SPEECH: By Oscar C. Lobo (Australia)

SPEECH: by Oscar C. Lobo
delivered at the Global Goan Convention – Kuwait - 16 & 17 November 2010.

Mr. Carmo Santos, Chairman, Mr. Suresh Naik, President, Mr. Ajay Malhotra, Ambassador of India in Kuwait, Mr. S.K. Srivasta, Chief Secretary – Government of Goa, Mr. Luizinho Faleiro ex Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. U. D. Kamath, Director of NRI Affairs, Members of the Executive Committee of Goan Cultural Centre, Kuwait, Ushers, Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.

Al-Salam Alaicum oa rahmatu allah oa barakatoh!
Deo Boro dis diun
Namascar!

There is a saying in Kuwait which goes “whoever eats Hamoor will return back to Kuwait. I must confess that I ate the fish when I once lived in Kuwait for 18 years. I am back after 22 years having lived 12 years in New Zealand and 10 in Melbourne in that duration. In Hindi someone would name me as “Aya sawan ghoomke”.

It is my great pleasure and honour to be in Kuwait for the Global Goan convention 2010 along with my son Joshua Lobo. I have made this journey of 6,447 miles from one continent to another. I seize this opportunity to pay my respects to the elders of this nation on whose land Crowne Plaza has been build and my salute to the late Sheikh Saad who was once the crown prince of Kuwait and loved Indians.
I am also here to make a difference to this convention and with that thought “what we can conceive is what we can achieve” I am hopeful that by the ed of this conference we will take a new leaf and a joint strategy and have the wheels of change in motion.
There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that “A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation” I hope my speech for the next 10 minutes will mark the beginning of a new chapter on “Goan Unity” for which I have presented myself here today “Tumchea some mezar”

A lot has been preached to the Goans on Unity be it by means of Sermao from the pulpit, Goan forums, meetings, taverns et al. Unity can be achieved if we really want to follow the 11th commandment “Love one another as I have loved you”. Do we really love one another? Nothing in this world can survive without love. Even Beatles said “Money can’t buy me love”. Human offspring come around with love, so does the flowers that we plant and water. Without love there cannot be unity or Trinity!

Our motherland Goa is under attack, our hills will no more be alive with the sound of music. Our zoree’s (rivers), our beaches are used to release human reserves whereas Bollywood continues to project us Goans as drunkard or flirts.
As Goans, we have been challenged since 19 December 1961 when Goa became part of India. Even the late Prime Minister, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru did not know what being a Goan was all about and said words to the effect “Goa ka lokh ajeeb hai” . I was a young lad of 14 years on the day in the fields when I heard the noise of bridges being blow up and helicopter circling around the fields with Laura announcing from helicopter “Bevonakai, tumcam kai zavchenah”.
Are these the golden words that need to be embossed in Goa’s history?

We Goans had no say about our own land or about our future. It was “let it be done”. I am still unable to reconcile why Mahatma Gandhi’s principles were not followed by Nehru when he was earmarked to be Gandhi’s successor. Was it a Popularity contest?
Could the so called “liberation” of Goa have anything to do with our attitude?

Was the Portuguese responsible for making us jealous of one another (crab mentality?) by maintaining two tier basis when dealing with Goans in Goa? Goans should have been given a chance of self rule, like Falkland Island and a separate country East Timor – which was once ruled by Portugal and got independence on 20 May, 2002!
Are we orphans in our own land? Why do many of our Goan Catholics or Hindus leaving Goa? Recently Mr. Bhanudas Sawant, Pharmacist, left Goa and has settled in Melboune to encounter an unpleasant episode.
I know it is easy to deliver speeches from Sobeh Mezar – Goenkaranoo, there can be no community without humanity and humanity is not complete without Unity. It is that time now to join hands with the party that “you think” has the genuine interest in Goa. We should not be taken for ride each and every time.

I applaud those Goans in Goa, in the Middle East and a handful overseas who are genuinely spending time and money to restore what is left of Goa.

It is one thing for me in Australia to say GOA MERI HAI and other thing to go on great holidays in Goa and then criticize Goa and its administration.

The million dollar question is ARE WE Goans ready, hungry, thirsty to save and restore what is left of Goa? Or are we continuing to stick to our sussegad attitude? Goa is maimed, bruised and raped by others. When will we get up and say enough is enough. The only political person that I know who had a soft corner for Goa was late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Today the mantra “teamwork and unity” must be adopted for the attainment of success.
We cannot afford to work in vacuum. When one works in a team, the pressure is distributed and attainment of success seems relatively easier. Success seems to come Nearer and appears more realistic. Encouraging one another in a team gives additional strength to achieve the goal. As the popular saying goes “you are one when you are one and you are ten if you are with another four”. Unity has always been the strength. Not only in intellectual human thought, has this truth been applicable even in the animal world from the ages. Once can seldom see an elephant or a deer roaming alone in jungle. Goans need to be like the lesson of the geese flying in the V formation. This increases the efficiency of each Goose by 71 percent. Focus, efficiency and keeping sight of the destination will attain the goal of getting Goa out of the present crises earlier then expected.

My Goan brothers and sisters let us pledge our individual support for “Goan Unity” right at this moment. Let us kick out our DNA issues – like knee jerk reactions, undermining, assumptions, perceptions and take account of our “Character Ethic” and “Personality Ethic” It is time for us Goans to make the desired Paradigm change.

If we Goans continue to undermine one another, someone else will continue to take what is left of Goa even our Izaat, lest Goans will be called “goonies” and may be one step closer to going surely in Goo-an! The onus lies with us for the sake of our children and grandchildren. History should be made as a result of this conference. “He has paid the price and so have we to pay the price to retain what is left before we loose it all”

Deo borem korum! Shukran Jazeelan and Maa salama!
Salam Namaste.

Oscar C. Lobo
16 November 2010.

http://www.melgoans.com/pdf/Ghozali%20Nov%202010.pdf