Fill In The Blanks

My great grandfather used to till the soil in someone else's field in Divar. My grandfather bought his own field in Divar and tilled it. Later he took up a job so that he could better educate his children. My father initially helped in the fields and later, thanks to the education he received, worked in the Department of Telecommunications. He left Divar and settled in Porvorim so that I could get a better education. I studied to be a Mechanical Engineer, worked for a couple of years and started my business. I am already big making plans for my three and a half year old son.

So why am I telling you all this? Not to worry, there is actually a point to all this. Stay with me.

Human beings, by default, improve themselves and the environment they live in. We are designed that way. When our neighbourhood does not have the opportunities or resources to fulfill our needs we move to newer places.

It is quite easy to look down on migrants, call them "ghantis" and wish that they were never here "spoiling" Goa. Remember they are working hard to provide a better education and better jobs to their kids, just like all our forefather's did.

Basically, life is one big game of Fill in the Blanks. We educate our children to be something better than ourselves. In the bargain, we leave a blank in our place. Someone else comes and fills it up. After all, we are also filling up someone else's blank when we go to work abroad.

We complain that migrants and "outsiders" are taking over Goa. Yes, they are. They are simply filling in the blanks created by the Goans who are "taking over" the Gulf and other countries.