As the Central Government of India has slammed the cherished Goan demand for Special Status, it may help to lower the political temperature within the territory if we recall Robert Zemeckis’ multi-award winning scify film of 1985. That film took us back to the rock n`roll of late 1950s, to the flower children and to the trend that brought hippies to Goa.
When the Portuguese left for good, the hippies discovered Goa. Goa has always been open to discoverers since its very distant past and has learnt to make the best of all such discoveries. Goa also discovered Dayanand Bandodkar, whose political reforms opened windows of development to the coastal mundkars in particular. They could discover and exploit new tourism opportunities that changed their lives and economic options.
Vasco da Gama was not the first, nor will be the last discoverer of India. If the demand for Special Status, is aimed at stopping this historic trend by keeping Goa safe from identity-stealers, Goans may need to re-think this decision of the Central Government.
The Christian politicians of Salcete, historically influenced by Jesuit militancy, may need to recall a biblical passage wherein one reads: “your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). It conveys a profound psychological truth, and has much to teach us about the nature of contribution we are qualified to make to Goa’s growth in freedom, depending upon our age and experience.
Visions define future in terms of novelty and change which the younger generations are looking for. It is very different from dreams, which represent subconscious compensation and relief of frustrations or fears that we were unable to handle in the waking state. Dreams are linked with the past, while visions are future-oriented. Special Status is a vision or a dream?
A balanced combination of dreams and visions is what Goa needs for a healthy and pragmatic march into post coloniality. It is this combination that is presented in my book due for release on August 11 in SurendrababuTimblo Hall of the Goa Chamber of Commerce in Panaji, at 5.30 pm.
“Goa outgrowing Postcolonialism” is not distributed by traditional local book-sellers. It may be ordered online fromAmazon.inat http://bit.ly/1rS7hyiin printed and digital formats, satisfying both the technological itch and visions of the new generation, as well as those who still prefer to smell the printed paper. In its Introduction, 22 chapters and Afterword, the book is all about the combination of dreams and visions for postcolonial Goa, not excluding special status on p. 129 of its chapter 15 on “Indian Federalism and Goa’s Future”.
More than once in my published columns in this daily and elsewhere, I have repeated my understanding of the roles of historians and politicians. They are different roles, but equally important in different situations. They should not be confused neither seen as mutually exclusive. They are complementary, but the politicians need often to lower the decibles of their political demagogy and listen to sober calls of history.
However, the historians too may get stuck in their past convictions. We know how often such stubbornness leads to calls for revenge and blocks new solutions. Many world conflicts are sustained by inability to outgrow the past. In such impasse situations, skilled politicians are essential with their ability to negotiate and reach pragmatic solutions, saving faces and gaining time for a better solution in future. “Back to the future” is the most promising strategy for handling the less promising or frustrating developments of the present. It is the best strategy that ensures a successful rebounding into future.
Till very recently History was viewed in the academic world as past politics. It has now gone beyond contemporary history and we hear about History of the Present. It may surprise my readers if I refer them to Jawaharlal Nehru’s *Glimpses of World History* (1934). He was no historian, but a politician who cherished the lessons of history, and advised the builders of independent India to understand the past and look backwards just as does a driver who needs to opt for reverse gear for correcting the course and moving forward in the right direction.
Jawaharlal Nehru had his sense of humour. He tells us that if God wanted us to always look backwards, he would have provided us with eyes at the back of our heads. Let us not forget that historian’s vision combines dreams of many past futures, helping us to look deeper into new futures than the immediate future of short-sighted politicians. In the shifting sands of politics, Goans will discover sooner than later, new and better alternatives to “special status”.
What is urgently needed is to define better the objectives of future growth and develop a discourse that may convince the fellow-citizens that Goa values the welfare of the whole country, which guarantees the security and growth of all. To cite the poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Goans do not wish to replace colonial walls with new “narrow domestic walls”. If Goans are proud of their globalized status, Goans need to think of something better than the so-called “special status” of India’s Constitution.
(Teotonio R. de Souza is the Founder-Director of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research (1979-1994).
