Pride & Prejudice

Is it natural to feel doubts as a Goan. Well here's some diehard views ..

a) D'costa -" Why should we have a serious, upright, image of ourselves, when nobody else does?"

b) D'mello -"Goan public relations appear to have been handled by the same firm that represents Charles Shobraj."

c) D'sozzled - "For years, the image of Goa that was broadcast to the world were the Bollywood movies, which depicted this as a place infested with drunks, violence, drunks, paedophiles, drunks, homicidal psychotics,drunks,loose women and did I say drunks ? -- worst of all -- really stupid movie plots. Goan "literature" was portrayed by cartoonist Mario Miranda, Goan classical music took on the image of pop singer Remo Fernandes, Hic !"."What happened"

d) D'lima - "People take these images seriously. When you travel to other cities, and you tell people you're from Goa, they never consider your opinion seriously."

e) D'loser - "Every few weeks you see an article about how some organization has announced its annual list of the Ten Nicest Places to Shop, or the Ten Best Places for Entrepreneurs, or the Ten Easiest Places To Get A Haircut In While Playing The Bongos Naked During Carnival, but whatever the category is, Goa is never in a top group. Goa is always something like No. 13, behind Bihar and Tihar Jail."

f) D'father & D'son - "So, OK, we have an image problem. But one thing you can say about this state: When the going gets tough and the game is on the line, we Goans have an amazing ability to suck in our guts, tighten our helmet straps, and shoot ourselves in the foot.

Sometimes this is just plain bad luck, as when John Paul II attempted to hold an outdoor Mass here, and a lightning storm threatened to turn him into Pope Shashlik. But sometimes we have to put real effort into screwing up, as when we hosted the 2006 "International" Film Festival, and national media people, who had come here expecting to be pampered into a stupor, wound up sprinting through Miramar, their clothing singed by the flames from the friction of crowds trying to squeeze into the movie venues."
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