Goan-ness and Goa which is constituted by our material & cultural commons cannot become simply raw material for anyone to create wealth
Fr Victor Ferrao
Our Goan-ness is a shared inheritance. It is priceless and precious. Unfortunately today, we are facing a steady loss of Goan-ness. Goa and its common resources are important constituents of Goan-ness. Along with an attack on the cultural commons, we have faced a consistent depletion of our land resources due to mismanaged development. Maybe we need an audit of all our commons so that we can save Goan-ness and Goa.
All commons are material as well as cultural. They are created by nature and humanity all over the world. Our ancestors saved our commons for us. Unfortunately, we seem to have been riding a foolish desire that kills the hen that lays the golden eggs to have all the eggs at one time. Our cultural commons, our ecological commons as well as commons making our architectural heritage etc., are all sick and are in need of care and attention. Perhaps, we have to look at our insatiable greed to arrest this suicidal process that is making us mad.
Our commons are our true wealth. The quality of air, water, fields and forest and other land resources define the quality of our life. In Goa, our Goan-ness interweaves with our life at all levels and is vital to our existence. Thus along with the material commons, we have cultural commons that defines our Goanising in Goa and elsewhere in the world. This is why it is important to consider carefully what our Goanising is doing to our commons in Goa.
The attack on commons in Goa has suffocated the plural process of Goanising and has already made it next to impossible for us to reproduce authentic goanising. As our Goan culture and tradition that includes our fish curry rice and other culinary delights are slowly facing death in the wake of contamination of fish and other foods, it is time to wake up for Goa and Goans before it is too late.
We are fast facing the threat of being exiled from the very substance of our existence as Goans. Hence, we have to come together for our material as well as cultural commons. We can already see an angst concerning this loss growing among Goans everywhere. Most Goans are fearing of an impending loss that threatens to drag the soil from beneath their feet. It is almost like blocking the air into our nostril. One of the important consequence of this alienation of Goans in Goa seems to be the out-migration of several Goans on the wings of Portuguese Passport. Hence, we can see several attempts to bestow our Goanising its emancipatory force and save whatever is remained of Goa. Such movements do find resonance and solidarity among the Goans today.
Goa was a home of love for Goans beneath the blue skies. It still continues to be so. But its life expectancy appears to be drastically curtailed. Given our stakes in the issues that threaten Goa, we can no longer watch the destruction of our commons by sitting in our balcaos sipping our feni with a careless freedom. Before it becomes too late, we have to put up the sleeves of our shirts and get on our feet and stand up for Goa and Goans to save it from every force that treats Goan-ness as a historical accident.
Goanness and Goa which is constituted by our material and cultural commons cannot become simply raw material for anyone to create wealth without any regard to Goa, Goans and Goan-ness. Hence, our ethico-political responsibility is to assume collective co-responsibility for the past, present and the future of Goa, Goans and Goan-ness. We cannot squander our cultural heritage as well as material resources for thirty silver pieces that lure several among us.
The economic pie does not need Goan-values. It does not need religious values either that co-mingle with our Goan-ness. It survives and masquerades with fake Goan-ness. This is why we need to come to a discerned position that convinces us about how much is really enough. Our sense of enough immortalised by our sussegad nature has been hurt and several among us have taken up the rat race.
Often due to this life in the fast lane, we have damaged the commons of Goa to quench our insatiable thirst for power of Rupee. This is why we may need a revolution to save Goa and Goan-ness not just from other predators but also from us Goans who also seem to have become anti-Goa.
May this New Year ring in real enlightenment to Goans so that we all rise to a collective consciousness that Goa, Goan-ness and Goans cannot survive without our concerted effort to save our material as well our cultural commons. We need to sensitise our Goanising to save all commons in Goa. Perhaps this is the only way to bring emancipative force to Goanising.
