OUR GOAN CULTURE -- ANOTHER VIEW

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On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 14:54:27 EDT, Pat de Sousa
<Paddydes-YDxpq3io04c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Dear All:

Here is another view of our Goan Culture, sent to me in
early July 2002.

IMHO, it is vital that we cherish and preserve our rich
Goan culture, proudly passed down through posterity. 
We must aspire to revive our religion, language,
folk-songs, dances, etc., which have ofttimes failed
due to lack of support.

We are GOANS wherever the daughters or sons of the soil
find themselves happily implanted and flourish through
perseverance.

Proud to be a Goan:

Pat de Sousa
Maryland, USA

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OUR GOAN HERITAGE

For several years now I have been pondering the
importance of enriching and preserving our cultural
traditions and heritage so that they will not be lost
to our people or to the world at large. It is this
which has motivated me to write about our heritage.

HERITAGE: Many characteristic features go to make the
heritage of any particular community with the same
ethnic origin. Some of these elements are: religion,
language, attire, folk songs, folk dances, food and
other customs and traditions. In a multi-cultural
society, many peoples come together and live
harmoniously, trying to adjust themselves to each other
as best they can. This togetherness brings them in
contact with the different traditions that each culture
brings along. In every community there are many good
and wholesome practices and others that are not so
good. The former are to be absorbed and the latter
discarded, keeping at the same time what is good in
one's own culture. The same treatment is to be given to
the not so good practices which have infiltrated one's
own culture. Thus, each group of people will be
enriched by the other and the whole society will be a
better milieu to live in. This is an ideal manner of
living in a multi-cultural nation. The rich Goan
heritage is unique in the world - a well balanced
gentle culture made up of sound eastern and western
practices and the Christian values contained in our
faith. Hence it should be promoted and transmitted to
posterity and never allowed to die. Goans are renowned
the world over for their good moral standards, their
keen intellect and their sporting spirit - the fruits
of a well-rounded education. These are features to be
very proud of and the purpose of this article is to
place before our readers the wealth of our heritage.

THE GOAN LANGUAGE: Language is an essential part of a
culture. Our native language is Konkani, developed over
many years by the forefathers. Language is the first
sign of the civilization of a people. Afonso de
Albuquerque conquered Goa on November 25, 1510, and
Portuguese rule was established in our small territory.
Soon after, Portuguese education was introduced and
many Portuguese Primary Schools were opened and the
Portuguese language became our official language.
Higher Schools came later on. This was the beginning of
the Portuguese culture and gradually it spread all over
Goa. Konkani suffered in its development as roman
script was introduced to write our mother tongue and
the original script was dropped. Today, 492 years
later, only about 2% speak Portuguese.

When the British rule was established in India in 1858,
English education was introduced in India, and it
gradually spread to Goa also. Many English schools were
opened in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. So,
many Goans could speak three languages. After Goa's
integration into India on December 19, 1961, almost all
Goan children began to learn English, as Portuguese
education was withdrawn.(Today, the University of Goa,
offers a degree Course in Portuguese Literature.) Ever
since, English has flourished more than the other
languages. The teaching of Konkani was reintroduced in
the original 'Devanagri' script which did not appeal to
our children at the beginning - as they were not used
to it and a new alphabet is always hard to pick up.

Now, 41 years later our S.S.C.E. students -though not
many- take this language as one of their subjects, and
are doing well. However, many Goans, especially those
residing outside Goa speak only English ? even though
they know their mother tongue. Who will deny that it is
better to know and speak three languages rather than
only one? Yet, the fact is that, although once many
Goans living outside Goa spoke two or three languages,
now there are very few who can do so. Most of such
Goans stick to one language alone, English, and forget
Konkani. Instead of making progress we have gone
backwards. This march backwards must be addressed
fully, if we wish to give our language a chance of
survival. For this purpose, the Goan leaders and lovers
of Konkani should join hands and minds together to make
our mother tongue live forever, even outside Goa.

The influence and example of all other ethnic peoples,
who speak their own language, should inspire and
encourage us to speak our mother tongue. This good
practice must be adopted by our community. Otherwise,
our critics will be tempted to say we are the people in
the world who don?t have our language and instead speak
a foreign language. This is not true. We have a
language and we must speak it to prove they are wrong.
Among ourselves we must use our language, and English
to communicate with others. Very soon, the request or
need to write a speech in Konkani will force us to go
to non-Goans (Mangaloreans) for assistance. This is not
good either.

The Goans in London, after being questioned why they
used English all the time, and if they did not have
their own language, felt very embarrassed and ashamed
of themselves. After having then realised the need and
importance to speak their language, they have now begun
to learn and use Konkani. (This was confirmed by a
couple from London who are here on holidays). It is
surely a move in the right direction and worthy of
admiration and emulation. It is never a shame to speak
our native language; it is shameful to use another's
all the time.

GOAN FOLKLORE: Gifted with musical talents, Goans of
ancient and modern times have played the violin and
other musical instruments and compose many hymns,
'manddes,' carols and songs of all kinds, and perform
wonderfully on the stage. Recently, it was extremely
encouraging and uplifting to observe our very young
boys and girls sing and play on the platform. Our
congratulations to them! Keep it up young folk! There
are also special folk dances of rare art for the social
occasions. These are now being forgotten and performed
only for national functions. Our originality in this
art has now been replaced by its western ally. Why not
combine the two for every social function and promote
multiculturalism? A team from Nairobi once took part in
a Manddo Festival in Goa and both - manddo and dance
performances - were awarded the prize for originality.
Dr. Manu da Cruz and Mr. Arnold Saldanha worked hard to
put the show together, and finally, even succeeded in
reviving our language and culture in Nairobi. They
deserve our congratulations for their efforts. 

GOAN ATTIRE: It was a very pleasant surprise and a
wonderful sight to watch recently our Goan ladies wear
the beautiful saree which made them prettier and drew
attention and praise of the community and guests alike.
They surely stole the show. A few more sarees would
have enhanced the occasion even more. Many College
girls in Goa have now become very fond of the Punjabi
outfit and are wearing it daily. They believe it adds
modesty and beauty to them. This is very true. Why not
follow suit and adopt a good Indian costume? Of all the
men, only one stood out in his Indian outfit and it
made a difference.

OUR NATURAL COLOUR: we are characterised by our
beautiful (golden) brown colour. All agree that not
everything in life is either black or white. In Goa,
the white, the brown and the black together make the
world a more attractive place to live in, not to
mention the products of mixed marriages who add to the
beauty of the populace. Just as a garden featuring
exclusively white flowers would be dull indeed; imagine
a poor world with only white folk. God made the world
diverse and beautiful. Why change it? May Goans never
regret their attractive tinge; sad the very thought it
would ever fade away. The Goan race abroad could be
effaced after some generations. He who thinks only
white is beautiful, while black and brown are not, is
like the foolish OKOT - an African married to LAWINO
the daughter of an African Chief, - who having returned
from a European tour ? confronted  his mother with the
following pathetic words: MOTHER! WHY WAS I BORN BLACK?
(Song of Lawino). 

CULINARY: Goan dishes and drinks (Sorpotel, Caju -
Fenni) will carry on for a while to be a part of our
menu. "Sorpotel, Chakuti, sodam-nam, vhodde, neureo,
bebink, dodol, etc" are still there. A fine writer once
wrote that Goans are so flexible, adjustable and
imitative that they have given up practically all their
traditions and customs and accepted the foreign ones,
except the culinary habits. The many tasty Goan dishes
will one day vanish from our tables, if the mothers
don't teach their daughters the art to prepare them. An
appeal here to men to take over, as we will not survive
without "caju, sorpotel," etc., and our traditional
food will live on and not rest in peace forever!

CONCLUSION: In short: The correct attitude in a
multicultural society is adaptability. There is a need
to watch for what is or is not a worthy improvement on
our culture. People must copy the good and shun the
evil. Religious freedom deserves special mention here.
In Australia, people are free to worship as they wish,
and this freedom helps enrich and strengthen our
Christian Faith. A stringent anti-smoking campaign
strongly promoted here is surely worthy of praise, and
is to be adhered to by all. Strict traffic rules help
greatly to avoid injury and deaths on the roads. These
are good values we must accept in our community.

Finally, it is absolutely necessary to remind
everybody, that a Godless and immoral society will
become degenerate and disintegrate, gradually corroding
life's good standards, ending in ruin. Suicides become
commonplace. The practice of freedom is not doing what
we like but choosing good over evil.

LET US REVIVE OUR HERITAGE!

A lover of Goan Heritage (Australia)
Name and address supplied

Fr. Juliao Carrasco,
87 York Street,
Hilton. 6163,
Westerns Australia.

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