-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Goanetters annual meet in Goa is scheduled for Dec 27, 2005 @ 4pm | | | | Watch this space for more details | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One would have ignored Ben Antao's piece (Myths about Goan culture [1]) as just another badly-argued, inaccurate and confused-by-the-distance interpretation of contemporary Goa. However, since this article drags in my name while arriving at its hasty conclusions, a rejoinder is probably called for.
Ben cites bits and pieces of what I've written on the Net to back the view that "so many Goan writers and journalists seem to have accepted the malicious propaganda of these writers". But his quotes are clearly out of context and selective. I do believe the stereotyping of Goa and Goans is a serious issue that needs to be faced up to. I don't believe that stereotyping is restricted only to Goa and Goans, but instead afflicts all (or most) cultural minorities whereever in the globe they may be located. Likewise, I don't think this issue can be battled by emotionalism, and getting all hot under the collar. Finally, I also strongly don't believe that this stereotyping stems from "mainstream Hindu mentality", as Ben has sought to argue. We need to understand what we're talking about, and merely finding someone to blame is hardly the solution. When I say that cultural minorities the world over get stereotyped, I'm not justifying it. What I'm saying is don't blame a "Hindu mentality" or don't take on an unnecessary victim-status! Try to find out why this happens. Take a closer look. Be less emotional about such issues... Goans have been afflicted by the disease of being too simplistic in our approaches. It makes us feel good, it panders to the biases we have; but we're only moving further away from a solution... or even a proper understanding. In any case, even assuming I'm totally sympathetic to the negative stereotyping of Goans, I fail to understand how Ben can reach the conclusions he arrived at, using a handful of quotes from a single writer (me) as a basis to reach his broad conclusions. Episodic evidence, to say the least. For the record, the issue of stereotyping and misunderstanding Goa's culture (and the cultures of many other smaller parts of India and beyond) has been widely discussed in Goa's media too. I recall writing a full-length feature on how a Phantom comic preyed on the stereotypes about Goa and "Calunge" beach. It also looked at other stereotyped works, such as Ellwyn Chamberlain's "Gates of Fire" (a large part of which was set in Mafia-controlled Goa). But that was published in the Goa Today in the mid-nineties, in a largely pre-Internet era (for us). Meaning, you won't find records on the Net. My comment-piece on the BJP former government attempts to build hate by playing on stereotypes of Christianity and its history in Goa is easily traceable via the Net.[2] In the 'eighties, I was worked for a newspaper that highlighted the strange case of a soft-porn magazine ('Praline' from Germany) setting one of its stories amidst the Goa carnival. These are just a few examples... A quick search of my hard-disk for the word "stereotype" threw up a long list of items. I don't have the time to go through all, or bother with a detailed "defence". One however seemed interesting... and it also underlines the fact that the Ben Antao's simply can't blame a "Hindu mentality" for all our ills.[3] The problem is that Ben (and a handful of others) believe they can sit half-a-world away and deliver judgement on what happens in Goa, based on what they come across via the Net. When will they wake up to the fact that maybe 98% of the writing on Goa still doesn't surface on the Net? I'm not saying the Press in Goa is doing a great job. We have our imperfections; and they are a legion. So do I too. But, please, please, don't use any stick to beat anyone, whether in keeping with the facts or not? Criticism should have some link to reality; it can't be used as an excuse for venting our biases, whatever the facts. My postings don't represent the tone or range of the debate happening in Goa. I was just telling my friends the other day, only half-jokingly, that it's time they all start posting profusely onto the Net. That would save the few like *me* a lot of needless flak, and also save them the embarassment of an entire profession being judged by the postings of an unrepresentative single individual on Goanet! My comments which Ben cites came in a specific context: it is indeed difficult for writers to get access to a wider Indian market, simply because cultural minorities tend to be difficult to understand amidst a mainstream readership. Maybe a Margaret Mascarenhas and a Victor Rangel-Ribeiro can come out with a nationally and internationally-relevant story set in Goa. But how many cases of Goa-related books with nationwide (or global) acceptance do you know of? Ben overlooks the context and also lets his imagination run riot in distant Canada, and does further violence to his argument. He sees us journos "laughing out loud" over false stories spread by the government. Being fired for telling the truth. And constantly facing the possibility of being fired. Ben mixes up the issue of stereotypes, with the depths Goan politics has plunged to today, his inability to understand what went into MGP politics and his dislike for Bandodkar. (Incidentally, to talk of a "pedigree of the kolvontam clan" is akin to today calling someone a nigger in the US, on the basis of ethnicity. The caste group that Ben is referring to now prefers to define themselves as the Gomant Maratha Samaj. We should respect that preference. If this entire community was dragged for centuries into a debasing form of heriditary prostitution, it is a matter for the entire community of Goans to hang our heads in shame. Some now use this fact just to criticism religions they don't belong to. Likewise, it is to the credit of the Gomant Maratha Samaj that, in the 1920s, they managed a self-reform movement, to amazingly raise themselves by their own bootstraps, and undertake a little-appreciated movement which ended heriditary religious-sanctioned prostitution in Goa. Goa is now free of this, even while the problem persists just across the border in Karnataka. Those who judge social change in post-1961 Goa merely in terms of how dirty the Hospicio hospital now is... which it is... or the depths of corruption now witnessed... are unlikely to appreciate some issues, which however do affect large sections of the population.) Hand it to Ben when it comes to exaggeration. We knew that politicians do exaggerate (for instance, on the number of migrants in Goa, or the number of jobseekers on the unemployment registers... years ago these huge figures allowed many controversial plants to be set up here). But Ben takes it to new highs when he says "the population of native Goans in the state is reported to be only 25 percent". Less said the better. FN PS: Whatever goes above notwithstanding, I have nothing personal against Ben, and do appreciate some of his writing. It just seems that he's getting a bit influenced by that use-criticism-of-Goa-as-a-justification for-our-decision-to-emigrate school of thought. [1] http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-December/036249.html [2] http://groups.inetbot.com/showgrp/soc_pculture_pindian_pgoa_s100.html [3] C'mon men, don't aahks what's wrong with this projection of Katlics PANJIM, March 10: A tongue-in-cheek comment written on India's miniscule Catholic in a prominent English-language newspaper has evoked a sharp response, and charges that Catholics have been portrayed as "superficial people with shallow mindsets and frivolous pursuits in life". Some weeks back, 'The Sunday Times of India' carried an article by Joan Pinto, titled "She's a Katlic, men". Stung by the portrayal of the supposedly funny column, an adverse reaction has been quick to come. Says the article: "Thou shalt drink. Thou shalt jive. If there were commandments requiring you to be a 'Katlic', these would be the first two. 'What to do, men?'" Writer Pinto goes on to say she keeps meeting people who are surprised that she does not drink ("'You don't drink! What kind of Katlic are you.' As though the Pope decreed it.") She adds: "By religion we are Roman Catholic, because we are governed by the Church in Rome, not because we have dual passports! By culture, we're Katlic, or 'Mack' as people refer to us after they've known us for two sentences." But, the response in the Catholic newsweekly, 'The Examiner' was quick to come. It claimed that Catholics were probably "puzzled if not irritated" with the article, which had seen the community "disparagingly written about by one of its own members". "We are not a people who cannot laugh at ourselves, but the way the alleged idiosyncrasies are described, it would appear that the majority of Catholics are quite dumb (pardon the cliche)," commented Albert C DeSouza of Bandra. In another response, Mario A Nazareth of Colaba, commented: "The article perpetuates a stereotype of Catholics which, to the dismay of a vast majority of the community, is being portrayed in a similar frivolour fashion in films and other media." This article makes light of what are seen as typical Catholic pronounciations of English: 'What men?', 'tree' (for three), 'aahks' (for ask), 'doll' (for dhal), 'dat' (for that), Or 'faader/mudder' (for father/mother). It also seeks to trace the root of the term "Mack" used to unflatteringly label Catholics in cities like Mumbai. "Of the several theories that float around, one say Mack is a derivative of 'makka-pau' (bread and butter) because, supposedly, that's what Katlics eat!!!" says the article. It adds: "The drinking of course, we're sure of. We drink at Holy Communion parties, Christenings, at other festivals too. We drink on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays.......You get the picture." Pinto's piece describes "Katlic weedings" as "those crazy carnivals... where you dress up, quaff wine, slip on confetti, stomp at the Wedding march, get sozzled, eat potato chops, vindaloo, sorpotel, pork roast, do the mandatory birdie dance, throw the bouquet and finally wake up the neighbours with off-key renditions of 'He's a jolly good fellow' as you zig-zag home!!!!" "Katlics like to sing. Where there's a Mack gathering, not counting funerals, there's a sing-song session. 'My Bonnie lies over the ocean', 'When the saints go marching in' and the quintessential Annie's song. No Mack party is complete without a guitar and at least one sloshed uncle who will be dragged home by the toes!!!!," contends the article. Joan Pinto went on to say that "Katlics mourn with the same passion". "Wearing black at funerals and for months after, and fasting with fervour at Good Friday. But as December knocks on their doors, you'll find Crawford Market besieged by Katlics from Maim (for Mahim) to Marine Lines, taking home so much lace you are not quite sure whether it's for the curtains or the dresses," she commented. Obviously with the Goan expat community also in mind, the article says at Christmas "Katlics eat guava cheese and cake and drink (more) wine, go to midnight mass at 8 pm. Then in 27 degrees centigrade heat, they wear jackets to Willingdon or Catholic Gym and jive the night away." "If you are a Katlic, you subscribe to the 'Examiner' where Katlic girls search for Katlic boys with 'sober' habits and own accommodation," comments the tongue-in-cheek piece. It says, on growing up, "Katlics" only confess "the simple sins and hope God would get the others telepathically. We didn't want to give old Father Andrew a minor heart attack." "Katlic" boys "simply play hockey or football till they die". Even the footnote -- which says the article is "part of a series which takes a light-hearted look at the idiosyncrasies of various communities" -- was not sufficient to reassure ire the portrayal caused. "The Times of India would not dare to publish an article in similar vein on any other community. However, Catholics being soft targets, perhaps they feel they can get away with it. An apology should be preferred by the author and The Times of India for hurting the sensibilities of the community," charged DeSouza. Responses to the article also charged that the photograph of a serious music lover's group -- in fact, one of the premier choirs of Mumbai -- was carried along with the article, though it has "absolutely no bearing on the text of the article.(ENDS) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Goa - 2005 Santosh Trophy Champions | | | | Support Soccer Activities at the grassroots in our villages | | Vacationing in Goa this year-end - Carry and distribute Soccer Balls | --------------------------------------------------------------------------