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Follow the online presence of the Museum of Christian Art, Old Goa Contacts: Tel: +91 832 2285299 Email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://christianartmuseum.goa-india.org/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear sir/ madam please do publish my aricle on your esteemed daily or websites The Goans who are not for Goa 'Susegad Goemkar' is a very apt term to be applied to Goans; especially those who reside in Goa; for they are least bothered about preserving their culture and traditions. If we have a realistic look around Goa one could find there's lot of Goans who want to go abroad to make a living. And this lacuna is filled with a great influx of people from other states in India. Check our bus-stands, road corners, one would find so many non-Goans either having a Bhel-puri stall or as a well dressed corporate. As long as Goa is part of India, we can't restrict the influx of people nor can we stop anyone to make a choice to move abroad. But we should not compromise on our rich traditions and culture. I am very much concerned about our own mother tongue Konkani that many of the Goans are forgetting. If not we than who should be concerned in protecting our language? The pathetic condition of Konkani in its own State leaves my heart in great pain. I lift my phone only to be shocked to hear that at times the telephone exchange doesn't have a Konkani message to inform its subscribers about the unreachable services. The PWD also, shocks me as I travel on the road that it just can't communicate with the local people in their local language. Instead the language used is either Marathi or English. The education system in Goa is pathetic when it comes to providing the right status to Konkani. The number of Government primary schools in Goa that are Marathi medium, are more than those that are Konkani medium. Konkani goes as an optional language, where it should have been a compulsory subject. The government definitely needs to foster Konkani in press and media. I am not against people who study the other languages, but only pray to them to respect the language of the land and work to preserve it. Goans are fighting over the scripts of Konkani, and I find their arguments to be baseless and of little gain. Preserve the language first. Why are Goans ashamed to converse in Konkani? Why do they prefer to teach their children to talk in English? Is Konkani a language that makes them outclassed or outdated? These are just some of the many questions that the Goans need to answer first. The time is really come when we need to pay urgent attention to our rich traditions. Don't be surprised, even the dogs in Goa understand only English and not Konkani. Are we Goans who are not for Goa? By Inacio A Fernandes, Durbhat Ponda feedback [EMAIL PROTECTED]