No Love Lost (Ever)
Here are the rays of light from
darker scary days of
communalism these days. Ron
Fidelis brings you views from
the Tiatr World of Goans.
By Ron Fidelis
ron.fide...@gmail.com
If we do not choose the religion that we get born into, can
we be belittling one another on religious lines at all? If a
non-Hindu brother or friend of this country decides not to
stop eating beef, will a Goan's attitude towards this
countryman change?
"My logic does not allow me to agree to this," mentions
tiatrist Premanand Sangodkar while "No" comes a resounding
answer from tiatrists among the many Goans who believe
nothing will break the brotherhood between different
religious communities in Goa.
"I do not believe Goans subscribe to views dividing
people on communal lines," chips in Sandeep Ambe,
popularly known as Comedian Ambe. "In India, there
will never really be a place where there will be
only Hindus. People from other religions will
always also be there. And in Goa, we Goans rent
our houses to just about everyone just based on
humanity. Goa has so many outsiders, tourists, who
come here. We accept them all. This is proof that
we Goans don't believe in divisive lines as we
understand that a mix happens everywhere," he
vindicates a point.
In Goa, we take up for our brothers and sisters. "The recent
spate of communal statements made with regards to Mother
Teresa, this whole ghar-wapsi issue from certain extremists
will end up bringing together the Catholic community whose
sentiments will be hurt and this will be only justified. But
are these things worth it, given the hate that is involved?"
asks Sangodkar.
"I think these Hindu extremists have not understood the
cultural background of Goa. They think Goa is like the rest
of India, which is where the fault lies. I see no need to
impose ghar-wapsi after four hundred years of already being
converted. Bringing it up now again serves no purpose apart
from spreading communal hatred while imposing one's religious
opinions on another," the septuagenarian searches for reason.
"You see the gap between those my age and the present
generation is already about 30 years. The new generation is
expected to go beyond these divisions of religion; not get
divided on its lines instead."
Looking at positive common factors from these scary days of
religious complexes in our social setting currently, here's a
line that all non-Catholic tiatrists react with when asked if
relationships will get affected due to certain groups
disturbing the communal fabric of our Goan society.
"Most of my close friends are Catholics," they all say
inevitably. "In fact even right now as I speak with you I am
having two good Muslim friends of mine at my house. However
much some may try to defame Mother Teresa, try ghar-wapsi or
any other way of dividing us they will never succeed in Goa;
because the relationship between the Hindus, Muslims and
Catholics in Goa are very different. I celebrate Diwali with
my non-Hindu friends here. Communities celebrate festivals
of each other. It's different here," believes Premanand Lotlikar.
How can one stop another from living each one’s life style,
even if it means eating beef? Incidentally these
non-Catholic tiatrists have lived all their lives with
beef-eating colleagues and they have never had a problem with
this.
"But nothing much will happen in Goa in my
opinion," opines Ambe. "Also because there was no
media earlier; now, it's a different story. First,
only the village elder was right and such opinions
had to be obeyed no matter what. Now opinions are
shared with social networking sites, better
communication devices like smart phones, etc. So
things essentially will remain as they are and the
only ones who will suffer are the political bodies
who will attempt to divide people."
"Each one of us has a role to play in this world. We still
don't know where we come from, or where we will go after we
die; we just have to live these lives and pass away and play
our role in between," were the only words of Pradip Naik.
"And this is applicable to everyone, irrespective of being
Hindu, Catholic or Muslim as we are all one."
As Goans and as people, we are all united in this life-long
brotherhood campaign. As for the tiatrist community in
particular who have not yet received assurance regarding the
censorship issue, apart from this, it's all peace and love.
