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Renew your wedding vows in Goa, or gift a Ceremony Package to a close couple Multiple options to make your day extra special! http://www.renewalsetc.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Selma Carvalho: If there is one thing I hate it is the perpetual questioning of NRI contributions to Goa. Goans in Goa think they have acquired martyr status for staying on in Goa, and the oft repeated question is, "what have you NRIs who ran away to foreign countries done?" Cecil Pinto: Kindly show substantial proof of your allegation above about 'perpetual questioning'. And also proof of Goans in Goa claiming to be 'martyrs'. Don't create controversies where non exist. ------------- SC: As the daughter of a life-long NRI, let me explain exactly what NRIs have done. First of all the definition of NRI is Non-Resident Indian, he is therefore always an Indian, but resides elsewhere for purposes of work. It does not include those who have taken citizenship of other countries although now it generically encompasses them. CP: Fair enough. ---------- SC: Traditionally the bulk of NRIs were those who trudged their way to the hot, Arabian Gulf and faithfully remitted money every month so as to keep the family back home alive. CP: Please show historic proof of this 'traditionally'. Does it discount all those who went to Africa or Karachi or UK or USA? Or are we talking about only post-Liberation? I guess that is it since you do not specifically mention Non Resident Goans which would include those who went to Estado do India from Portuguese Goa. But later on you specify Africa Goans. Please be specific about the scope of your, nevertheless irrational, argument. --------- SC: My father and mother despite being offered off-shore interest rates in enticing destinations, remitted their money for 30 years. When it was time to come home on holiday, my mother would start buying gifts for everyone in the village, one month in advance. CP: Please mention which village and the years involved and your parents names. I will cross check with the villagers if 'everyone' received gifts. Hyperbole. ------------- SC: My uncles, who also spent their lives in the Gulf, made sure half the boys in the village got jobs in the Gulf, they loaned money for operations, for dowries, for building roofs and to others in need. More often than not, they never got this money back. In time, what were basically mud-huts in the village became beautiful bungalows and many who might have dropped out at 10th standard continued on to complete their graduation. CP: Please mention which village and the years involved and your uncles' names. I will cross check and see if indeed 'half the boys in the village got jobs in the Gulf' through your uncles. Not that I discount that your uncles were good men. Just that I would like to ascertain exact percentages. Exagerration. ---------- SC But leave aside the Gulf-workers, those that went to Africa, remited money to their families back home. Those that live in the UK and US, still remit money to those in their family that require it. Some of our US and UK Goans have gone about raising money for hostipals, put roofs over people's heads, helped their village Church with extensions, funded scholarships, mentored emerging talent, the list is endless. CP: Show me where their contributions were denied by anyone. --------- SC: Let me also state categorically, that it is the influx of foreign remittances that keeps Goa's economy bouyed. Money earned by the sweat of their brow, not by demeaning themselves or prostituting themselves in shady deals and get-rick-quick schemes which are all too common in Goa. CP: Please name the 'foreign' countries involved and I will show you that 'shady deals and get-rick-quick schemes' are there the world over. Nobody denies that remittances make up a big section of our economy. You're just being overly dramatic. ------ SC: So if those Goans in Goa who demean NRIs had any integrity, they would duly acknowledge the contribution of this community. But integrity is in short supply all around in Goa and not just with politicians. CP: I suppose integrity is in overabundance in the foreign countruies you so love. The contributions of overseas Goans has been acknowledged multiple times. It is not the average NRI or NRG that are questioned as to their contributions. In fact most of them don't even have to mention what they did for their village. Everyone knows and acknowledges. It is the few rare dramatic individuals who use hyperbole and exagerration, instead of rational arguments, that attacts the disgust of Goans in Goa and Goans around the world. Of course some of them crave that attention and will mouth off anything, creating controversies where none exist, to get that attention. Cheers! Cecil ==========