Prava Rai's edit in Parmal: identity issues

PRAVA RAI, editor of the Goa Heritage Action Group's journal PARMAL, sent me the electronic text of her edit in the latest issue of the journal. From Google.com here are some links featuring the Goa Heritage Action Group, while their GoaHeritage mailing list is here. And here are some links to Parmal, from earlier postings in cyberspace. Prava writes:

Often the question of identity is related to land and sometimes our notions of identity cross boundaries as swiftly as our thoughts take wing. Invisible strands of nostalgia and affection bind us to the land we are born in. Nowhere is this more evident than the sentiments expressed by the members of the Goan diaspora. And nowhere is it more powerfully articulated than in the works of artists and writers who dwell time and again on their childhood and their homeland. Memories of festivities celebrated, the smell of the first rain on dry earth, the food prepared and consumed and prayers at churches and temples are threads that link them to their heritage.