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Selma wrote regarding Sunith:
>Please don't try to proclaim your patriotism by
>casting aspersions on that of others. You should rise
>above such tactics.
Cecil:
I have been following this thread and don't see where Sunith tried to
proclaim his patriotism. Also in debate I have found Sunith to be
extremely fair, logical and knowledgeable. Which cannot be said of
Selma who keeps digging herself deeper into the quicksand pit of her
own making.
-----
Selma wrote:
>How do you know that I'm a
>"reluctant Goan"? Because I call it as I see it? In
>that case every person who ever says something about
>Goa that doesn't agree with your perspective should
>have his loyalty questioned.
Cecil:
I fail to see the logic here. Where one stands while making a
statement is equally important. The curses of the Captain as he is
the last man trying to bring his ship back on course in the storm, is
not the same as the curses of the rats on a melting ice floe who were
the first to desert the ship.
Have I just stumbled on an anology for the those who stayed back in
Goa and those who went away? Ha!
----------
Selma:
Secondly, since you claim to be a salt of the earth
Cecil:
I don't recall Sunith saying he is the salt of the earth. Selma
should refrain from making such untrue and dramatic statements about
her opponents, if she wishes to engage in proper debate. This is not
a tiatr or a two-penny opera. Soapboxing is for amateurs.
----------
Selma:
>Secondly, since you claim to be a salt of the earth
>Goan, you should know that "gaunti" means belonging to
>the Gaun, which loosely translated means local. In
>Salcette, we colloquially call our beloved dogs
>"gaunti", to denote a local breed. The term as part of
>the word "gaunkari", means indigenous to the location,
>or as part of a surname, "Gaunkar" also to mean
>indigenous.
Cecil:
Etymologically speaking Selma is right in that Gaunkar and
Gaunsavaddo and Gaunkari and Gaunvti all have the same root. But in
popular usage even in Salcete (not Salcette!) when used of a person
the word 'gaunti' means 'provincial', 'narrow minded' etc. It all
depends on the context. A gaunti limbu is a local variety of lime
which is far superior to those that come from out of state. Same for
most edibles - gaunti is superior. A gaunti soda on the other hand is
locally manufactured and is usually inferior (and much cheaper) as
compared to the big branded sodas. Gaunti medicine could be
superior/inferior to allopathic medicine depending on which side of
the debate you are. But referring to a person as being 'gaunti' is
definitely an insult, despite Selma's verbose but hollow attempt at
defending her use of the term.
In a related vein perhaps some of the intellectuals on this forum
could throw light on the value reversal that certain terms are
displaying. For example whereas 'Goencho pav" would have been
considered derogatory a few years back, right now it is taken as a
compliment. With the large scale migration of 'outsiders' into Goa a
"Goencho pav" is a rare original, and hence more valuable. Maybe many
years down the line the word 'gaunti' might also go through a similar
value reversal and be considered as a positive, but as the things
stand now 'gaunti', when referring to a person, is very much a negative.
If Selma continues maintaining that 'gaunti' is a positive term then
I will refer to her as 'gaunti Selma' henceforward and she should
take that as a compliment and have no problem with it.
--------------
Selma:
So why are you making a brou ha ha out of
nothing? Scoring cheap points like this should be
beneath you.
Cecil:
When Selma defends the indefensible it is a debate., When someone
exposes her errors it becomes a 'brou ha ha".
When Selma twists and turns and trips herself, while trying to shift
the goal posts, it is debate. When someone points that out it becomes
'scoring cheap points'
Before Selma takes the debate off track, to hide her errors, I will
remind everyone that it started off with her describing people at
some party "Everyone there was as Goan as our gaunti dog, patto
ladru." Such a description, coming from one who labels other people
as elitist, is like the kettle calling the pot black. Come Selma,
it's apology time. Roll over. Heel!
Cheers!
======
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