The Goan and the non-Goan’s reaction to a brother was clear to see, the “non-Goan” had soaked up the sacred essence of the land whilst the Goan had obviously not. I’m sure everyone has their own anecdotes to add along these lines and I decided not to waste your precious time with my own; rather I’d like to remind the young and young at heart, a.k.a those able to glean something new despite being successful and learned in worldly wisdom, that Goemkarponn is due for a revival. Goemkarponn in my humble opinion is Uprightness, a simple adjective that means Integrity and Humility. Integrity is easy enough, it is quickly learned and loved by most, but humility is a whole issue altogether. Most people associate it with weakness, and the opposite of masculinity, while humility is more a responsibility entrusted to royalty; a fount of longevity given to those whom the Creator has blessed with a slice of heaven and promised to bless all those that bless them and curse all those that curse them. Here humility calls for letting things go rather than calling down hell and high water on uninformed aggressors for a juvenile mistake.
Goemkarponn involves Creativity, as St. Francis of Assisi once said,” a person who works with his hands, mind and heart is an artist”. Goa is a muse to us all, but her innately talented children are lulled into laziness by agencies that brazenly imply slavery is culture. With young and the old alike slipping on branded handcuffs, proudly and publicly showing their commitment to alcoholism, designer drugs and cigarettes. We even sacrilegiously celebrate the feast of ascetic St. John with booze and overeating.
Goemkarponn is a mad love for the land, which is imbibed by a covenant sealed by putting hands deep in the earth, planting fruit trees and coconut grass(sic) just like our grandfathers did; it is respect for people and animals, especially the eldest in the neighborhood, the stranger and the weakest ( read the know-it-all teens); benevolently visiting the sick with a beaming smile and hot food. Goemkarponn is Music and Charity, not throwing money away at ca-Sin-os; Goemkarponn is Surrealism, realising the sanctity of fields, sitting on a beach hearing the wind reverently sing hymns as God oversees the changing of the guard at sunset; having the spiritual eyes to perceive life sustaining rivers as the living, breathing gifts they are. Most importantly, Goemkarponn involves a collective vow: to storm the courts of the Creator everyday to ask the Master of the land for sustenance and grace, to address the unbelievable corruption prevalent, to encourage youngsters to make pilgrimages to each church and temple in Goa rather than shoot themselves in the foot by doing obeisance to every hub of stupidity that prey on the uninitiated.
Like St. Pio revealed, “If only more people knew the benefits of attending mass, we would need policemen to stop the stampede of people trying to get in”.
