This was a complete, vicious, heart- wrenching dagger, dug deep into our very soul.
Memories of innumerable performances and playful rehearsals, prize distributions and comic skits, Evita Peron and Percussion Bondo , perfectionist tiatrs and proud nataks all came crashing down in one intense, self- inflicted gaping wound into our collective consciousness.
So I muse and I reflect as the sheer genius of my friend Charles Correa is scoffed at first, then disparaged and finally devastated in an enterprise of triumphant Evil.
So, let’s ask ourselves these questions…
If this government of charlatans are in a python-grip majority and are in no danger of collapsing,
Do you think they give a Flying Fish (since it's a family column I use Fish ) about the collapse of the Kala Academy??
If this government is in a python-grip majority, with no danger of collapsing,
Do you think they give a Flying Fish about the collapse of Panjim's infrastructure, her roads, her sewers , her electric poles??
If this government is in a python-grip majority in no danger of collapsing,
Do you think they give a Flying Fish about the collapse of the environment, our water bodies or the Regional Plan??
If this government is in a python-grip majority and is in no danger of collapsing,
Do you think they would give a Flying Fish if a bridge, a road or a heritage building collapses somewhere??
If this is a government with a python-grip majority and in no danger of collapsing,
Do you think they would give a Flying Fish about the collapse of societal values in our youth and elders addicted as they are to Drugs, Crime and Hatred for the Other??
Why should they??
Because we can collapse under the debris of our own making.
They are simply going to sit there, brazen it out and plot how to bribe you when they Fish you out of the wreckage of our own making.
The argument I make therefore is this folks…
All we are seeing is the visible signs of collapse around us and then getting suitably offended, enraged and puffed up with outrage.
What we miss is that invisible collapse in Goa, which has been encircling us like a poisonous serpent for decades now.
The silent collapse of DEMOCRACY
The last opposition leader of substance we had was Manohar Parrikar who never ever thought of defecting come hell or high water.
(That he later brooked no opposition as a ruler, and went back on most of his promises is another story).
Since then, even if you witness Vijay Sardesai frothing at the mouth, now that he is in opposition, you instinctively know it's play acting.
Remember he was in the BJP government in 2017.
So if he was in the government today, he would be defending Govind Gaude in a virtuoso performance fit for a Kala Academy screening.
Our current legislators are just out there, displaying their wares in dark moonlit streets just waiting, praying, hoping the government invites them to their house and pays them the right price.
Barring a few honorable exceptions like Carlos and Venzy, Cruz and Viresh, and perhaps a few others, we saw how Michael, Diggy et al just waltzed into another party.
The mandate be damned.
So, if only civil society and editorials are to be the genuine voices in opposition to a government are feeble and technical at best…
And if every institution from the police to the bureaucracy to the deliverers of Justice are compromised and threatened, you have a perfect recipe for the Death of Democracy by Design!!
But the ruling class must be aware that the more they emasculate, frighten, threaten and buy out the opposition, there will come a day when they will be in direct confrontation with the people of this state.
In most mature democracies, the opposition party acts as a buffer, a kind of a safety valve for the ruling class.
You take that away and the dam is bound to burst.
Sooner, other than later.
For the people of Goa: please continue to sing your mandos and fados, do your rock and roll while trampling on the environment, seek out the highest bidder for your vote.
Have a blast.
It's a short life.
We are on the cusp of witnessing the complete collapse of Goa, in the not so distant future.
Dead Reckoning Part 2 for us has already begun.
And trust me, even Tom Cruise won't be able to save us from this catastrophe!!
Post script:
After all this, I am sure that, apart from Claude and Norma, Patricia and Prajal, Heta and Rajendra Kerkar, Father Bolmax and Dean, and all those noble souls who keep the flame of resistance alive,
The rest of us (myself included) will simply collapse in our beds, bury our heads in pillows stuffed with ostrich feathers and drift off into a sound, silent, sullen sleep.
DR OSCAR REBELLO GOA