Our Goa is a land worth fighting for
The Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) had claimed that they had done all the pre-monsoon works and that all the drains were cleared. Despite all those tall claims the flooding and water-logging that the city has been witnessing is a matter of concern. One wonders whether the city’s drains were cleaned.
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Panjim MLA Babush Monseratte’s solemn assurance to the residents of Panjim last year that the city would not see any water-logging this year. The nature’s fury that Panjim and many parts of the State is witnessing has been rightly predicted for years by our environmental scientists Dr Nandkumar Kamat and Dr Joe D’Souza.
The colossal environmental degradation that Goa has been witnessing over the years by way of rampant destruction of hills, fragmentation of pristine vegetated verdant landscapes and ruthless chopping of trees by not even sparing from pouring concrete in the low lying fields is finally showing the impact of criminal interference in Goa’s age old natural ecosystems. The traditional drainage systems, waterways and outlets for natural flow of rainwater are choked all over with no functional drainage system in place. The capacitance Goan communities built over centuries with their time tested strategies designed and it’s resilience to secure us from flooding that we ourselves had witnessed in our childhood has now all gone for a toss.
Lack of proper planning while cluttering of environmentally incompatible new constructions all over without the much needed infrastructure has landed Goa in a State of chaos. The farmers of Goa had never suffered so much at any point in the past. Nature is kicking back as they say. If those in power do not take urgent corrective, well planned and sustainable measures to save the natural ecosystems, the god gifted landscape, the ecosensitive beaches, sand dunes, Khazans, wetlands, salt pans, the last remaining hills and farms, the orchards, rivers, estuaries, lakes, ponds, springs, fountains of Goa for protecting our ecology, we will have to face a bigger catastrophic disaster soon.
Aires Rodrigues,
Ribandar
No holy places and no worship
Today, amidst this pandemic we the faithful people of all religions are in awe. No Church, No temple, No Mosque, No Synagogue and No Gurudwara. We are all isolated. The dead are just buried /cremated without any fervent prayerful ritual. Why us Lord? What have we done wrong? These are the two questions that are haunting us. Are the Gods angry ? No, not at all. God does not ruin or destroy his own creation. And we people have no right to think that God destroys. But we need to introspect, why this has happened? and what we did not do right.
It is right that this malaise is manmade. And man alone is responsible for all the disruptive diseases that plagues the world time and again. The greed for power and money is the root cause of all evil. Dominance of religion known as Fanaticism is another major cause for all the problems. This COVID-19 has opened our eyes and minds to the fact that No God or Religion is superior to the other. Human beings are all equal to the Supreme Being we know as God. So to all the people of the world keep your religion and prayers personal. Do not kill or destroy in the name of God. God has no commandment to say to kill in his name.
We are homo sapiens (wise humans) who are born with intelligence and grow in education to be better human beings all our lives. Religion and prayers is to keep the goodness in the community and not to claim supremacy over other religions. This is the lesson we ought to etch in our minds.
Antonio Pinto,
Benaulim
Celebrating Father’s Day
Father’s Day is usually celebrated on the third Sunday of June. It is celebrated to honour and respect all fathers. The dates may vary slightly in other countries. On this day, children buy gifts for their dads or treat them to special things like a dinner at a fancy restaurant or sponsor a vacation abroad, etc.
Father’s Day was first observed on July 5, 1908, by Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia at the Central Methodist Church of Fairmont. Later, Sonora Smart Dodd thought of having a similar celebration for her father in 1909 while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in church. Her father, Henry Jackson Smart, had raised her up after her mother died young. He had made a lot of sacrifices for her sake and she saw him as a brave, selfless and affectionate man. Wanting to let her father know how special he was to her, she organised a tribute for her father on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. Her father was born in June.
After many years, Father’s Day became an official holiday. Actually many people were amused by the idea of a Father’s Day though they seemed to have no issue with Mother’s Day. It was even a target of sarcasm, satire and parody. Local newspapers made fun of it. It might even have disappeared from the national calendar. A bill was passed in 1913, recognising the day. Finally in 1924, President Calvin announced that the third Sunday in June would be celebrated as Father’s Day.
People buy roses on Father’s Day, a red one for fathers who are alive and a white one for their deceased fathers. Though such days are largely symbolic, many people who have received much affection and support from their parents are enthusiastic about celebrating such days. Like Mother’s Day, it has also become much commercialised. Today, Father’s day is celebrated all around the world every year in order to recognise the contribution of a father in the growth and development of his son’s or daughter’s life. The day is all about celebrating and expressing the gratitude and love towards our dad.
Jubel D’Cruz,
Mumbai
