I feel proud to say I belong to a State where we live as Goans and not as Hindu, Muslim, or Catholic. My daughter-in-law is from a Catholic family, she has mingled well with our religion, and our son too participates in their festivities
— Mohandas Prabhudesai, Margao
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I live in a village, surrounded by Catholic families. Mine is the only Hindu house. My children went to convent schools and got all Catholic friends. My daughter had a Muslim friend during her college days, whose mother taught her to make biryani and sheer kurma
— Beena Warik,
Retired govt servant, Canacona
When my family migrated to Goa, from Bombay, in the early 60s, we initially lived in my maternal grandfather’s house in Bicholim, which is predominantly non-Christian. My close neighbours invariably were non-Christian families. I remember that life, with my neighbours, was free, mutual, without any reservations. The Zantye family, owners of the famous cashew nut factory, was our neighbours. Their local festival, Ghoddemini, was a good occasion for us to join them as they danced through the streets. At Christmas and our Parish feasts and other occasions, they took part in our festivities and used to visit our home. We also had several Muslim friends in my school and in the neighborhood, especially those who used to slaughter cows and sold beef behind the Church.
In fact, we had been grounded in a quiet sense of communal harmony, and mutual respect, and helped build bridges of love and brotherhood
— Fr Frank Mendes SFX, Sanguem
I remember my childhood days in Socorro village where the litany of the Cross was attended by not only Catholics but also Hindus and Muslims and all would gather in reverence. At all village weddings, invitations were sent across all communities Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims without any reservations
— Juino De Souza, Socorro-Porvorim
I am surrounded by Hindus and Catholics. My parents spent their entire life here and the next generation of my family is living here. It was the surroundings that contributed to our peaceful living even though I have no neighbours from my religion. The communities which surround us made us realise that we were a part of them
— Mohammad Shaikh, Pernem
For several generations, we have been celebrating Christmas with the Hindu community who we are surrounded by. During Christmas, we go door-to-door for carol singing and during this time we also visit the Hindu houses where they contribute to the festivity. Also during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, we visit them
— Angle Fernandes, Pernem
In my childhood days many Catholics used to visit my house during Ganesh Chaturthi. Even the Church priest visited my house. I too used to visit Catholic houses during Christmas. During the Church feast at Britona, ‘sannas’ were cooked in most of the Hindu houses
— Vishwanath Halarnkar,
Ex-Deputy Sarpanch, Penha de Franca
From the time I was small till today, I consider my friends of different faith as a family. We are just friends because of our shared experiences growing up together and the bond we have maintained since then. Our children are also friends and so that ‘rishtha’ continues
— Abhijit Nadkarni, IT professional, Aquem
We have a tradition of visiting each other’s houses for these celebrations and welcoming them into our houses for our celebrations. No major personal celebration or even get-togethers are complete if these friends are not with us. This is how it will be in the future too
— Sameer Naik, shopkeeper, Fatorda
When it comes to celebration and unity, we Calangutkars are always united for one and other. We not only celebrate Christmas but also help my friends in celebrating Ganesh and other festivals
— Valerio Rodrigues, Calangute
Nowadays, it is common to take photos every time friends meet. Back then, in our time when we would meet, we would have such a great time that we didn’t need pictures to remember what happened. We can start laughing just talking about these memories. I share these memories with my fellow Goans. Our friendship is not determined because of our religion and that wasn’t a factor ever
— Ryan Pacheco, businessman, Benaulim
Our Catholic brothers and sisters participate in Hindu festivals while our Hindu brethren visit our houses during Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali. We receive flowers for Lord Ganesh from Catholic and Muslim neighbours. Even during Portuguese times, there was strong communal harmony between Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims. Christian and Hindus still treat each other as brothers and sisters. I remember during our younger days, the name Cunkolkar was enough to unite us
— Kamlaksh Prabhugaonkar,
retired teacher, Cuncolim
If one has to see the perfect example of communal harmony then they must visit Shree Shantadurga Kuncolikarin Sotrio and feast of Our Lady of Health in Cuncolim. Since time immemorial Cuncolkars have always maintained communal harmony if you are a Hindu, Catholic, or Muslim. We both – Hindus and Catholics – treat each other as brothers even people believe that Our Lady of Health and Shantadurga Kuncolikarin are sisters. I can proudly say our past generation, the present generation, and even future generation will always maintain communal harmony. We do not identify ourselves as Hindus, Muslims, or Catholics, we identify as Kuncolkars
— Tony Fernandes, retired Supt of Police
During Shigmo, Hindus offer coconuts near symbols of Muslim faiths at Cotwada-Curti while, Muslims visit Hindu temples Curti on Gudi Padwa festival
— Mulla Gaus, senior citizen, Curti-Ponda
During my childhood days, I had a lot of Hindu and Muslim friends and we studied together and also played football together at Monte de Guirim ground. We were always like one Goan family. I remember in my olden days, I had a lot of Muslim friends and we never considered them as such and it was always brothers-in-arms
— Roque Dias, retired govt employee, Porvorim
