The war is not done with, as yet, the fight will rage on for the next five years, but the spoils of the battle that just ended belong to the victor and the vanquished. In three weeks from now the voters of Goa will wake up to the outcome of the most enigmatic elective event the State has witnessed in its brief history as a “free” country. Many a concerned citizen will occasionally ponder: “Have we really and truly achieved freedom after liberation”?
Yes, Liberation. But what have we done with the supreme prize of liberty so valiantly gifted to us by the generation just gone by, the price of which were acts of untold sacrifice, of blood being shed, and acts of bravery? What evil fit of misjudgment has led many of our leaders sink into the cesspool of greed and corruption?
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Here, I would like to bring attention to the poster headline on the front page of this newspaper dated February 16, 2022. That picture of the daughter carrying her disabled mother to the polling booth, and the article that accompanies it, to me it is a moment of journalistic professionalism at its absolute best, that’s the pinnacle of what it’s all about. It is beyond my league to try and do justice and describe that priceless piece of reportage, but that photograph just altered the well-worn Ibsen adage, it should now read “A picture is worth a million words”. If that lady is us, so be it.
That, and the other story of an elderly lady in a wheelchair being denied her precious right to vote because of the incompetency of an unprofessional and error-prone online digital system. She too can lay claim to an undoubtedly heroic deed. More power to the Wheelchair Activists, armchair activists may apply to other coffee tables. The digital online publication of the Herald is available if you need to access those stories. Please do, and pass it around.
Everything that’s left after a battle is always considered spoiled. Let’s pick up the pieces, the “spoils” of the battlefield, the good stuff and the bad, and turn it to our advantage. We may find that some of those false promises and fake pledges to make everything right, could actually happen. Of course, we do not fall for the “free” stuff, it’s our tax money, and if it does occur, we have paid for it anyway, in advance! It is said that the day you get something for free, it’s the unluckiest day of your life.
As the active and voting segment of society, what can we take away from the recent election fiesta? First, the eighty percent turnout was something that was in sync with the fact of Goa having the most educated, prosperous (per capita) and intellectually motivated population, acutely conscious of their civic responsibilities. The Goan attitude of awareness of what the quality and standards the governing authorities must deliver, demands a higher degree of service and performance levels from all layers of administration on democratic platforms: the legislature, bureaucracy, the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the healthcare and education systems, protectors of the environment. A modern, advanced society will need high-caliber, service-oriented professionals, street-smart people of nobility and wisdom.
All this is right here, within the State. But the most prudent path to follow is to first look deep within our individual selves to determine what keeps us from achieving what must be done to ensure we that find a way life as it should be. Not just what we envision, but the way Life wants to be. The ancient Sages have described numerous examples of how mankind should go about attaining the state of wisdom that provides the knowledge of not just how to live, but also what living is all about. Knowing full well that man would shun elaborate and laborious instructions that need to be followed with great pain and sacrifice and dedication, they simplified Life’s Manual of Instructions to just six easy-as-you go, basic rules, not commandments, but a DIY for as, and if, and when you want. Just Six: Two things to understand, two things to do, two things to think of.
1.Understand that the power, the source of Creation dwells within every human, as that human. As you.
2.Therefore, understand that every human is deserving of the highest respect,
3.Do this: Live your life for others, and this,
4.Beautify God’s world,
5.Think about God, always,
6.Think about your death. All the time.
Let’s leave you with that, your take.
Once the new Government is in place, as a State, we are truly fortunate to have groups of unrelenting and untiring watchdogs who will monitor every promise that was so emphatically made during the run up to V-Day. But what’s more important, we need to be vary of each piece of new legislative proposal, the one’s that will bring about disaster for Goa. If it does go through, or cannot be scrapped, the resistance and dissidence in retaliation must be felt and displayed with resounding vigor until we have it the way we want. No stepping back. As we said, this battle will rage through to the next Goa State V-Day. Protesting has become the norm, but so be it if we have to be the victors of this and every government in the event the elections have not been in favor of our candidates and for what we have fought for.
Remember, every hardship thrust upon us gives us the opportunity to prove how tough and resilient we really are. It’s time to use our will power to engrave a legacy of A Great and Prosperous State in our collective Will after our generation has passed. Goa may seem like a footnote in the vast landscape of the magnificent saga that is Indian Democracy, but the Nation watches, if anything, to learn from us.
(The author is a
resident of Goa)
