It is true that Economic factors were a part of the equation that drove Goans to emigrate. But if you do not have that pioneering spirit, then you will not venture outside your comfort zone. A good example are the Hindu Goans who did not venture outside Goa in any considerable numbers. Leave aside going to inhospitable places like remote corners of Africa. These Hindus did not even venture of Bombay or other parts in any significant numbers.As for the Goans in Karachi making a personal choice, this too was an adventure, and is a lot to do with our pioneering spirit.
As far as new immigrants are concerned, precisely what I say, they are not inclined to join the GOA as they have no history of belonging to any sort of club. This club system was a truly British of European one from which Goans who came from British Ruled Colonies emulated and when the British left India, the exclusive clubs which they attended gradually disappeared. This is perhaps due to the Indian cultural system of Cast and creed and not social status as the British had. Therefore the new batch of immigrants have no concept of the club system and see no value in becoming part of one thus they are a non factor in today's Goan society in Foreign lands.There were of course the Goan clubs in Bombay but these too were mostly cast driven. It is heartening to note that the GOA Toronto is in recovery mode. How nice would it be had we had the clubhouse. Don't tell me that there were constraints beyond our control which would take two decades to resolve. WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY. I think that not much genuine effort was put into the project and those on the building committee had neither the time nor the inclination to see the project to fruition. If there were constraints regarding Zoning etc. at least the grounds could have and should have been developed and used for sporting activities. As you say, the Annual Sports Day is being revived, had the grounds been developed, for which I presume there were no constraints, wouldn't it be a prestigious event to be hosted on our own grounds? Sadly, I must conclude that in a couple of decades, there will not be any semblance of Goan culture left in any Diaspora communities of Goans anywhere except in Goa, and that too, with the influx of Ghantis is doubtful. If however, we have to sort of force our youth to participate in cultural events and resurrect some bygone events which seemed to have died a natural death for how much longer will this survive? I thank Gabe Menezes for setting the record regarding the GOA UK which he states burned down to the ground resulting in an insurance claim which paid up a tidy sum which presumably has not been utilized for any resurgence of club building activities.Thanks Gabe for correcting my error. Manuel ( Eddie) Tavares.
