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2006 * * * Y E A R * * * O F * * * T H E * * * S E N I O R
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Goa Sudharop Annual Awards on November 20, 2006 @ Mandovi Hotel @ 4:30pm
Chief Guest: Dr. Asha Vishwanath Sawardekar
A series of essays as a tribute to Goan Seniors can be found at:
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=524
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FOOTBALL & CASTEISM IN KUWAIT.
The new foot-ball season of Kuwait Indian Foot-ball Federation has already
started a week back. This is the 27th season of competitive soccer for
Indians at Sour Ground. The first tournament was initiated in 1979 in July
by United Goans Football Center and it was organized on League Cum KnockOut
basis which was won by the then powerful team Goan Sporting. Since Goans are
known to be great lovers of soccer which they have inherited from their
colonial masters Portuguese, the greater role at Sour grounds soccer was
played by Goans only. Most of the teams and players are from Goa and of
Goan origin. UG is the oldest team since 1979 it is still surviving,
followed by G.O.A. Maroons which came a year later while all other teams
that took part in the inception year tournament are already gone into
extinction. In the initial stages for about 6 years these tournaments were
organized in the afternoons but later on shifted to mornings. Some of the
finest Indian players who played at Sour Grounds in the earlier stages were
the representatives of their top professional clubs, States and Nation back
in India. The early tournaments had great quality because during those days
players were of very high grade, they played beautiful soccer, they had
soccer artistry in them and were seasoned in Goa before coming to Kuwait.
In the beginning Kuwait Indian Foot-ball Federation was not in existence,
neither Indian Football Referees Association, both these bodies came at
later stages. The late J.P. DMello a high caliber soccer administrator and
a great Referee of international repute who worked in Kuwait for some years
was instrumental in forming IFRA and Lawry Pinto with the backing of JP and
many others were instrumental in forming KIFF. From behind the curtain as
seen by a few I have also played a very constructive role in forming KIFF
from day one when we organized our first meeting in the Church big hall and
also in the promotion of this soccer. One of the major reasons for the
popularity of this soccer was the excellent role played by the local English
Press, Konkani Monthly Magazine Gulab, Goa Today Monthly, Goa Post
Weekly and other Goan publications. I was very much instrumental in
highlighting this soccer activities in all the above mentioned Papers and
Magazines since the inception of our Sour Grounds soccer. Gulab Magazine
about 20 years back even issued a special edition on the history and
development of this soccer, the entire contents were written by me. Many of
the Chief Guests who attended the final matches at Sour Grounds were people
of high reputation including Indian Ambassadors and other Kuwaiti
dignitaries. The most memorable person who once came as Chief Guest with his
entourage and bodyguards for the final of Ida Ferns Memorial Tournament
organized by Sheikh Agnelos club was Brazilian Coach of Kuwait National
Team, Mr. Lopes. And when given a choice to select The Man of the Match,
he selected the then beautiful and brilliant Goan Player from Majorda Goa,
Cajetan Godinho.
Recent events at Sour Grounds do not speak well of the soccer at Sour
Grounds. Some of the teams are involved in things which harm the interest
of soccer. The sponsors must take note of this otherwise the image of them
and their products will go down. Betting is very rampant and because of
this match fixing is also going on. Another worst attribute that I noticed
recently is the Casteism factor playing a significant role in one particular
team. This particular Team named after their villages in Goa is boasting of
their cast factor saying ours is the only team at Sour Grounds having
higher caste status, that is of Chaddo Caste. Chaddo or Maddo, what is
important is not to label caste factor for soccer team but to behave with
high discipline befitting high caste status. Those who create rowdism on and
off the field are disgracing their so called high caste status. When I first
came to Kuwait 3 decades back caste factor was very much rampant amongst
Goans because those so called casteist Goans of those days were socially,
educationally, morally and intellectually backward and to overcome these
deficiencies they used to take fake protection in their so called high caste
factor. Incidentally, if you carefully watch the treatment we get in Kuwait
the so called casteists should feel ashamed to remain in Kuwait. It
surprised me that such caste practices are still prevalent in Kuwait amongst
Goans. According to my observation overwhelming majority of those who
believe and boast of their so called high caste status in Kuwait are weak
people, cowards of first grade, drunkards of highest degree, intellectually
bankrupt, crooks of first order, womenisers and practioneers of concubinage.
They feel proud to boast of their so called high caste status but do not
feel ashamed to flirt with low caste females to satisfy their sexual
aptitudes. Many of them take pride in their Battkarpon back home in Goa
but do not feel ashamed to face worst than Mundkarpon in Kuwait. Once
somebody said I am a Chaddo from Goa and I dont enter the toilet used by
Pedo. For him I replied, thus you being a Chaddo you act worst than a
Pedo because the actions of your caste in Goa are disgraceful. At least
Pedos actions are far better because by traditional profession inherited
from his forefather, Pedo buries the dead bodies in the Cemetry legally and
officially befitting the Christian religious rites but people of your Chaddo
Caste back home in your village illegally dig the graves of dead man,
excavate the already dead buried bodies of low caste in the cemetery and
dump the same at the entrance of your village Church against the teachings
of Christianity. These are the shameless Christians who act so disgracefully
to protect their caste system as if they are come from some external planet.
Because of caste system humiliations, we dont get now services of Goan
Grave Diggers to work as Pedos in most of the Churches in Goa and we have to
rely on the services of Ghanttis to dig graves for our dead. Gradually time
will come for our dead bodies to be cremated. People once of lower castes
are in rebellion against the pride of high caste who are losing grounds in
Goan community. Earlier to work as cooks, butlers and waiters was the job
of lower strata of Goan society but what I saw in my own eyes at Taj in
Sinquerim soon after its inauguration was that very many young boys who took
up the jobs in the kitchen were from Bamon category. Earlier the job of a
Maid was done by a woman from low strata of Goan community but later on I
noticed some of the Maids working in Kuwait were from Bamon strata.
Once, when I first came to Kuwait, I approached a person in his organisation
for a job. He was a Goan from Divar a stronghold of pirated Brahmins.
Because of my good educational background, meticulous presentation and good
manners he assumed that I am also a member of his caste and immediately
volunteered to employ me saying I am happy to engage you because I prefer
young boys from my caste". With surprise, I asked him what is his caste?
He said Bamonn. I said sorry, I am not. For this answer of mine he too
was surprised. Then I said if you evaluate candidates credentials on the
basis of caste, please let me go back. He was very much embarassed. Then I
asked him what you mean by Bamon? He said Bamon means Brahmin and they are
highest in caste hierarchy. I said I am the lowest and yet I have qualities
of highest which you lack and moreover I went ahead saying you are not
qualified to call yourself as Brahmin because you do not belong to the
Priestly Class of People. Neither you are properly educated nor
appropriately charactered. 30 years back there was one Almeida a Bamon -
from Saligao in one big organization holding top position. During the
interview of new Goan applicant he used to ask the applicant his caste and
accordingly used to make assessment of the candidate. Bamon and Chaddo were
given preferential treatment by him. Almeida then went to Canada because
many of the candidates whom he failed purposely threatened him if he came to
Goa. In fact genuine Brahmins are educated, of good character and of
priestly class. But are the so called Brahmins really qualified to be
Brahmins when they are not educated, not of good character and not of
priestly class? Surely they are not, especially when they are Christians
which preaches love and brotherhood and rejects casteism. And those who
cannot integrate with the lowest they will never integrate with Christ
because Christ belonged to the lowest and integrated with the lowest. Caste
system is the cornerstone of Hinduism which is full of discriminations based
on Castes which is again based on professions. Nowadays, as I witnessed,
Grave Diggers profession is done by Bamon of digging the graves and high
castes professions are carried by once low castes and caste discriminations
are cleaned bowled. But surprisingly they are still in existence amongst
Goans in Kuwait. But who follows them? Only the third class Goans whose
contribution in the development and promotion of Goan community is minus
Zero. They dont serve community but their own caste because they are
selfish. None of the so called casteists in Kuwait associated with us in our
movements in the cause of Goa, Konkani and Kuwait because they are all round
weak. One of the Goans who claimed to be of higher caste than me said that
he is superior and I am inferior because of his little higher caste factor
as if he is come from Royal family background. But he forgot to know that
caste factor is not the correct barometer to evaluate quality of any person.
My question to him is if you are of higher caste category than why you
are deceiving your wife by having a concubine of lower caste category to the
extent that your poor and innocent wife had to resort to send me a
confidential email to help her in locating your concubine? The greatness of
high caste is not expressed in boastful manner but it is displayed in great
actions. A legitimate son of his legitimate high caste father will never
boast of his caste loudly but silently thru his good deeds. By barking like
dogs at others who are of low caste means disgracing ones own caste. In my
life I always ran over the so called high castes who were degrading others
and I could do that because I maintained my dignity, character, discipline
and morality which the so called casteists have failed and hence they take
fake protection in their caste factor which has no importance in the modern
organized civilized society. Because of casteism Goa suffered a lot. The
creation of Dayananda Bandodkarism and Maharastravadi Gomantakism was the
result of the revolt of Bahujan Samaj against Brahminism and Chaddoism or
against the arrogance of high casteism. The birth of Independente Church of
Cuncolim under the rebel priest from Carmona Pr. Alvito Vaz was the
disgraceful outcome of Casteism. The most disgraceful Goan politicians who
disgraced Goan politics were from the so called Bamon and Chardo castes, one
of them was the then dirty CM who made way for BJP to usurp power in Goa and
the other the stupid madame MLA who propped up the strength of the looters
PDF Government of Dr. Barbosa for her own selfish ends.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
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