By  

letting  

an  

arrow  

go  

from  

the  

Sahyadri  

mountains  

to  

the  

Arabian  

sea,  

Lord  

Parshurama  

-  

the  

sixth  

avatar  

of  

Lord  

Vishnu  

-  

caused

the  

sea  

to  

recede  

and  

give  

rise  

to  

the  

Konkan  

Region.  

Goa  

is  

more  

or  

less  

at  

the  

centre  

of  

the  

long  

coastal  

strip  

of  

land  

at  

the  

foot  

of

the  

Sahyadri  

Parvath  

(renamed  

Western  

Ghats).  

It  

is  

part  

of  

the  

Konkan,  

we  

speak  

konkani  

and  

are  

called  

‘Konkanastha’  

or  

‘Konknne’

(plural)  

or  

‘Konknno’  

(singular).  

Konknno  

does  

not  

denote  

a  

person  

following  

a  

certain  

religion,  

it  

is  

a  

person  

originating  

from  

the

Konkan.

Fishing  

and  

farming  

are  

our  

primodial  

activity,  

Shanti  

prevails  

in  

the  

Konkan  

and  

everyone  

looks  

after

everyone’s  

needs.  

This  

land  

offers  

plenty  

of  

fruits,  

berries,  

herbs  

and  

grain  

and  

the  

neighbouring

Arabian  

sea  

offers  

us  

a  

lot  

of  

fish,  

salt  

and  

other  

necessities.  

Oh!  

the  

monsoon,  

what  

a  

wonderful

season  

it  

is!  

  

Yes  

it  

rains!  

Sometimes  

for  

ten  

days  

non-stop.  

Everything  

turns  

green,  

the  

sand  

on  

the

beach  

is  

washed  

clean,  

and  

you  

can  

hear  

frogs  

from  

every  

puddle,  

you  

can  

see  

snails  

in  

the  

fields  

and

wild mushrooms for all to eat. There is no want, mother earth provides all.

When  

visitors  

arrive,  

they  

are  

greated  

thus;  

"hea  

gauant  

tumcho  

ieukar  

asa,  

manadic  

soirea"  

(to  

this

land  

you  

are  

welcome,  

honorable  

relative).  

Rituals  

are  

performed  

to  

honor  

the  

visitors,  

celebratory

food  

is  

prepared  

and  

they  

are  

presented  

gifts.  

You  

can  

stay  

for  

a  

day,  

a  

few  

days  

or  

immerse  

yourself

and  

become  

Konknno.  

This  

our  

tradition  

however;  

caused  

Konknne  

a  

lot  

of  

suffering  

as  

a  

bunch  

of  

ill-

intentioned   

protuguese   

‘conquistadors’   

not   

only   

overstayed,   

but   

took   

advantage   

of   

our   

simple

minded  

and  

humble  

hospitality.  

They  

intepretted  

our  

nature  

of  

Shanti  

and  

Ahimsa  

to  

be  

weakness  

and

took  

to  

evil  

means  

to  

enslave  

konknne  

and  

convert  

us  

to  

a  

belief-system  

that  

they  

deemed  

right.  

We  

were  

forcible  

converted  

to

christianity,  

made  

to  

learn  

portuguese  

and  

wear  

clothing  

they  

deemed  

right.  

I  

will  

not  

dwell  

in  

the  

corruption  

and  

wrong  

inflicted  

on

my  

ancestors,  

you  

may  

read  

of  

it  

in  

various  

books  

and  

the  

internet.  

I  

recommend  

a  

book  

written  

by  

a  

french  

doctor  

who  

was  

himself

subjected  

to  

the  

inquisition  

in  

Goa.  

The  

book  

is  

available  

on  

amazon  

and  

is  

titled  

‘Dellon's  

Account  

Of  

The  

Inquisition  

At  

Goa

(1812)’.

We  

will  

not  

retribute,  

retaliate  

or  

get  

revenge.  

I  

-  

a  

Konknno  

whose  

ancestors  

were  

made  

to  

suffer  

-  

am  

asking  

all  

my  

Konknne

brotheren  

to  

consider  

the  

treaching  

of  

our  

Sanarthan  

Dharma  

(universal  

way  

of  

life)  

and  

forgive  

the  

insane  

that  

falsely  

accused,

harrassed, tortured and killed our ancestors in our home-land.

There are three main reasons for my appeal.

1.  

Where  

have  

the  

current  

ways  

got  

us?

  

All  

over  

the  

world  

and  

for  

decades  

we  

see  

conflict  

between  

religions,  

tribes,  

and  

races.

Those  

fighting,  

often  

times  

do  

not  

even  

know  

what  

the  

initial  

dispute  

was;  

actions  

are  

performed  

in  

retaliation,  

revenge  

and  

anger.  

If

the  

thought  

is  

of  

anger,  

retaliation  

and  

revenge  

what  

are  

we  

initiating?  

We  

cannot  

solve  

a  

problem  

with  

the  

same  

state  

of  

mind  

that

created it. If the opressor was evil minded, how can being of the same state of mind bring us justice?

2.

They were INSANE

 and to this day diligently maintain their insanity. How sane is it to attack someone that is insane?

3.

  

This  

is  

the  

way.

  

All  

great  

teaches  

in  

history  

have  

followed  

the  

path  

of  

Ahimsa.  

We  

honour  

the  

likes  

of  

Gandhi,  

Martin  

Luther  

King

jr.,  

Nelson  

Mandela  

and  

revere  

Yeshua  

and  

the  

Buddha.  

They  

all  

confirmed  

that  

Ahimsa  

is  

the  

way.  

Even  

though  

these  

great  

beacons

have  

shown  

us  

the  

way  

by  

living  

it  

themselves,  

we  

listen  

to  

and  

follow  

another  

class  

of  

‘leaders’,  

‘activists’  

and  

‘preachers’  

who

instigate  

us  

to  

retaliate  

and  

get  

even  

while  

they  

profit  

by  

unfair,  

corrupt  

and  

oppressive  

ways.  

Those  

conquistadors  

oppressed  

us  

at

one time - who are our oppressors now? 

In  

the  

Mahabharata,  

Duryodhan  

was  

angry  

and  

determined  

to  

go  

to  

war,  

so  

he  

could  

crush  

the  

Pandavas  

and  

usurp  

their  

pocessions.

On    

the    

other    

hand    

Yudhishtir    

did    

not    

want    

to

participate   

in   

the   

war;   

Krishna,   

did   

all   

he   

could   

to

mediate  

a  

peaceful  

solution  

between  

the  

two  

sides;

the  

two  

sides  

were  

parts  

of  

the  

same  

family.  

One  

side

was    

offering    

ahimsa    

the    

other    

    

yuddha    

(war),

eventually  

war  

did  

happen,  

but  

who  

won?  

The  

side

that offered ahimsa.

Shanti  

and  

Ahimsa  

are  

what  

God  

intended  

therefore

they  

will  

always  

prevail.  

Corruption  

(bharastachar)  

of

our  

soul  

and  

spirit  

results  

in  

anger,  

selfpreservation,

selfishness,  

egoism  

and  

war  

-  

all  

attributes  

of  

insanity.

So  

how  

then  

do  

we  

come  

to  

Shanti  

despite  

the  

unfair

and  

murderous  

killing  

of  

our  

ancestors,  

the  

stealing  

of

our pocessions, the inquisition…..? Chint ixtta!

Ahimsa  

is  

the  

way,  

it  

is  

not  

a  

destination  

-  

it  

is  

the  

way.

Bapu Gandhiji taught us Ahimsa, Jesus (Yeshua) did, so did Krishna and the Buddha.

Just  

as  

the  

christian  

should  

not  

claim  

superiority  

over  

the  

hindu,  

the  

hindu  

should  

not  

seek  

revenge  

from  

the  

christian.  

Like  

in  

the

Mahabharata  

we  

are  

all  

parts  

of  

the  

same  

family.  

Listen  

to  

Krishna  

and  

Yeshua,  

both  

of  

them  

ask  

that  

we  

persue  

ahimsa.  

So  

why  

this

yuddha?

We  

must  

also  

realize  

that  

the  

belief  

system  

and  

culture  

forcefully  

enforced  

caused  

the  

torture  

and  

deaths  

of  

thousands  

of  

our

ancestors.  

This  

has  

to  

be  

made  

right.  

If  

someone  

has  

been  

wronged,  

accused  

or  

murdered,  

we  

need  

to  

atone  

for  

that  

and  

stop

justifying  

past  

mistakes  

by  

sayting  

that  

violent  

measures  

were  

a  

necessity  

in  

old  

times,  

that  

there  

is  

no  

proof  

of  

these  

happenings  

or

that  

the  

people  

that  

did  

and  

suffered  

these  

things  

are  

dead  

and  

so  

we  

cannot  

do  

anything  

about  

it.  

Justifying  

or  

denying  

is  

a  

process

of maintenance  and fortification of the insanity that led to such violence against fellow humans.

The  

konkan  

way  

to  

resolve  

issues  

is  

to  

meet  

at  

a  

‘maan’n’  

where  

-  

over  

a  

meal  

-  

opposing  

views  

are  

discussed  

in  

the  

presence  

of

saints,  

gurus  

and  

sages.  

Both  

sides  

have  

to  

talk,  

no  

side  

is  

the  

winner,  

both  

sides  

accommodate  

the  

other.  

That  

way,  

the  

community

wins. The winner must be the community or society. Discussion, not argument or war is how we come to Shanti. 

If  

the  

injured  

return  

their  

injuries;  

if  

one  

chastised  

by  

his  

superior  

were  

to  

chastise  

his  

superior  

in

return,  

the  

consequence  

would  

be  

the  

destruction  

of  

every  

creature,  

and  

sin  

also  

would  

prevail  

in  

the

world. - Mahabharata