BHARATI PAWASKAR
Graduated from Purdue University, a passionate animal lover Tamanna Ranadive is a certified vet living in Indiana in US since her birth. Born to Indian parents who settled in the US over 25 years ago, she visits India rarely, though her parents, especially her mother Priti Ranadive longs to meet her maternal family in Mumbai and keeps in touch with them and her old friends and relatives via phone, email, skype, WhatsApp and other social media platforms. However, Tamanna does not experience the same longing, yearning towards India. It’s but natural. Born and brought up in America, she feels free and at home there, rather than in the occasional jam-packed family get-togethers in India. Do we blame her, for not exhibiting loyalty to the land to which her forefathers belonged?
The GenNext, that’s born and brought up in a foreign land, may not have the same feelings and emotions for the country that their parents come from. The parents may take pride to identify themselves as Indians, but these new generation kids do not bother to say or feel so. “This is but natural and we can’t blame them for that,” explains Priti who makes it a point to visit India once in three-four years, alone or with family. A part-time librarian, she finds time to chat with her childhood friends in India and pour out her heart. She still cooks Indian food, celebrates Indian festivals and wears ethnic Indian dresses on festive occasions. Does she miss India? When we talk of Goa which has an altogether different topographical regional identity, many wonder, if people from Goa who travel and settle abroad, ever wish to return to their roots? Or is Goa an exception when it comes to clinging to identity?
Samson DaCosta, managing director, Horivacao Pvt Ltd opines, “Goa has unique topography “ mountains and hills, forests and fields, plateaus and valleys, riverside banks and seaside shores. The people here are friendlier than other parts of the country or even the globe. They are more open and welcoming, generous and sharing. People in other states are not so open. They are suspicious and generally do not open their doors to strangers. They check out for the background of the person before allowing him in their circle. But Goans are different. They are warm, welcoming and hospitable. The state being small, almost everyone knows each other. It is this uniqueness of the land that makes Goa different.”
Whereas Marius Fernandis, a cultural activist and ‘festakar’ from Goa who lived in three continents before returning to his ancestral island of Divar two decades ago expresses his happiness to be back to his roots. Agreeing that Goans are always travelling to different parts of the world, Marius points out, “We realise that with its food, music, theatre, dance and festivities, Goa has amazing culture to showcase to the world. Our festivals are multicultural and celebrated together. Each village has some festival or the other and not a single month goes without celebrating a festival, be it small or big.”
Marius adds, “In Europe this togetherness is missing. Everything is commercial there. Even on Christmas, people do not visit churches. There are no cribs, no sweets distribution, no visiting each other’s homes. Festivals like Diwali, Chaturthi, Navaratri bring people and communities together. India is a land of festivals and this amazing culture cannot be replicated anywhere on the globe. We are used to visiting each other’s homes even without invitation, which is very common in India. People who are settled in Goa are wanting to come back for these reasons.”
Marius returned to Goa 20 years ago and is happy that he took the right decision, at the right time. “I had a choice. I was living a lifestyle which I did not enjoy. People suggested that I should return to Goa after retirement. But I came back in my 40s. That’s why I could enjoy life in the way I wished. There is no better lifestyle in the world than what we live in Goa. Europe is all concrete and there’s cold climate. Goa is warm, vibrant and green,” he maintains.
Whatever is earned goes in paying taxes. The lifestyle is expensive abroad. There’s no peace. In Goa, everything is easy, simple and peaceful. This must be preserved for posterity. The whole of India is vibrant and colourful. The culture and ethos make it unique. So, is there any regional identity or the whole of India is different than other nations?
“I don’t agree that Goans are different than any other Indian. Goans also have similar feelings for their land, the way others have for their own. And, if we look at the broader picture, the whole world would be experiencing the same feelings for their motherland,” opines Adv Uday Bhembre, eminent writer and social commentator from Margao.
Explaining what he means by this statement, Adv Bhembre says, “People from other states like Kerala, Bihar or Uttar Pradesh who are settled in Goa, go through similar emotional bouts when it comes to their own place of birth. They have attachment to the atmosphere of the city or state where they were born or where they spent their childhood. People from other states come for jobs and wish to return to their home state after they retire. It is a natural tendency and all of us experience it.”
However, there are times when people who have gone to other countries and settled cannot come back, for multiple reasons. Those who went to the US, settled there. They may wish to come back to India, but their children who are born and brought up in America, do not feel the same way, like their parents. They don’t relate to this land. Most families have not returned to India. Giving example of those Goans who go to gulf for jobs or work on ships, Adv Bhembre observes, “These Goans are eager to come back to Goa because their families are here, their homes are here. They earn, send and spend the money back home. They build houses in Goa, in stages and long to come back. But those Goans who have taken their families with them, hardly come back.”
People originally from Goa had travelled to Africa and settled there. When they had to leave the country, they did not return to Goa. instead they went to Canada, Germany and other countries. If they had a strong affiliation towards their land, they would have returned to Goa. So it is not true that every single Goan wants to come back to his or her land. It depends upon person to person and case to case. However, it is a general and natural tendency of every human being to feel at home at the place where he spent most of his early, formative years of life. Here, it is a known atmosphere, known faces around and the social environment is familiar. When one feels home sick in a foreign, alien environment, it is natural that they come back to the place where they feel at home.
“Hence, it is not a tendency peculiar to Goans, that they want to come back to Goa. Every human being feels the same, about his land. It is a general human tendency to return to one’s roots. Goans are not exceptions. Single persons settled abroad tend to come back as they have families here. Persons with families settled abroad, may not show inclination to come back. And even if the elderly feel, their GenNext is happy living in foreign land, which is but natural too,” concludes Adv Bhembre.
