WAITING FOR OUR BARACK OBAMA.

Let me start this by reproducing today's (23/Jan/2009) GT editorial captioned:

"Waiting for our Barack Obama", which I feel does justice to my earlier piece 'The Obama Effect ' Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 1:48 PM

The 44th president of the United States of America Barack Obama took oath at a time when America was looking for political renewal and a way to make a clean cut from the past years when the country was afflicted with the disease of self interest and was ruled by self seeking politicians. In his inaugural speech, Obama bluntly told the American people, "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some ...." He further warned, "that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous". When he said, "... those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism..." he laid bare the guiding principles of his presidency. We understand that politics is the art of compromise, but in Obama lives the aspiration of a new generation of Americans and world citizens hungry for honesty and an end to a corrupt world that places self interests above society and nation.

More than America this disease of self interest has afflicted India and Goa as well, where the outcome of elections is determined by money and the ability of politicians to balance the petty interest of individuals and pressure groups with personal interests. Today, in Goa almost every MLA is a crorepati or on the verge of becoming one and the thought of standing for an election without a huge reservoir of funds is unthinkable. A lament often heard is that there is no place for an honest person in politics, because the people simply won't elect him or her. Corruption of the soul does not start and end with the politician. It has deeper roots which reach down to the people. We have been overtaken by a spiritual and moral degradation. In the case of America the people voted overwhelmingly for Obama because he symbolized a change from the decadent and misguided approach of the Bush Administration. In electing Obama, Americans sought to redeem themselves. How do we redeem ourselves when the people themselves have embraced corruption? How can we break the what's-in-it-for-me attitude and replace it with civic-mindedness? How can the salt of the earth regain its taste?

Last month, well known columnist, writer and journalist Kushwant Singh referred to the role played by intellectuals like Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzche, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Leo Tolstoy, Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russel in Europe and the United States. India toohad its share of intellectuals, however, their influence is marginal. Singh assigns two reasons for the failure of intellectuals to influence society in India. One is that they wrote in English, which only 10 per cent of the population understands and secondly, the vast majority of people in India look up to their gurus, godmen and priests because they speak there language. The knowledge of these gurus is limited, as a result, "Their congregations return to their homes contented and at peace with themselves because they do not have to wrestle with new ideas. That is why caste distinction persist, foeticide is widely practiced and we continue to breed at a suicidal rate. Our gurus never deal with such social problems. "We could easily add corruption and self-interest to the list.

In Goa we have heard of several instances when those placed in charge of our spiritual well-being have accepted large sums of money from politicians in return for delivering votes of the congregation. We need to make a clean break with the past, but for that to happen we must let go of self-interest and focus on the civic well being of all. The rule must first apply to me and then to my neighbour. We must be the change that we wish to see in society. The question before us is not whether a person who embodies the qualities that we celebrate in Obama exists in India or Goa, but that, if he does exist would we have the courage to elect him?

COMMENTS

The Goa Su-Raj Party wholeheartedly appreciates this piece of excellent editorial. Apart from two most important things the editor has said, (1) "In Goa we have heard of several instances when those placed in charge of our spiritual well-being have accepted large sums of money from politicians in return for delivering votes of the congregation" a line that this party has always been saying with utmost conviction that priests were not only bribed with fat donations but also with brand new cars and computer work stations et al.. and (2) "We must be the change that we wish to see in society" ... which line appears at the bottom of this Party's letter-heads, a quote from Mahatma Gandhi", this party would like to answer the question which is posed by the editor when he says " The question before us is not whether a person who embodies the qualities that we celebrate in Obama exists in India or Goa, but that, if he does exist would we have the courage to elect him?

Our answer is "Obama does exist in Goa, not as an individual but as an entity called the Goa Su-Raj Party and the later part of the question is, in all sincerity, very very potent. Each Goan must try and answer it with sincerity that it takes to revolutionize the way Goa is governed.

Going back to the 2007 Assembly Elections of Goa, the undersigned avidly remembers the conversation reproduced herebelow that he had with this very editor of the above marvelous piece, which will expose the contradictions vis a vis the above write-up from the same man. We are glad to note that a lot of water has flown under the Mandovi Bridges since then and now and needless to say that we appreciate the changed attitude.

This tele-conversation emanated when the undersigned expected one of the Party's important press releases to appear in the GT but did not.

Hello Derek,
Hi Florian,
Derek, I have issued a press statement which I feel is important that your readers see it. Why has it not appeared? Any problem?
Florian, tell me, does your party have any relevance?
Dereck, what do you mean? You have lost me.
Florian, how many elections did your party contest so far and how many votes did you get?
Dereck, GSRP contested eight seats in 2002 and aggregated 1500 votes. In 2005 it contested a single seat in the 5 constituency by-elections and aggregated 206 votes.
Florian, that is exactly what I mean. Your party has no relevance.
Derek, this is very interesting coming from you. Not to be uptight and not to be offensive, let me say that you are a better humour columnist than an editor. But you don't know head or tale of what politics is all about. You please do me a favour. Take that press statement and throw it out of your window. As an after thought, I feel that you should flush it down the toilet for better effect.

End of the tele-conversation.

I must say that today I find that Derek is as good an editor as he is humour columnist.
Cheers Derek, no hard feelings :-))

floriano
goasuraj

BRAVO FOR ROSARY FERNS TIATRO.

New comment on ROSARY FERNS NEW TIATRO IN KUWAIT.

maicher has left a new comment on your post "ROSARY FERNS NEW TIATRO IN KUWAIT.":

Read your article, if I just would say: very good, it is somewhat insufficient, but I am still tempted to say: really good!

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Posted by maicher to G O A at January 22, 2009

Tiatro "KUWAIT SODDUN VETANA" in Kuwait.

Much awaited and much publicized 21st Konkani Tiatro (Drama) “KUWAIT SODDUN VETANA” written and directed by the well-known Goan playwright Rosary Ferns was successfully staged on Friday 16th of this month at Hawally A/C Hall, Kuwait. Witnessed by the huge crowd, the Tiatro started at 4.30 pm instead of at 3.30 as officially announced. Excellent script with excellent messages given in the play by Rosary Ferns for the Kuwaitkars. Such a Tiatro and such messages have never in the history of Kuwait Tiatro been scripted before. These messages should have been given by our Church leaders from the Pulpit but they did not. Where our Church leaders failed, Tiatro Stage succeeded. Church is duty bound to guide the faithfuls in a right direction but neither our local priests nor the visiting priests guided us properly. The visiting priests when they come to Kuwait their main motto is to fulfill their selfish obligation and not to guide the community in a right way to face any eventuality. For this reason we the overwhelming majority of Goan Catholics suffered economically during the invasion of Kuwait leading many of us into misery.

Though all the visiting professional Tiatrists performed well yet the locals especially the amateurs deserve highest compliments for performing their respective roles so wonderfully. In this context, I must mention the excellent role played by Clara Rodrigues as a Kuwait returnee maid. Delivery and clarity of her statements were very appropriate. Both the young girls Riana and Atia the daughter of Tony de Pomburpa as heroines did deserving justice for their beautiful roles. With their youthful looks and attractive appearance they easily captured the hearts of the audience. Riana having the figure of a model and clear serene voice of a princess attracted more attention. Their attractive partners Xavier Furtado and Joseph played their roles much to the satisfaction of the audience. Their elegant presentation and every move and word was measured to the perfection. The last scene of the Tiatro was very interesting where thru Slide depiction Fr. Nevel was shown celebrating the Mass. The display of the Kuwait City Church was excellent.

Seasoned artiste Laurente Pereira once again proved that he is one of the best artistes not only in Kuwait but also on Konkani Stage. His role opposite to young and handsome Kewin Vaz as father and son deserves plaudits, so too of Kewin for performing so well when he was inducted at the eleventh hour. The role of a Kuwaiti played by Bernardo Fernandes was very appropriate and I don’t think there is anybody in Kuwait who can play such an appropriate role. Salu Faleiro displayed his genius in performing extremely well the role of a Bangladeshi Cleaner. With his genuine dress code carrying the Container of wastes and speaking in Bengali dialect he surprised everyone. He was gifted with cash prize money by a member of the audience. In a similar way other artistes who received cash prize money were Sylvester Vaz, Fr. Nevel and comedian Selvy. Though small yet very diligent role of an elderly man was played by Bab Agnelo besides singing a solo. The role played by Marcus Vas opposite to Katty de Navelim as father and son was very interesting.

Hitman Sylvester Vaz, his wife Irene and Cajetan de Sanvordem shouldered the major responsibilities of this Tiatro. Irene left no stone unturned to give her best as mother of two young men. Sylvester Vaz and Cajetan de Sanvordem both played their part well in giving excellent messages to the audience based on the happenings in our community. These are not only messages but cautious alerts for all Goans working in Kuwait scripted by the director Rosary Ferns. The messages conveyed by Cajetan de Sanvordem had better delivery and excellent clarity in keeping up with his tradition as one of the best speakers in Kuwait amongst Konkani speaking people. He got special talent in delivering speeches with his mellifluent tongue and charismatic voice and in this Tiatro Rosary Ferns as director beautifully tapped the resources of Cajetan. It was not he alone, in fact Rosary Ferns as a clever and unselfish director gave every local artiste an opportunity to give his or her best. On the other hand it was nice to see all the local artistes in forgetting their petty differences showed their total affiliation and solidarity to Rosary Ferns not only in staging this wonderful Tiatro but also to raise the level of our Tiatro to the pedestal. Unity is the hallmark of the success and only thru such a strong show of unity we can promote our Tiatros successfully.

The hilarious comedy played by the fantastic comedians of Konkani Stage namely John D’Silva and Selvy created peals of laughter in the hall. Rarely such an uproar witnessed in the hall when both these comedians entered the stage, they looked like born comedians.

Among the side show songs, Lawry Travasso’s both solos were good. Second solo he rendered by mixing up with the audience where he was fabulously applauded by the people. Katty de Navelim’s solo and trio with Rosary and Joseph were much appreciated by the audience. Katty de Navelim displayed his singing talent extremely well as never seen before. Again credit goes to director Rosary Ferns in exposing the talents of his artistes. Francis de Tuem rendered Goan political solos while Marcus Vaz rendered his solo based on dirty politics Tiatrists do in Goa to destroy other tiatrists. The quintet of Marcus Vaz with Francis de Tuem, Cajetan de Sanvordem, Selvy and Sylvester Vaz was fabulously applauded by the audience. John de Silva and Selvy rendered a duo while Marcus Vaz, Laurente Pereira and Cajetn de Sanvordem rendered a trio. Fr. Nevel in addition to his Solo also rendered a trio with Sylvester and Irene, both based on Christian doctrine. Besides, Sylvester Vas rendered separately one solo. Among all the side show songs, the most interesting and admiring song was of Rosary Ferns’ solo on the late Sanny de Quepem where in philosophical words he showed his gratitude to the departed soul. While singing the slide depiction on the stage of Sanny’s photos in past tiatros were found very interesting.

The musical score provided by Shahu and his troupe was worthy of admiration. Never in the past I noticed Shahu playing so wonderfully. It sounded like an Orchestra. He was also playing Saxaphone besides Organ. Sound System provided by John Furtado was flawless which gave an extra booster for this Tiatro. Stage setting by Tomas – Leckinson Arts – deserves credit.

As an added attraction, a nice Souvenir was provided to the audience where besides especial thanking message by the director, entire Programme of the show was disclosed. Thru this Souvenir one could make out that this Tiatro was patronized by some of the top business houses and personalities in Kuwait. During the interval thru the hands of Fr. Nevel, Lawry Travasso released his 2 CD’s.

A. Veronica Fernandes,

Kuwait.