Many of you, well the more discerning of you that is, must be aware of the Swedish teen powerhouse Greta Thunberg. This old soul in a diminutive green warrior’s body has shaken up the world with her common sense, awareness, integrity and grit, voicing her concerns for the earth’s future. Her fearlessness is truly inspiring and bears testament to the fact that you don’t have to be a recognised expert to report a glaring crime, right a wrong and infinitely more important, do everything humanly possible to save lives. The Sonsoddo inferno in the heartland of Xaxtti pride, Raia, should be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back.
The government has proven itself completely inept; although being predominantly male, the MLAs have little to none of the masculine traits that men, city fathers and visionaries traditionally exhibit. They make promises and then shamelessly break them; they sign contracts and then fail to honour them. They are entrusted with the sacred duty of caring for the sick, destitute, young, aged and pilgrims to our blessed land but end up willfully neglecting, hurting, corrupting and looting them all, though not in that particular order.
They frequent 5-star hotels for “business meetings”, jet around the globe to “research ways to make Goa richer, cleaner, greener”, they drive bespoke luxury cars and avail of unwanted highest level security detail to travel a few miles in the safest State in India; they burden the State exchequer with crores in fines, unpaid dues and are culpable for the staggering loss of human life on Goa’s roads. They sit on over Rs 100 cr of central funds given to reforest Goa but are unwilling to carry out studies on groundwater levels. They flout sacrosanct laws while issuing massive tenders.
They regularly and quite ingeniously toss a few red herrings to misdirect our outrage over pressing issues; issues that always lead back to government ineptitude, high handedness or criminal negligence. They change parties without a care in the world while we suffer both the inconvenience of the Election Code of Conduct and expenses of by-polls; they are safe in the knowledge that their fiefdoms.
The Gujarat model with its lust for individual wealth above everything, including gods and country, has nearly killed New Delhi and has left two of India’s most sacred rivers in a pitiable state. Now their gaze falls on Goa, but vultures cannot enjoy what is alive; they would rather maim their prey and let it die and rot before they feast.
Goa is a biodiversity gem, and it is stringently protected by national & international laws. To heck with the unending allegations of EVM fixing in India, we as a people have more in common with the kingdom of Bhutan. It would be prudent for discerning Goans to focus on the Bhutanese model, which is centred on “Ethic-preneurship” and consistently complying with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals: 1. community vitality, 2.preservation of culture 3. education, 4. conservation of the environment, 5. good governance, 6. health, 7. psychological well-being 8. standard of living, 9. use of time
A return to Kaido is Goa’s only hope. It is the only remedy for a one of a kind heaven on earth.
