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t is the golden jubilee of that momentous event in Goa's history, which replaced an alien colonial rule by self-rule. It is a time of reflection on the achievements of the last half century and think of the possibilities for the next 25 or 50 years. One can be sure that ideas will not be wanting. Already we have the Regional Plan 2021 and before long, we should have a report from the high-powered Goa Golden Jubilee Development Council (GGJDC) the chief minister appointed last year under the chairmanship of Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, former director of the prestigious Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to "document a vision and a road map for the next 25 years". Here are a few thoughts, from an NRI or NRG, who heartily welcomed the liberation of Goa and defended it in 1961on national television channels in the United States. How do the NRG's contemplate Goa's future in the next quarter century? I have met hundreds of NRG's who, are without an exception, loyal lovers of Goa, immensely interested in its economic development and greater glory achieved without gross violation of its famed and much cherished natural beauty . That is the rub. How does one achieve both conservation and development, two seemingly opposite goals? The environmentalits, notably the Goa Bachao Abhiyan and the Council for Social Justice and Peace, have justifiably condemned the trio of tourism, particularly the so-called "beach-based" , tourism, the mining industry and the real estate developers who have in the last decade moved into Goa's picturesque villages to build villas and condominiums for enormous profits. These are not some idiosyncratic activists, but whose voices echo the frustration of overwhelming numbers of Goans, both at home and in the diaspora. In my view, these concerns must be taken care of in a substantial measure before expecting enthusiasm and support of the people for new projects that the GGJDC might propose.

arterry Qu tu GOA: Dreams For The Next Cen

Damodar R SarDesai

to see the terrible damage caused to the environment and the loss caused to local agriculturists. One cannot dismiss the phenomenon on grounds of its being an inevitable consequence of India's adoption of economic globalization. There is also the argument that, along with tourism (which brings in another ` 800 to ` 1,200 crore), mining brings in a huge chunk of revenue to the government which uses it for the amelioration of the middle class as well as the less privileged sectors of the society. And further that tourism and mining are both employment generators. The question is how much of this will fit into the notion of sustainable development? How much of the earths degradation is avoidable and, instead of just wringing hands, can something be done to restore the beauty of Goas green belt and to keep Goa good and green for the future generations. In this regard, I have made some suggestions.

half of the amount is earmarked for the Mopa International Airport) and the Goans must be enabled to have at least as much of a right, if not a priority to enjoy the sun and the sand. ,

taking tourists to the proposed Sunken Garden Project.

The Future
Goa has already moved dramatically in the last half century from being one of the most backward states in India with very poor infrastructure and lack of higher education to its current advanced status. In 2001, it was ranked the highest among all states and union territories in terms of 12 key indicators determining the quality of life. The literacy was the third highest and infant mortality the third lowest. And Goa was the only state which had and has 100% registration of births and deaths. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) declared that Goa had enviably attained growth with equity and social justice for nearly all of its citizens. Yes, indeed, in the eyes of millions of fellow-Indians, Goa has emerged as an enviable society .

Sunken gardens in mining holes

As for redressing the damage to the landscape caused by the mining industry I have a partial solution, to keep Goa green and which may create a new kind of tourism as well. I suggest the creation of sunken gardens, such as the famed Petersburg Gardens in Florida or in Lincoln, Nebraska but whose best and relevant example for Goas mining holes are the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia in Canada. While Robert Pin Butchart was nearing the exhaustion of his expansive limestone quarry, in the first decade of the 20th century, his aesthetically sensitive wife, Jennie, was devising an unprecedented plan for creating a beautiful reverse Taj Mahal for herself. When we first visited it some four decades ago, the thousands of diverse flower beds, luxuriant trees and lawns stunned us until at night we were completely overwhelmed by the huge color-changing fountain something we can improve upon in Green Goa with unseasonal rainbows! The sunken gardens, where applicable, could have an arboretum, zoos, boat cruises, and annual flower shows and competitions, not to speak of concert stages to entertain the visitors, which now number over one million in Butchart Gardens. Some of the mining holes can be devised, with suitable alterations, for harvesting rain water, to be used for the sunken gardens or agriculture in the vicinity . This idea can be implemented with the private-public partnership model, chief minister Digambar Kamat has included in his current budget for the twin mining corridors-Uguem to Guddemol and Guddemol to Capxem. I would suggest that the corridors be lined with tall trees to conceal them from public view like the Ho Chi Minh trails in Vietnam. And, needless to say , the trucks should be well-covered so that the dust does not envelop the greenery along the mining corridor. The Sunken Garden Project could be funded by individual mine owners, whose families could translate their aesthetic inclinations into a competition for the best sunken garden in the region. In the alternative, a Green Mining Project Fund may be created from a small slice of the royalty fee and a grant from the environment ministry . The chief minister has also included helicopter tourism in his budget. It is an idea that could be harnessed for

Tourism
As for tourism, I would sound a very important warning about the so-called beach-based tourism, which accounts for over 90% of the over 2.3 million traffic, of which a little over 50% is from overseas. The latter involving a 900 plus chartered flights, mostly from Russia, Germany and Israel, is marked by drugs, nudity and international mafia, involving numerous cases of rape and murder. They have also highlighted issues of security, both local and national. According to media reports, Morjim has become a Russian village, with road signs in Russian and a Russian beach head from which locals, including members of the panchayat, are barred. This is simply unacceptable. Apart from the risks posed these days by international terrorism and the apprehensions that some of the unaccounted Russian nuclear warheads may land in wrong hands, it is pertinent to remember that the East India Company began as an innocuous factory (misnomer for the factor or agent's offices and warehouses) on the waterfront of Surat eventually to become masters of the Indian sub-continent. We should be Once bitten, twice shy. The shortterm financial gain from such undesirable, detestable, international tourism cannot be an argument for grievously affecting the physical and moral well-being of Goa's youth. Worse, it can fatefully affect the nation's being itself. There can be no compromise on the proposition that Goa's beaches must be restored to Goan control. They must be cleaned and barricaded promptly with the Rs 200 crore specially granted by the Central Government last year (one-

the next two decades. In this effort, apart from the UGC grants, there should be massive infusions of funds from the private sector. The industrial leadership of the Western world and Japan is primarily based on their R & D (research and development) in both public and private sectors. Such an institute should either be a standalone entity or a fairly autonomous institute within the structure of Goa University. In either case, it should not be subject to the rigid limits set by the UGC's bureaucracy but fostered by persons with extensive research experience under their belt. Goas human resource is the most important single resource in which maximum investment should be made by offering to the youth the best education the world has to offer. For this, Goa University should have a committee in each of its divisions entrusted with the upgrading of curriculum to keep up with the advanced institutions in the world. In fact, this is relevant and important for all In-

M I T. Simi-

larly, there should be input from renowned universities and institutes from UK, Germany Canada , as well. There should be an annual interaction between the Goa University faculty in each of the major fields of instruction and research and the invitees. The present procedures mostly established during the British regime for adoption of changes in the curriculum should be abandoned in favour of mere departmental approval. In September 2001, addressing the 49th meeting of the National Development Council at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Goas then chief minister proudly stated: Goa today has reached the take-off stage and is poised to leap into the next phase of development. I invite the Planning Commission and the government of India to boldly go with us where no state has gone so far... In the following decade, India has itself moved to the take-off stage in development

Education
So, where do we go from here? My own thoughts for the future will focus more on education, a field of my lifelong preoccupation and of some modest expertise. To my mind, Goa has an adequate and financially sustainable structure of education-primary, secondary, professional (engineering, medical, dental, pharmacy architecture, law, business , management), and over 40 colleges of liberal arts, basic sciences and commerce. It has a good university whose potential inspires me to make some suggestions. Higher education, notably research, makes humans truly global in their reach. Goa University and the professional colleges must enhance the academic content beyond the mere accumulation of knowledge, tested by examinations which encourage cramming. The inadequate quantum of research in the present educational set-up in Goa is no different from other states and their universities. In the entire country, there are possibly no more than two dozen institutions where truly original high calibre, global level research is conducted. In a survey published last month there was no Indian university or institution among the world's top 200 centers of higher education. I would make a case for the Goa University to develop research facilities of a global level in a limited number of faculties such as pharmaceuticals, certain branches of medicine, mining, marine development and marine biology We should aim at being among the . top 100 in the world in those fields in
Illustration: Rakesh Mundye

Mining
Firstly, the mining industry largely , in iron ore to meet the demands from China, which has been importing low grade iron ore from India, 39% from Goa, which brought last year to the Goa government a royalty income of Rs 800 crore and considerable foreign exchange to the country One has to vis. it the four affected talukas of Sattari, Quepem, Sanguem and Ponda or at best to see the video presentation by Carmen Miranda (as I did at the Global Goan Convention in London last July)

dian universities including the IITs and the IIMs. It should be possible, in the initial stages, either through the India-US Sub-Commission on Education, Science and Culture or through the Fulbright Program to identify and invite experts in curriculum from the most notable US universities and institutions such as the Caltech and the

while at the same time preserving democracy and trying not to destroy the environment. In all this, Goa should march along the bold and cautious direction the country is taking. The writer is emeritus professor of history, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

A Gift of Goas history: The challenge Future should inc lude the past but not all of it of Hindu-Christian partnership
Teotonio de Souza

he Portuguese arrival in India was motivated by the messianism of King Manuel of Portugal who wished to deprive the Turks holding the Holy Land from their financial means of sustaining it with their control of Asian trade. The religious motivation got diluted after his death and was replaced with Tridentine fanaticism that saw the Estado da ndia infected by the spirit of counter-reformation, implemented with the missionary zeal of the Society of Jesus and the inquisitorial methods of banishing dharma and christianizing karma. The declining fortunes of the Portuguese Asian trade following the entry of the Dutch and the English into the Indian Ocean got the Portuguese white settlers involved in conflicts with the Goan natives through intrusion into the village communities and the rural economy. The conversion of souls was replaced with conversion of lands. The traditional ganvkars began to lose their control as a result of this intrusion of khuntkars or shareholders. This shocking development of Goa after liberation marks a continuity with the historical contradictions of the Goan society. One of the major conclusions of my doctoral research (Medieval Goa, 1979, 2nd ed 2009) was that the Portuguese colonial rule in Goa could have been short-circuited and ended some centuries earlier, if the Goan Hindus had not collaborated with the colonial regime as reliable market suppliers, tax-farmers and even as diplomats and dubhashis negotiating peace-deals for the Portuguese with the neighbouring rulers.

The Portuguese political liberalism after the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal in the first decade of the 19th century and the , Portuguese Republican regime in the first decade of the 20th century, made the earlier religious fanaticism irrelevant. The civic and economic discriminations against the Hindu community were a thing of the past. Many Hindu taxfarmers acquired by auction the lands that had belonged to the suppressed religious convents. Many of these lands were earlier confiscated from the Hindu temples and private owners. A near totality of about 700 mine concessions issued by the Portuguese administration of the Salazar regime favoured the Hindus. The problems that Goa is facing today with the mine-extraction has little to do with the colonial regime. With the exception of a Souza family and the Cosme Matias Menezes group, it was predominantly the Hindu mining group that helped the Portuguese to survive the Indian economic blockade. It was a godsend crisis that helped making fortunes. I see the uniqueness of present Goan identity as the net result of a paradox: a mix of the success and failure of the Portuguese in Goa. Their success consisted in converting a sizable onethird of the population to Christianity of t h e we s t er n

brand. Their failure was their inability to stamp out Konkani language and its cultural elements. Despite obvious frictions and conflicts of group interests, these cultural elements continue to bond the Goan Hindu majority with the self-confident Christian minority into a working partnership. The challenge of Goa's Liberation lies in nurturing and strengthening this unique partnership in India. Herein lies one big challenge, which the Goans have been facing and learning to overcome with relative success. It was jointly that Goan Hindus and Christians struggled against colonialism. The proof of it can be found in the proportionate numbers of those who were jailed and exiled by the colonial regime, as illustrated in the Whos Who of Goa's Free-

dom Fighters, a Goa gazetteer department publication that marked the silver jubilee of Goa's Liberation. We owe to Valmiki Faleiro a valuable piece of research published as Patriotism in Action (Goa 1556, 2010) which brought to light the Goan Christian participation in the armed forces of India and their commanding role in the Operation Vijay that culminated the integration of Goa into the Indian Union. The high-point of the Hindu-Christian partnership and leadership could be seen in the unanimous recognition of TB Cunha by all freedom fighters as their representative by placing his ashes in the monument at Azad Maidan. My clarion call to all concerned Goans on this auspicious occasion of the golden jubilee of Liberation, follows: Protect the source of Goan identity, the very existence of Goa, its soil and greenery, fauna and flora. Do not leave them at the mercy of unscrupulous and greedy Goans, be they bhitorle or bhaile. Let us all rally together to save Goa as sung by our poet Manohar Sardessai: Fulam-fantichem/Tambdd matichem/Loknna-chatichem Gy (Goa of flowers and garlands, red soil, and iron chest). The writer is a historian and author

Victor Rangel-Ribeiro

et me make this very clear: When I speak of including the Goa of my past, I am not saying that I want the Portuguese back. Far from it. I was glad when they were pushed out in 1961, and I am proud of the progress that Goa has made since then. But the green fields of my childhood stretched unbroken from my fathers house in Porvorim all the way to the first row of houses in Mapusa; I long for those fields to grow green again, and to be tilled and sowed and harvested again by the sons and daughters of our soil. I want the hills to be lush again with trees, wherever possible. I want the litter to disappear. Corruption as well. Pouff ! The good things that have come with liberation must be improved upon. Take education. I celebrate the fact that the mundkars of my childhood, who were once doomed to be forever our mundkars, now not only own their own homes, but their children and grandchildren have broken with the past and become college graduates. I celebrate the fact that the education they receive has prepared them to work in the professions, and lament the fact that it has also taken them away from the crafts and trades at which their foref a-

thers so proudly excelled. To reverse this trend, we need to develop more vocational schools, staffed by master craftsmen, so our young men and women will learn once again the joy of being able to earn a living by working with their hands. This will involve a change in attitude. An even bigger change will be needed for my biggest wish to come true: My Goa of the future will develop in ways that will help us shed, once and for all, the tyranny of caste. This is not a new dream with me; when I was a child, my parents taught me that we as Catholics have no caste. In college in Bombay, my Jesuit professors reinforced that message. So when, late in 1952, I approached my future father-in-law and asked him for his daughter's hand in marriage, imagine my surprise when I heard him say: Victor, before I say yes or no, do you know we are not of the same caste? I said, truthfully No, I did not , know that. But it doesnt matter one bit; my parents dont believe in caste, and neither do I. I love your daughter and I want to make her my wife. When Sebastian Vaz finally said yes and agreed to our marriage, I walked two hundred yards from his flat to St Xaviers College and proudly told my old guru, Fr Henry Heras, Father, you are the first to hear my good news: I have just become engaged to be married. I expected to be congratulated; instead, he looked at me closely and

said, Is she of your caste? Astonished, I blurted out, No, Father Heras. She isnt. That wonderful old man got up and embraced me. Lea and I were married in 1954 and we lived in harmony for 57 wonderful years, until death cruelly took her from me this September. Not once in all that time, not during the years she and I lived in Bombay and , not in the long years we lived in the United States, did the matter of caste intrude into our lives or create any disharmony We were ab. solute equals in all things; but I'll be quick to admit she was truly my superior in several ways. I realize that the legacy of caste is deeply ingrained in the ethos of many Goans, and it will not be easily gotten rid of. Yet it must be increasingly clear to dispassionate observers that, in the modern world, caste is becoming not just irrelevant but also unbecoming of us as educated human beings. I look forward to laws and education and intermarriage putting an ever bigger dent in it, yet it will not be completely rooted out until all of us realize that a bright blue flame of divinity burns deep in every one of us, no matter what caste others might say we belong to. Developing an awareness of that inner flame is what will make us equal, not relying on who our ancestors were. The writer is an award-winning novelist

Illustration: Sharmila Coutinho

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