One of the positives of this state is the social consciousness of the people. There are people in the state who are willing to come out on the road to fight against injustice. This however at times can lead to some odd situations when two different groups come out to fight for the same cause but are not doing it together. This has been highlighted in a song released by Hemaa Sardesai , Ryan Mark and others. The song called “Oh Goenkara- SANGATAN CHOL MUKHAR"( the full name oif the song) urges Goans to unite and fight for the same cause because that would mean a pooling of resources and victory for the state.
Gina Pereira who is the force behind the entire exercise said she had witnessed two people fighting for the same cause and not uniting on several occasions. Gina said “We approached everyone from individuals to groups who were fighting for various causes and those who agreed and responded are all there in the song. The ones who did not are not in the video”. She said the idea for something like this was bubbling in her head from the time she got involved in the campaign to bring the seafarers back home and watched the difference in opinion between the north and the south. She also has been watching the various groups fighting to save Mollem but all of them were on different pages. She said, “We are all together, we have to be together, and this song is also about those trying to split us into various communal groups which have to be resisted”.
Hemaa Sardessai decided to sing this song because as she put it “It is about my Goa and for my state, I will give my all. In Goa there no differences really when you look at it seriously. There is a small group who don’t belong to any religion who are trying to play this divide and rule game. They feel they can divide people and attract people to them”.
Goa, she said were always united and in the song, there were Goans of every religion performing. The lyrics she said were fantastic and could have been written by her. She said “I went into the studio and sang it with joy and happiness. When we did it Ryan said it made him feel very happy.”
Ryan Mark the man with fingers of magic in the studio was approached by Gina through his brother. He said “I was skeptical but after eight hours I realized she was not politically connected and just wanted to do this out of her love and concern for Goa. After talking to her I emailed my friend with an idea and Errol Fernandes in Bahrain wrote the lyrics”.
He decided to go with the beat of the shigmo which has not been heard internationally and then gave a powerful intro. He said “I got musicians from all over Goa and outside to be part of this song which they did without hesitation. We had a shout out from various groups and individuals involved in various campaigns to sing the chorus. The singing was primarily done by Hemaa, Christopher, me, and others. It was a fantastic experience”
Hemaa hoped this song could become the song of the state and hoped every Goan would sing this song with their heart.