The expanse of the Atlantic seems to cocoon itself and present
itself in manageable and breathtaking proportions. Over yonder, at Belem, is
the spot for where Vasco da Gama set sail to eventually land and find India.
For Goans it’s a special spot. For Vasco da Gama it was a journey of discovery.
For many in Goa, eventually, this became the first journey of linkage which
became an association of many lifetimes after Afonso De Albuquerque landed and
conquered Goa.
It was a week leading into the elections in Portugal. A Prime
Minister with Goan roots and a family in Margao was about to be re-elected
again, as per the buzz on the cobbled streets. The Indian Embassy in Belem is
not far from the spot. At times linkages do not come in the form of treaties or
even through pages of history. They come through moments. While the
assimilation of Goa into Portugal through military intervention is a fact of
history, a conquest can capture territory, it cannot capture minds, or feelings
or break true linkages, which may have begun with hostility. But 500 years is a
very long time. The transformation of hostility to harmony is perhaps less
documented or projected at times, at home, when stories and celebrations of
‘liberation’ are showcased on stage.
On the banks of Belem, on the streets of Lisbon or Porto or on
Rua Mahatma Gandhi Road in the province of Covilha, India is held in esteem and
embrace. Prime Minister Antonio Costa, deeply holds on to his Goan lineage and
the fondness was there for all to see, when he was in Goa a couple of years
ago. But he does see Goa in the larger Indian context, as he must. It’s an
irony one acutely faces and realizes. Close to 60 years after they were forced
to leave India, there is not a sliver of animosity in Lisbon. From Lisbon, to
Porto, to Algarve you sense the beating heart of a proud nation, But you also
see a nation, pint sized compared to the subcontinent, willing to offer, to
give, to cooperate and yet respect our land, in a manner which in endearing.
And make no mistake, Portugal is recovering from the slide three years ago, the
economy is on the way to stability, its cities and towns are more first world
than ever before, the transportation system seamlessly interconnects and
literally glide you within cities and the country at large, the air is
cosmopolitan, with many towns becoming international melting pots, Lisbon and
Porto for sure.
Some years ago when Antonio Luis Santos da Costa was the Mayor
of Lisbon, there was a proposal mooted to have more exchanges between Lisbon
and Panjim and make Panjim Lisbon’s sister city. The proposal was momentous and
the learnings and experience of Lisbon in curating their cities and towns would
have enhanced Panjim’s way of functioning. And after all there’s shared
history. The trip would literally be down memory lane.
Portugal has never been a clucking duck pond of vanity and
ruffled feathers. It has approached this relationship with humility and grace.
It will be worthwhile to ask and figure why Panjim did not respond, since
Panjim would actually regain, what Lisbon did centuries ago. This would have
been a déjà vu made in heaven.
Let’s leave that behind, as Panjim has done and look at what
Portugal did on October 2. A street in the little town of Covilhã hosted
celebrations of the 150 years of the birth of Gandhi, and named a street after
him- Rua Mahatma Gandhi. The ambassador of India in Portugal, K Nandini Singla,
the mayor of Covilhã, Victor Pereira, the president of the city council, João
Casteleiro and prominent members of the Indo Portuguese diaspora like Goenkar,
Darryl James Periera, a Goenkar who is spearheading efforts to strengthen
investment and commercial trade and business between the two countries, were
present.
After Covilhã, the celebrations continued in Lisbon.
On the streets of Lisbon, life is celebrated each day. On the
bicycle lanes where the young ride with gay abandon, on the trains where are
more smiles per ride than the entire London underground networks daily rides,
and how difficulties are handled with prayer and a song. It’s a country which
works.
Antonio
Costa’s re-election has indeed given joy to Goans. But we must look beyond that
and see Portugal as a friend and not as a hitherto conquering nation (as some
circles still do). Because there is still much to learn. And even more to
share.
