Goans may have perfected the art of being crabs; the adroit skills of pulling each other down! But when someone does come up and shine, we are equally good at claiming them as our very own. This is specially so when someone from amongst the Goan Diaspora achieves name, fame & fortune.
And who wouldn`t be proud to be warmly embraced by this little paradise in the sun and find a place on its unofficial Role of Honour? Tony Fernandes, the Big Boss at Air Asia on his maiden stop over at Dabolim Airport was overwhelmed to know that the people of Goa consider him as their very own son of the soil. If he comes back as promised, to have a closer look at the land of his ancestors, Tony
will surely learn more about the subtle unbreakable bond that binds us… Gentlemen like Tennis Star Leander Paes and Media honcho Rajdeep Sardessai are even more endearing and behave like perfect sons of the soil, atleast when they are in Goa. India’s Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar on the other hand, takes great pains to deny her Goan roots and assert herself a pure bred Maharashtrian but we are still large-hearted enough to name auditoriums after the Mangueshkars!
The recent elections in the UK where Keith Vaz, Valerie Vaz and Suella Fernandes carved out convincing wins have given us genuine reasons to rejoice. “ Two Goans in the Lok Sabha, three in the British House of Commons!” I twitted in excitement and the response was electrifyingly positive! A few commented to say that the people whom I labeled as Goans are all British nationals with no connect to Goa. Now, what does one’s nationality really got to do with ‘being a Goan’? Goa is not and never was a separate nation so the nationality issue has no relevance here… Even a Chinese citizen can be a Goan! Whether they come to Goa, speak Konkani, sing the mando, relish sorpotel etc etc are also things of little relevance. All that matters is our common roots, our common ancestors and heritage! And winners like these are perfect for our self pride and confidence because it means that given half an opportunity, we Goans can compete with the very best in the world.
As predicted , after a few decades, the few Goans that one may find in places like Salcete, will mostly be senior citizens. Later on, it would be an increasingly difficult task to find Goans of the ‘original stock’ here… But as the saying goes, one cannot take Goa out of true Goans no matter where you take them. Goans will continue to thrive, rise and shine in various parts, nooks & corners of the globe and remain unique for one reason or the other. The Government of Goa would do well to institute an award to felicitate outstanding non-resident Goan achievers. The State can even benefit from their expertise and positions of power.
