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2008 International Goan Convention
Toronto, Canada
Early Bird Discount Registration closes March 31, 2008
http://www.2008goanconvention.com/regform_print.html
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Dears,
Wow! Goud Saraswat Brahmin Christian Charles Correia? He is in good
company in the TASK FORCE on Regional Plan 2021 in Goa with Digamber
Kamat, Datta D. Nayak and the rest, excluding Oscar Rebelo and others,
of either religion, who may not be CASTE conscious. There are no
Muslims or women in the Task Force. As the comments from other online
readers below show, I am not the first one to discover the CASTEISM of
Rajdeep:
....................................................
By sri
great note ! A catholic brahmin ! hehehe :) It is funny that someone
who has ditched the beliefs of his forefathers is trying to defend it.
Why doesnt he convert back and make things right if he cares so much.
This is typical indian hypocracy.
Posted : By Hari
While I greatly respect you as a journalist, there are a couple of
things that stand out in this article - Does a 'Saraswat Brahmin'
heritage make someone proud as such ? I dont think so. While this may
be a mere media observation, would you or main stream provide the
comment for a Dalit ?- - ...Reply
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On Good Friday all I can do is repeat the words of Jesus Christ on the cross:
"FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO."
though I have a niggling feeling that these guys know exactly what
they are doing!!
All that the Saraswat Brahmin and other caste conscious Catholics need
to do is to stop defaming Jesus Christ and just go in for a little
SHUDDHIKARAN ...and be done with it, once and forever! GO BACK TO
WHERE YOU really BELONG.
Mog asundi.
Miguel
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Goan with the Wind
by Rajdeep Sardessai CNN-IBN
In the early 1990s, Air India printed a calendar showcasing people
from different states in their traditional costumes. The Goa portrait
had a couple at a church wedding in bridal finery: the lady in a
flowing gown, her partner in a jacket and tie. In a state where over
sixty per cent is Hindu, the calendar was seen to reinforce the
stereotype of Goa as a "westernised" Portuguese enclave. Ironically,
the protests were led, among others, by the redoubtable architect
Charles Correa, ###a Goan Catholic proud of his Saraswat Brahmin
heritage,#### someone who was perfectly comfortable in his kurta
pajama and Kolhapuri chappals.
When the Air India Maharajah gets it wrong, what chance does the
average Indian have of getting Goa right?
Bollywood, often the trailblazer in setting cultural trends, did Goa
no favours: the majority of Hindi cinema showed the Goan as the drunk
Anthony Gonsalves-like character, a woman on one arm, a whisky bottle
bottle in his pocket. Even the otherwise well made Dil Chahta Hai
created the idea of Goa as the ultimate fantasy of the young Indian:
girls were easy, sexual freedom guaranteed with the puritanical streak
of the rest of the country absent here.
Rewind to the original "Goan" film, Bobby in the 1970s: find me a Goan
fisherman's daughter who dresses in skimpy bikinis and shorts like
Dimple Kapadia and I will buy you a villa next to Vijay Mallya's
seaside bungalow in Candolim.
A teenage white woman drugged, drowned, possibly raped, perhaps
murdered, on a beach in Goa by mysterious shack owners: what more can
a carnivorous media ask for? Especially when there are enough close up
pictures of a semi-nude Scarlett with marks all over her body,
suggesting foul play and a possible cover up? That the area where the
incident took place is notorious for drug peddling, that Scarlett
herself appears to have had an active sex life, that the girl's truant
mother has a past history of crime, and is now embellishing her public
remarks with unsubstantiated allegations against Goa's top
politicians, that Goa's netas and local cops have a terrible record in
fighting crime, can the media really then be blamed for seeing this as
a sensational crime story which will catch restless eyeballs?
There is the Goa of the beachcombers, of the hippies who discovered
Baga in the early 70s, of the rave parties, of paedophilia, of
decadent hedonism. But there is also the Goa of deep social
conservatism, of folk religiosity in its village temples and churches,
of simplicity of lifestyle within rural communities, of a premium on
education and of immense pride in its plural, multi-cultural heritage.
The Goa of a tiny strip of beach between Candolim and Anjuna is
constantly in the media gaze and makes front page headlines. The vast
majority of Goans who live outside this world are rarely documented
because their lives seem much too unexciting to be explored.
Historians and anthropologists have done much to unravel the "real'
Goa, but for the national media, it is so much easier to reduce an
entire people to a tourist brochure .
Indeed, Goa's tourism industry - earning the state approximately
10,000 crores in foreign exchange per annum -- has been at the heart
of the modern-day mythification of the state as some form of a sexual
paradise. It is estimated that around 25 lakh tourists come to Goa
each year, a vast majority of them local tourists, eager to explore
the "idea" of being in a "free" state, free from the restrictions of
middle class attitudes.
Unfortunately, the postcard image of Goa often has little connection
with the living reality of its people The result is a clash of
cultures that has partly shaped the debate over the Scarlett issue.
For many Goans, the foreign tourist is a needless intrusion into their
community life . Even now, the idea of any form of nudity on the
beaches offends Goans, at times even the sight of a half clad gent on
a bike troubles villagers.
And yet, the real threat to Goa's cultural identity does not lie in
the lifestyle of the tourist, confined as they are to a small stretch
of the state. In fact, in a state with limited employment
opportunities, Goa needs to attract more, not less tourists.
The critical threat to Goan society instead comes from within: from
the brazen sale of priceless real estate to those who have little
stake in the state's future . It isn't the influx of tourists which
should trouble Goans as much as the growing influence of the builders
and construction agents who appear determined to destroy the state's
environmental treasure in violation of all existing laws. While Goa's
politicians go into cataclysms over the Scarlett case, how many of
them have bothered to raise their voice against the virtual auction of
the state to land sharks?
The real challenge for Goans is whether they can preserve the
uniqueness of their land by ensuring that it doesn't become another
concrete jungle. Environment may not make sensational headlines like a
murder can, but in the long run, preventing environmental degradation
can alone secure Goa's future.
Post-script: Let me also debunk another stereotype: the "desai" in my
surname often leads people to presume I am Gujarati. The fact is that
my father was a Goan, and I am proud to be one too.
Posted by Rajdeep Sardesai |
COMMENTS:
Posted : By sri
great note ! A catholic brahmin ! hehehe :) It is funny that someone
who has ditched the beliefs of his forefathers is trying to defend it.
Why doesnt he convert back and make things right if he cares so much.
This is typical indian hypocracy.
Posted : By G.Vijaykumar Rao
Hi Rajdeep,
Perhaps thats how the Goa is....one dent due to scarlet case wont
diminish the Goan image. The only worry of Goa is it unstable
government and backstabbing Politicians, I would appreciate of your
journalism if you could bring out the real trauma of Goan poltics
agony.
Similarly how will you advocate a Maharastrian Women depicting as
Kaamwalis viz. Kantabai, Shantabai in majority Bollywod, Advertisement
Media and serials. Is that the real Maharastrian women?????? This is
enough material for your next article.Regards,G. Vijaykumar Rao
Posted : By lal narang
There is always politician-police-drug Mafia all over the country and
Goa is not an exception. With the land where the whole world pours in,
there have to be provocations, greed, desires and crime intrmingled
and no native can remain untouched by it. Considering everything Goa
is still safer than many similar tourists spots where such crimes are
order of the day. This is not to condone what has happened in Goa..but
just to state that the hyper media has blown it out of proportion by
sensationalising the issue beyond the desirable levels. And why only
Rajdeep should be proud of being Goan.. even I feel proud that Goa
belongs to all of us. It's piece of paradise for those who seek it and
hell for those who want it.
Posted : By Hari
While I greatly respect you as a journalist, there are a couple of
things that stand out in this article- Does a 'Saraswat Brahmin'
heritage make someone proud as such ? I dont think so. While this may
be a mere media observation, would you or main stream provide the
comment for a Dalit ?- The article gravitates towards telling informed
readers as to what is vice and what is not. The word 'moral policing'
may not be right here, but its the more severe form of this article-
...Reply
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Miguel Braganza, S1 Gracinda Apts,
Rajvaddo, Mhapsa 403507 Goa
Ph 9822982676 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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