If by Caju Feni...

If by Caju Feni...


Cecil Pinto has decided to stand for election to the Goa Vidhyan Sabha in 2012. Besides other things Cecil is a well known Caju Feni enthusiast. At a Press Conference announcing his candidature Cecil was asked whether he as in support of prohibition of alcohol, particularly Caju Feni.

This was his reply.

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My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that unlike Digambar Kamat I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about Caju Feni.
All right, here is how I feel about Caju Feni:

If when you say Caju Feni you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Goan man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, and makes him behave like a cheap tourist who does not know how to drink with grace, then certainly I am against it.

But, if when you say Caju Feni you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean festive cheer; the chanting of mandos and dulpodds, a prelude to great dancing, dining and flirting, if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old uncle's step on a rainy, monsoon morning and makes him an expert on all matters; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows, and how his beloved Goa is being raped in a frenzied hurry by the mining firms aided by the ruling politicians; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold crores of rupees, which are used to provide tender care for our little differently abled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.

This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.

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With due apologies to Noah S. "Soggy" Sweat, Jr. who wrote the original http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If-by-whiskey

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