Goa's Liberation Day - Goa Embraces All! Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Where is my Goa liberated
except in my heart deep within.
Walk those streets of our cities
so many Goans one would know and recognize
today we see so many others walking,
living, having shops in our cities
as grocers, as milkman, as traders,
they have come from far and wide
from across other states of India
and found their comfort here,
they have built their homes and bungalows
next door to ours as years went by
that today they even follow our traditions and customs
is this a gift of liberation?
Walk along the River Mandovi
see those casinos like submarines afloat they rest
so many people rushing there each night
with flavor for gambling and entertainment,
is this our culture, is this our acceptance
or is this a gift of liberation?
Walk those beaches along our coast line
where lovers sat and made endless promises,
today so many Indians, so many foreigners
relax there and sunbathe, drink and party
is this why we pushed away
the colonial rulers
so that others come and enjoy
our beaches, our lobsters and sunshine
or is this a gift of liberation?
And as we get on our way homeward
whether from South to North, or North to South
so many cars with number plates MH and KA,
so many of their huge buses also rushing in
driving recklessly yet never making accidents
though many are drunk and singing,
how enthusiastically they arrive
to find hotels, bottles and bars
that fix them drinks, sell them booze
all through the night
and make them feel Goa is paradise,
is this a gift of liberation?
Now will come a new huge bridge
across the River Mandovi
much bigger than the river itself,
many more tourists it will attract
as these are bridges built
to facilitate easy flow of traffic
and to enable tourism to reach its glee,
is this the gift of liberation?
And as you look into our schools and colleges,
in our government offices and hotels
so many Indian brothers and sisters crowd
the classrooms of our schools, our job seats,
they are everywhere, naturalized,
they speak Konkani having lived here
for decades but their accent not quite the same as ours
yet they acquire their residence certificates,
after they passionately fulfill their dreams of living in Goa
and with the help of our Goan political godfathers, landlords
near whom they initially beg for pity, help and patronage,
until they achieve their goal and succeed to
their constitutional right to live freely
throughout the territory of India;
and before our eyes, under our noses
they work proudly as bank staff, bank managers,
college teachers, college principals,
in water, electricity Departments, Hospitals
though they are not of Goan origin
is this a gift of liberation?
and yet when it comes to elections,
our candidates keep asking Goans to vote for them
when opportunities are seized by Indians not of Goan heredity,
and the facilities enjoyed by such people have enhanced their lives
by getting loans sanctioned to build huge hotels, acquire properties
while we Goans as spectators keep watching the movie called
'Our Paradise Lost' everyday, everywhere,
is this a gift of liberation?
where is my Goa liberated
except in my heart deep within.