The feeling of home is central to who people are. It’s an emotional state of mind. It’s your world. And home for many of us is not the boundaries of the “houses” we live in but limitless boundaries of a Goa we have grown up in.
And when we add the memories of our parents and grandparents to this wonderful mix, the horizons of our imaginations stretch even further, to a Goa which was nothing short of paradise.
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It is that superb Goa that seems surreal with each passing year. And the gift that Goans want this Christmas is the Goa of their past and their imaginations back.
These are the things Goans miss:
-The familiar chatter at the tinto, the rides on the Caminhão or Carreira, with familiar faces on them. These buses were more than transport. They were vehicles of bonding, of friendships or dalliances and alliances.
– Goans look back on the times when togetherness and harmony were a way of life, a beautiful feeling witnessed and experienced in daily lives when no discussion or debate was needed or asked for
– Goans miss the times when villages were villages, tight-knit communities where everything from land to the fields and forests, water bodies, khazan lands and all other natural resources were village treasures held under the trust of communities where there was plenty for everyone.
-This vibe extended to community activities like farming, fishing, and horticulture, where community engagement went hand in hand with your chosen professions. Importantly there was enough in the land for all to be happy and contended. For instance, if fish was needed, a fishing family would simply get on the boat row out into the river bring the fish home for lunch and even distribute the excess fish in the neighbourhood.
Now the fish has been sucked out of their water bodies by powerful LED light-installed trawlers from outside Goa, making Goans fisher-folk seem like fish out of water
-The fields and farms were full, there was enough coconut on the trees for all the curry, and all festivals were celebrated with gusto. Camaraderie and harmony were as much a part of life as the evening sea breeze on the coasts were. Always there, never failing.
‘The arch of History bends towards justice’: Martin Luther King. Goans once believed that
Importantly there was a belief that the rule of law worked as a matter of principle and practice. As Martin Luther King said, “The arc of history always bends towards justice”. Goans believed that and saw that.
A Goa, where the arch of justice would move towards the connected and not towards the commoner was never imagined. What Goans miss is easy access to justice for the commoner. And the remedy of wrongs or injustices. The North Goa belt has been marauded by nightclubs playing peace-defying music across the night and throughout the year. High Court orders on sound pollution are violated with impunity, foreign DJs without work permits play and earn money with no taxes going to the government. The system sells itself to allow these injustices.
The impact of barrier-breaking loud electronic music has been severe. The elderly are traumatized, the young cannot study and work, trapped in the bubble of their homes to cut off the noise as much as possible. While many public-spirited Goans are litigating in court, they also face the constant disappointment of the powers that be finally surrendering to these forces.
The injustices extend to other walks of life too. Farmers have not been paid support prices for their crops, to allow them money to invest in the next season. Subsidies promised for the purchase of machinery and seeds have not all been disbursed.
Across the state the People vs the State narrative is being played out through issues as diverse- yet somehow related- like the double tracking of the South Western Railways, the expansion of national highways, land acquisition for the Borim bridge, the sufferings of Benaulim farmers due to the Western bypass construction and the highway expansion at Bhoma. There are still others fighting multiple police cases for simply exercising their right to democratic protest in the form of peaceful, candle-lit vigils such as the one in Chandor on November 1 and 2, 2002.
The people of Goa want their rightful spaces and rights, wherever they are denied, just as it used to be. If politicians and bureaucrats are public servants then the people of Goa must not feel that they are not being given their “masterly’ respect. If there is a protest for the protection of their identity and rights, they will feel hurt if the protests are dismissed with a saying “the public is protesting everything.”
After all, democracy is all about conversations aimed at listening to disparate views and the willingness to always bend the arch of governance towards justice, especially for those who are not powerful enough. And Goa has been a shining example of this in the past. All Goans want is a restoration of that past.
On Christmas day, a festival celebrated by everyone in Goa, Goans ask for these five gifts:
– A stop to the relentless environmental degradation and a spate of construction converting our fields to concrete
– Restoration of an all-inclusive Goan way of life where the synergy between locals and their natural resources was taken for granted
– Revival of traditional occupations like farming, fishing, handicrafts, traditional music etc., and giving access to skilled people access to markets
– Restoration rule of law and access to and delivery of justice
– A political system that displays honesty from both the voter and the voted and mutual respect and loyalty for a mandate with an eye to Goa’s development over personal ‘development’.
-Merry Christmas, everyone
