GLOBAL GOENKARS SPEAK
NEW YORK
Saligao hilltop is regenerating itself! To understand and grasp the intricate dynamics of the vibrant topography is a demanding and equally tedious task, and only a devoted would invest in this study which demands sustained patience of Job and tenacity. The dynamics of the “topos” (land) with the water is a surreal dance, which escapes the naked eye.
Recently, I visited this bucolic village of Saligao with charming hills and idyllic valleys with long and rich traditions. It has a legacy of prominent artists, musicians and scholars along with much admired post-medieval houses from the time of Portuguese colonisation.
For decades, the Saligao hill has been decorated with a serene monastery which houses young men from all over Goa in search of their inner selves and prepare themselves for the service of God and people.
Today, this Saligao hill is an exciting laboratory which is re-engaging its neighbours in this surreal mystical land-water organic dance which draws one to the axis of the fertility of Mother-Earth.
This laboratory, besides enabling to understand land-water management, it leads to a relationship with Mother-Earth as one walks the sacred trails enriched by opulent canopies of trees, plants and verdant pastures, where one feels really grounded.
The Seminary at the Saligao hilltop nurtures the human-spiritual relationship to know to walk on the earth with a spiritual gaze. Very early in life, Valeriano Vaz understood that our daily bread is a product of this mystical land-water relationship. He leads there a vibrant band of budding land-water managers with a spiritual gaze. The inhabitants in that seminarium, a place to sow and nurture the seeds, are committed wide-eyed seekers of the “divine spark” in Mother-Earth.
Today the impulse is to mechanise, yet to be understood, land-water management as the science of engineering has advanced exponentially. The seduction of efficiency and convenience is irresistible without comprehending the short-term and long-term consequences.
The obsession with “development” has blinded us by angular concreted vertical structures which gives us feeling of being “above ground.” The Konkani word “sudarop” is pregnant with meanings and interpretations; however, in our times it is crystalised in “above ground” vertical living in tight spaces, even though the surrounded by all types of litter and trash produced by the inhabitant living vertically “above ground.”
Near and far neighbours make pilgrimages to this Saligao hill-top to discover the Gaia – the Creator and learn to live in synchrony with Mother Earth. This hilltop is as much a study in geology as it is a study in spirituality, not to be confused with religion.
One cannot do geology without entangling with spirituality. The Atharva Veda hymn 12 reads: “O earth? Pleasant be thy hills, snow clad mountains and forests; O numerous coloured, firm protected Earth! On this earth I stand, undefeated, unslain, unhurt… Whatever I dig out from you O Earth, may that have a quick regeneration; may we not damage vital habitat and heart … (Forestry in Ancient India).
The land-water management is scientific study as much as it is intuitive. It is not just academic knowledge but also the wisdom of the sage. Land-water management demands spiritual relationship with Mother-Earth. Along with physical eyes, one needs spiritual gaze.
[The writer is Chair and Associate Professor at the Division of Mass Communication and Director of Institute for International Communication at St John's University in New York.]
