Dear Gabe (and open letter to the project organisers),
I read with interest your goanet post dated 26 March 2012 (Issue 317).
As a Goan fella now living in the United Kingdom, I lived in Nairobi, Kenya
with the opportunity of travelling to other parts
of the country from the Highlands and the Rift Valley to the coast places like
Eldoret, Narok, Kitale, Kisumu, Thika,
Mombasa and Malindi through the postings of my parents with the Kenya Police.
Therefore, my memories of childhood
and others are fascinating.
So when I heard that the criteria for the Goan Oral Histories project was only
for people over 80 years old, my first thought
was of the soft MacDonalds burger being designed for people with or without
their own teeth and the huge amounts of
unused money deposited in UK trust funds on advance funeral plans, all
indicators that our people are living longer with
no gratitude to the management of our National Health Service. For this reason
I took no interest as you and me and
many within our age group are yet to go gaga and will have no hope of ever
participating in this public funded research
project undertaken in our “Goan” name.
Thanks to the social media and everyone participating through the valued work
of goanet volunteers in its 17th year on
the super highway, we are all aware of what is going on.
I understand the age limit is now reduced and may be reduced further, only time
will tell. Not many months to go before the
completion date just like in our Goa where the legal cases now have to be
completed within two years and not go on and
on.
As this project is in the name "Goan" reflecting our experiences in East Africa
and is in the public domain, viewed by a
wider audience, it is correct that we all take part whether invited or
uninvited.
I can recall an incident in primary school when the teacher quoting from the
history book written by others stated that
Livingstone and Speke, explorers from the Royal Geographical Society,
discovered Lake Victoria. I put my hand up and
asked what about the people who already lived there? The discussion that
followed was quite illuminating. I never
became teacher's pet even though my school reports came first and second in
class.
The top table of the current project, we are told, is made up of very learned
people. I beg to differ as their total
intelligence on our community can be viewed on the video clips of the project
to date. We have musicians that excel in
string and wind instruments. The sound of a string instrument on its own sounds
like a funeral setting. The organisers may
wish to view on U-Tube "Bugs Bunny Conducting the Marriage of Figaro" to get
some ideas on how to bring our historical
and colourful past to life. Instead of video clips so far presented giving the
visual impression of Laurel and Hardy and
Charlie Chaplin stencils when sound and vision was in its infancy. Come on,
this is London, England, the home of
creativity, pull your finger out.
Under the Freedom of Information Act we have in the United Kingdom, an
opportunity is there for those interviewed to
make any corrections before the final publication is tabled at the British
Library and I am sure a copy would be welcome for
our main library in Panjim, Goa.
When announcements are made on Goan Voice UK on events relating to this
project, it is noteworthy that very soon
afterwards there is a footnote saying House Full. Is it because there are
copyright issues or expenses prearranged for
chosen participants to be in the public eye by the handlers of this small grant?
I sometimes wonder whether the buzz menfolk from Goa got who went to Portuguese
East Africa before the British was
similar to that Indian men get today who travel from the rest of India to Goa
to chill out and view white women wearing very
little. Our ancestors who travelled from Goa during candlelight days and
hurricane lamps to Portuguese East Africa will
have had their first unarranged encounter with African women with little or no
clothes on. Did they cover their eyes? What
was the dress code at the time and foo was the first tailor as they stayed on.
Was ellow the favourite colour during
Easter?
On visiting the Kenya High Commission in London in 1975 to look up the
telephone directory for the phone number of the
Nairobi Institute I was surprised to find there were more than five clubs, it
would be interesting to know the current status
as to whether our people in Kenya are still harmonious or like London, UK where
we have over fifty organisations
each with their own Presidents that appear to have no clear direction, easily
manipulated by the learned members of our
community.
History is important for development. In 1972/73 as an office bearer of the
Legion of Mary at St Theresa in Eastleigh
Nairobi we had to change the title of President to Chair to keep in line with a
directive from the Government of Jomo
Kenyatta that there is only one President in Kenya, it made sense.
Our youth also appear to be the same, stoned on pictures, and do not fit in
neither here or there as their parents have
never taken them to Goa, causing a self inflicted identity crisis. The
Government of Goa, through the NRI office, is
addressing this with the "Know Goa" campaign for our young people around the
world to become familiar with our culture.
They may be equal at school but when they join the competitive job market,
identity issues surface as they are no longer
equal even in technical fields and forced to adapt to all of pond life for
survival.
The views expressed in this missive are personal and should not be regarded as
any authority.
Gabe in your Song for the Day series could I request the song "Circles" by the
New Seekers.
Melvyn Fernandes
Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom
30 March 2012
melvynfernan...@virginmedia.com
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