Posts
Goan organisations across the globe are expected to converge in London on Friday 22nd July 2011 for the Global Goans convention where the topic of mining in Goa is expected to take centrestage in the discussions. The organisation holding the convention, the Goan Association (UK) is expecting over 300 delegates over a period of two days with about 30 such representatives non resident in the United Kingdom or India .The year 2011 being the 50th year of Goa's liberation, the event is expected to herald the golden jubilee of Goa's liberation on the opening day of the session which will stress on this event. Two of Goa's better known historians Professor Damodar K Sardessai - Professor Emeritus University of California, Los Angeles and Professor Teotonio R de Souza, Universidade Lusofonia de Humanidades e Tecnologias Lisbon, will make presentations on the subject of Goa's liberation.
The organisers of the event the Goan association (UK) are expecting the convention to be a booster for the interaction amongst Goans from the UK, Europe and Goa. The problems facing Goa in the modern age are expected to be deliberated a the convention with many speakers speaking on the impact of mining industry in Goa.
Goans abroad are consistently feeling the angst about the degradation of Goa and believe that they should not sit back regarding issues affecting Goa. NRI's from Goa express grave concern at the corruption in Goa, the garbage menace, sewage problems, degradation of resources due to mining , power shortages, safety standards, bureaucracy and other such related issues plaguing Goa.
There is also a proposal from NRIs to offer moral and financial support while expressing concern for the welfare of the state. The convention will also be a window for NRIs to learn about the services provided by the Indian high commission in the UK and the NRI office in Goa.
Many Goans in the United Kingdom are concerned with issues affecting their lives within their communities which affect their daily life both socially and economically including Job security, care provision for the elderly, inflationary issues, indiscipline amongst the youth in schools etc.
The convention will also have a sammelan in Konkani which aspires to bring all Konkani speakers together on one platform.
Goans in UK have previously celebrated their own events as other such communities prevailing in UK including the Mangaloreans who also speak the Konkani language and there is a proposal to bring together people of the Konkan region and showcase their culture through their music song and dance forms.
The annual UK Goan festival is also being planned on Sunday which will draw a large number of stalls selling typical Goan sweets, Goan food, Goan books, property, travel, handicrafts and other Goan artifacts , with the tunes and the beats of Goan music, songs and folk dancing accompanying the event.
This could be the closest that you can get to Goa, for residents of UK and rest of Europe, without leaving Europe. The organizers of the event are expecting an impressive figure of over 5000 people to participate in the festival with the commissioner of NRI affairs Eduardo Faleiro and other officials from the Indian high commission UK, slated to attend the event.