Goans are considered amongst those having the highest per capita income in India. However if we consider the health statistics, Goans by and large seem to enjoy a significantly declining and degrading standard and style of living.
Goans are today wealthy but not healthy. Look at the way Goa is governed by political parties constituted by men, who define polices like headless jumping chicken.
We have created a class of “Mining Dependent Parasites”, who have abandoned agriculture and are filling the atmosphere in the villages by clouding it with mining dust. They thus invite respiratory infections and cancers of all kinds to the population and deprive the villagers the basic requirement of clean and the mandatory water supply. Sonshi and Pissurlem are classic examples of villages crying and dying for a quality life.
Today Panjimites are battered and their lives shattered with unscientific tourism, with casinos and cruise boats not only polluting our sacred Mandovi, but our streets and surroundings littered with garbage and sewage releases from leaking and damaged pipeline connections even of water supply.
Besides, the poultry and livestock which is cut in the CCP Market, their blood and other liquid washings are directly discharged into drains which sadly empty into the river Mandovi. Panjim today is an extremely unhealthy and unsafe destination both for visitors as well as the residents who are victim of enteric infections, life style diseases and the upsurge of cancers.
We today live in the era of misplaced health consciousness and absurd societal values. Just two generations ago compared to those whose constitute the generation today and of tomorrow, there is a complete change in the mindset and the way of life and living. Why is it that Dayanand Bandodkar our first Chief Minister, died while playing cricket but the Goan politicians of today have to visit hospitals day in and day out. The problem is our misplaced understanding of our health value system and societal empowerment.
I, living in one of the most polluted areas in Central Panjim, where urination, defecation, littering of garbage and traffic chaos are challenges on a day to day basis due to umpteen number of casinos, cruise boats and other trawlers stationed in river Mandovi. I have to use all my training and research in environmental sciences and medical microbiology to try and beef up myself against the onslaught of infectious diseases.
It isn’t easy to ward away germs and keep oneself free of physiological ailments in the midst of free flowing pollutants in the air, water, soils and even out forests too as Goa is facing pollution threats all around.
Let alone fruits, meats, vegetables, today our fish too is laced with carcinogenic formalin, besides other adulterants.
As life has it, only “lady luck” is solely responsible for appreciably maintaining my health, amidst severe pollution battering Panjim and keeping me away from seeing and procuring doctor’s opinions on frequent basis for the last 15 years.
However, it is not right to solely depend on a lady luck, especially when you are in the seventies, and as a scientist, I realise that I am doing wrong somewhere, however, I also realised that more often than not, that any two medical practitioners would metaphorically prefer using the tooth brush of his rival, rather than accept the prescription given to the patient by his rival in the medical fraternity.
So instead of bombarding my frail body with too much of medicines, antibiotics, pain killers and diverse cough syrups or drug suppressants given by doctors as first, second or third opinion, as the persist cough. I tamely prefer to listen to my biological clock and inner voice of my body and sheepishly carry out my chore and core daily routines, realising and believing that I am not immortal and that as a senior citizen I should not challenge the laws of environment and respect physiological challenges.
Different medicines by different doctors are often confusing and abusive. At this point of time I am ignoring the heavy toll the food adulteration has over my body.
Modern youth have forgotten that washing own clothes, cars or swabbing floor of the house is an exercise in itself. What is the use of going to health complexes if one does not wash one’s clothes, go to the market and help the family in the chores, do some gardening if possible or even wash the floor of the house or the car instead of giving it out for washing?
By and large all the scientists present agreed that the Goan mindset is actually way ward. Spend money on gyms but don’t attend to home routines. Burn some calories on static exercises but more than calories lost, gather weight consuming junk food. Goan youth today are pennywise and pound foolish.
No doubt, Panjim is particular is seized with a sickly society spending their time between gymnasiums, restaurants, medical practitioners and useless raving or rauting.
Sadly Goa’s governance would be from the portals of our hospitals as we have allowed casinos, cruise boats, festivals of liquor, dance and drugs to take upon as our life styles of today.
It was the labour in the fields which kept any grandparents fit and fine. We specialise today to dance to the tune of Carnival and die young due to the taste to drugs and drinks laced with toxic chemicals affording a momentary kick.
