------------------------------------------------------------------------ **** WWW.GOANET.ORG *** A N N O U N C E M E N T **** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Launching Goanet-sports - Dedicated to Sports in Goa and Goans in Sports
Get your free subscription at: http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-sports-goanet.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The problem with this game is that it tends to get so one-sided. Sooner, rather than later, it gets translated into a my-bigots-are-better-than-your-bigots issue. Or, you're-terrible-because-you're-interfering-with-my-relgious-holidays-and-would-you-do-the same-to-your-holidays? My view is that even the people we love to hate (the Parrikars and the Bhandares, not to forget the Colacos and all others in this category, from whatever side of the fence) actually manage to polarise things and skew up the debate by polarising opinion on religious lines. And by creating imaginery battlegrounds and dividing-lines where none should exist. Our heroes-of-the-past, the Bandodkars and Sequeiras made a fine past-time of this in the 1960s and 1970s. As far as religious holidays in India go, I find it ludicrous that everyone has to compulsorily take a break for 20 or more days in the year, even when they have nothing to celebrate. In effect, the whole country is celebrating the feasts of Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Bengalees, Tamilians, and so on and so forth.What sense does it make for Jammu and Kashmir to have a holiday on Christmas (I presume), or Goa to be shut on Mahavira Jayanti? Let's build mechanisms where people can decide more carefully as to what they would like to celebrate, and when. Without coercion or pressures! Why should I be forced to take a break on a day which means nothing to me? If I'm an employee, earning a salary whether I work or not, it's a great excuse to stay home and do nothing. But you can imagine the effect of such holidays on the economy of the nation, and the way it bears on the backs of those who struggle to work so hard (i.e. the large section of unsalaried, entrepreneurs, disorganised labour, etc). If the Parrikars of the world had any bit of statesmanship on this score, what they would and could have easily done would be to convert all the 15-20 religious holidays in Goa into restricted holidays. People could pick-and-choose which religious holidays are relevant to them, and thus have their set of holidays, and also make sure it is a relevant set. Maybe the others on the list could tell what would be so impractical here... Government anyway needs to be open for more days in India. Not less. (and entrepreneurs should have the freedom to keep their offices open too, as long as they compensate their staff who is willing to work adequately). But the Parrikar partisan approach of dropping holidays of one section is far from the solution. --FN PS: I also believe we urgently need some form of summer saving time, and at least three different time-zones with India, just to ensure a saving of power and more realisting timings from east to west of a geographically large country. On 02/07/07, Carvalho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > --- Sunith Velho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Further ignorance and bigotry on display. Is Kali > > really human? Did Parrikar > > declare Kali puja a public holiday for Goans? Is he > > then anti-Bengali? > > > > Sunith Velho > ---------------------------------- > > I would have a lot more respect for your righteous > indignation, had you also declared "ignorance and > bigotry" when a lot of muck was raked about > Christianity. Your chivalry in this case is touching, > unfortunately it reeks of hypocrisy. > > selma -- FN: Frederick Noronha http://wikiwikiweb.de/MyContacts Phone 0091-832-2409490 Cell: 091-9822122436 or 9970157402 (after 1 pm) A film on copyright! GOOD COPY BAD COPY: a documentary about the current state of copyright and culture. http://www.goodcopybadcopy.net/