophbe(like some netters erroneously label Frederick), let me mention that my girlfriend is Portuguese and many of my closest friends are also Portuguese. Regards Sunith Velho Now in London, UK! (First Impressions....Its brilliantly multi cultural!) Paulo writes: Dear Sunith, I am not sure if the idea behind the "Contacto Goa" programme was to give an accurate representation of the Goa of today. I very much doubt that. In my opinion, and having watched other Contacto programmes (Like Contacto Macau, for example), I think the idea of the programme is to show a Portuguese link or a Portuguese connection in the places where the Portuguese were in the past or where large Portuguese communities live today (the latter is addressed in other series like for example "Contacto America"). The problem is that some of our Goans refuse to understand this. They seem to think the programme was for Goa or for Goans all over the world to watch and, therefore, it should represent what Goa is today. Personally, I think the producers (all Indians or of Indian origin) have done a great job but like Livia says very well, there will always be individuals amongst us Goans that live in denial and for whom this Portuguese influence in Goa is still and will always be a stone in their shoes that hurts them now and again and they try to kick it out by all means, unsuccessfully! Best regards Paulo Colaco Dias London - UK _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org