hemingway

Hi all,

Apologies if this link has already been posted on here, but I'd not seen the article before - a not disimilar article to the one from Martin Smith yesterday. The comment at the end of Michelle Savage's letter has often crossed my mind, but I've never mentioned it on here due to the r****l d************n that could be have been alleged if I had done, plus the fact that it's probably a dead argument anyway due to RBI rules stating FNs can't buy properties in India, where as I guess the UK's equivalent rules for FNs wanting to buy in the UK say nothing of the sort. . . . . . . I'm sure if what I've said is not correct it will soon be pointed out.

http://www.oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=3950&cid=13

Regards

Hemingway

Douglas M

Hi Hemingway,

Fundamental difference between uk and india is that the indian rupee is not negotiable whilst the british pound is.

We (UK) used to have exchange controls too and the equivalent of FEMA to enforce them.

We may not have had (and dont have) restrictions on foreigners buying property , but we used to have controls on how much currency (own and foreign) that could be moved in and out of the country.

Remember, one of the sources from which the goa debacle developed, was the control of inflation in india.

The second reason is national security.

If FNs would stop taking the results of the ensuing measures so personaly, they would find their losses easier to accept.

Returning to the FNs article, if someone would offer me half what my portugese house in goa is (was) worth, i would be delighted.

kind regards

douglas

a_f_d

Douglas, the better Portuguese houses are now being offered at prices north of one crore.

AndyD 8-)#

Douglas M

Hi Andy,

The portugese houses you mentioned are clearly not registered in the names of FNs.

Any house that you are not permitted to transfer, has no intrinsic value , only amenity value.

In my case the house doesnt even have amenity value as i am not wanted in india. Neither has the portugese house of the FNs in question (amenity value that is), hence my earlier comment.

kind regards

douglas

michellea

Hi guys, don't write often but read the posts everyday, some sort of obsession with wanting to read that the goan's reap what they sow.

Douglas, it is difficult to understand how you think people can stop taking things so personal when it is written in the press that we are white trash and in todays Herald, leeches. I am often impressed with the investigation you have put into the matter of FN buying property in Goa, however, there are times when I think a little humility would go a long way. There are many people who can't walk away and start again and if my instincts weren't as quick as they are we would also be in this position.

The reason I don't write much is because I don't want to appear clever in the fact that we got out when so many others are still stuck in this terrible situation, my heart goes out to you all.

Douglas M

Hi Michellea,

I take your point and dont wish to appear arrogant. There are others who provide commiseration .

The noise from goan politicians emanates from the minds of buffoons and should be seen as such. It is only dangerous to FNs if they subsequently insight the local population to riot against FNs, or in declaring open season on FNs, increase the number of scams perpetrated against them.

The real action is coming from central govt (immigration and RBI) and is not case specific. All FNs are seen as a potential threat to india.

FNs will not be able to reverse the decision taken at the highest level to exclude them, so why not accept it and leave with dignity.

On a personal note, please do not underestimate the emotional cost to us of losing our home in india and the destruction of our goan dream. The financial cost hurts too, but only as much as you allow it to.

For all of those displaced FNs in a similar position, please consider the plight of other displaced persons in iraq, sudan, ethiopia, congo etc. They are probably living under a plastic sheet on the side of the road with the ongoing fear of being raped or murdered and wondering where the next meal is coming from.

I was a four star refugee and i am eternally grateful for the intellectual and financial resource that smoothed my passage.

Hence my attitude

kind regards

douglas

michellea

Hi again Douglas, thanks for your reply. Be assured I don't underestimate your loss and do admire the way you are dealing with and accepting your current situation, but we are all different and I'm sure many people use this site just to express their hurt and get some comforting words from others who are in the same boat. I think you have done some wonderful work and have provided a lot of useful information from which people are able to take what they want and leave the rest.

I'm sure we all think of the displaced people all over the world but apart from some financial donation what can they physically do, if they could do more I'm sure they would, hence, they have to keep fighting their cause who else can help them, to not do anything is to accept defeat.

regards

Douglas M

Hi Michellea,

I am aware that FNs are expressing their hurt and there is much talk of fighting , but few seem to understand exactly what or who they are fighting, or how to go about it.

Hardly a winning strategy in my experience.

The odds of FNswinning in goa ie turning the clock back are so remote, that FNs must surely focus on an internal solution. In doing so they will grow as individuals and be enriched in other ways. The Goa experience then takes on a positive aspect rather than a negative one.

Then yours is not just goa, but the earth and everything thats in it.

Rudyard kipling said it all in the poem If.

kind regards
douglas

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

michellea

Hi Douglas, I completely agree and understand where you are coming from and my original post was not to disagree with you but to explain that from my observations of the postings on this site, as individuals we all deal with hurt and disappointment in different ways and should be allowed to express that hurt in any way they feel helps them. Sometimes your postings seemed harsh and that was merely my point and whilst you addressed this in your first reply you have actually continued to say how pointless it all is. I'm sure the people going down on the Titanic clung to each other and the band carried on playing even though they knew how pointless it was.
best wishes

Remy-Ireland

Hi Douglas,

Thanks for sharing that with us all.
So many of lifes lessons in four verses......selah.

Regards,
Remy

Douglas M

Hi Remy,

Just have to get everyone to understand the importance of the now timescale and we have made real progress.

kind regards

douglas

noni

We are on the Titanic

LINEMAN

I would like to think theres a Carpathia coming to rescue a few people
in this dissaster.

Return of Santan

Well hopefully, [email protected] will give our TITANIC struggle a lift (unlike the River Princess)

Geoffs petition, http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Goa-properties/ has 179 signatures so 21 to go so maybe the goodship MILIBAND will set sail and at least TRY and change India's course.. before the SUN FINALLY SETS on Goa:curse: ??

a_f_d

please don't get your hopes up - I have participated in petitions with tens of thousands of signatures, and they are all dismissed on a technicality - in the present case there are plenty of those.
Get 200 people to write to their MP's and you will get a significantly greater result.

AndyD 8-(#