Goan Diaspora

 Ben Antao

A response to Ms. Cielo Griselda Festino’s paper titled The Discourse of Diaspora and the Goan Experience.

I am pleased to have read Festino’s paper. It’s thorough in research and reasonable in its analysis. And I agree with her conclusion.

I’ll address my comments to certain observations made in the paper and offer my own point of view.

1. Regarding Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes’ observation: “International migration is part of the life cycle of Goans with the return to their homeland to spend the winter of their lives.”

Today the prospect of returning to Goa to spend the winter of our lives will have a limited focus. It would apply only to those diasporic Goans who live and work in the Middle Eastern countries. The primary reason is that Goans in the Arab world are not allowed to own property and be full citizens. They migrated for economic reasons; some return to Goa after a lifetime of work overseas; many resettle in the West, in the more hospitable English-speaking countries such as England, Canada, the U.S. and Australia.

Goans who migrated to the West are not likely to return to Goa today to spend the winter of their lives because of the poor quality of life there—overcrowding, pollution, and rampant corruption. No amount of nostalgia will compel a Goan living and working in the West today to retire to his homeland.

Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes who lives in England will not go for it either; I am 67, a Canadian citizen, married to a white Canadian woman, and have a son; I will not return to Goa because of the poor quality of life there.

The Goans who are in Brazil, it seems to me, will also not return to Goa, if they have a choice.

Today nobody will trade a higher standard of living, clean air, real democratic freedom and due process that obtain in the western countries that I have named for nostalgia and roots and identity.

2. Quote: “If at home, Goans of Portuguese ancestry do not always identify with the Hindu population, abroad they are always considered Indians.”

The above statement is true because in the West the Goans will be considered as Indians because of their ethnicity and the color of their skin. For example, I spent a year in the U.S. as a fellow of the World Press Institute (1966-67) in the company of 15 other international journalists. Although I was selected as a journalist from Bombay, India, I was born and raised in Goa as a Roman Catholic. The American people would be surprised to learn that I was a Christian because they knew India to be predominantly Hindu. Many were quite puzzled at my fondness for liquor, red meat and parties, and at my ability to relate to and appreciate the American way of life. Some even asked me where I had learned to speak English so well.

Today the Goans of Portuguese ancestry and of education are living in Portugal and Brazil. They are not likely to return to Goa other than for a visit, as I would.

3. Quote: “The idea of an identity always in the process of becoming, rooted in hybridity, is at the core of the Goan experience.”

I agree with the above statement because Goans all over the world will have diverse experiences nurtured through acculturation in their respective domiciles. So a Canadian Goan like me will have a different perspective on life and world events than a Brazilian Goan.

E. P. Skinner said it perfectly, and your paper has noted it. Although many people who live in the diasporas maintain a strong interest in their ancestral lands, they never return home. As Goans become integrated in their host country, they feel identified with its culture. For example, I identify with the Canadian culture, having lived in Toronto since 1967. I can never go back to the old home again. Home is Canada now.

So the myth of return is just that—a myth. Today, in the context of the global village, your home is where you live, not necessarily where you were born.

4. The point made by Lambert Mascarenhas is well taken. As an intelligent journalist and resident of Goa, he is justified in being annoyed at the gratuitous advice offered by diasporic Goans living in more economically advanced countries than Goa. If such advice was offered from a perceived ‘superior’ stance, he has a right to reject it and cry halt as he did in his article Of Goans and Goans Abroad.

But—and this is a capital BUT—if the advice and suggestions were made for the improvement of the quality of life in Goa, they should not be rejected out of hand simply because they were made by Goans living abroad. As you may know, life in Goa today is marked by corruption starting at the level of the politicians and ministers who run the government. A citizen cannot get anything done unless he bribes somebody or the other. This is a calamity. Just because the whole country of India is swamped in corruption is no reason that it is good for the people. Goa needs another revolution, both internally through self-sacrifice and externally through the election of committed, selfless politicians to stop the rot.

Today Goans living the Western countries are helping financially and through education projects to improve the conditions of life in Goa. But the real work has got to be done by Goans themselves who live and work in Goa.

Ben Antao
Nov 13, 2002
Toronto, Canada

Ben Antao: We cannot go back "home" again

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