Maria it is nice that you appreciated my mail on politics in Goa from abroad. But whatever our Goan writers write, there is no chance that Goan readers can read because most of the time these are not been published. I do not know what is wrong with most of our local editors.
Now about Digna's son yout relative who died on motocycle accident near Bambolim is due to rash and negligence driving by an outsider driver of a big vehicle INNOVA who knocked him down. This case has lots of publicity in the press. Our politicians and the Tourism Dept are interested in tourism in GOA and we are the suffers not only by depriving our essential commodities but also cost of living going high.Plus our roads are in bad shape, garbage problem, environment damage ,corruption etc Goans cannot afford to eat fish, beef, mutton but only vegetables that too contaminated with sewage in the fields in Taleigao. This is the fate of our living in Goa.It is gone from bad to worst. Stephen Dias Dona Paula Sent from my Samsung device On 21 Sep 2016 05:36, "Maria Vaz" <mariavaz...@hotmail.com> wrote: Hi Stephen, I sent you this email a few weeks ago, but it may have gone to an email you no longer use? Not sure. Anyway, am re-pasting it to you now. Not sure if you heard, but we just got the news this morning that Digna's son Kevoy died in a motorcycle accident last night. I've sent a message to Kevia (his sister) but not sure if she got it. We are still in shock. So tragic and I think he has a young family now. Hope you guys are well, especially Caroline. Love, Maria Sent to you a few weeks ago.. Hi Steven and Caroline, It's been ages since I wrote and I must admit that I have fallen behind with keeping up with Steven's activist emails. Good on you Steven, keep up the good work, but be careful too. I know that whatever you're trying to achieve is in the interest of the common man. Not many people are bothered, so it's commendable that you fight against corruption. I see Karen's posts on facebook every now and then but besides that not much news has crossed back and forth. I hope you are both well and in good health. I am writing mainly to let you know that our house will be completed by January next year so hopefully you will visit us then. I really want you to be among the first ones that come over. Marcus has indicated that he'll be here in June, so you could even travel with him and Philo. We are all well here, bit busy with the house building as we're living on site whilst the extensions and demolitions have been taking place. Can't wait till it's all over. Nathan and Naomi have both move to Canberra for work, and Naomi has started studying law as well. she does this after work. crazy schedule but she is managing fine. Noah is in his third year of Media Communications and Law (doing a double degree) so is also quite busy. What are your girls up to? Caroline, how is your mobility these days? I'm sure you're as strong as ever and always smiling no matter what. By the way I've been in touch with your friend Mathews Pulican from time to time and I feel really sad for him since his wife died. He seems lonely, so I write to him whenever I can. I guess life still happens when you're planning other things. I'll end this short note to urge you and the girls to plan a trip here. We've stayed with you so many times in Goa, it's about time you let us spoil you both a bit. Love to Caesar and Steven's family too. send me some news about Goa.. Kind regards, Maria ------------------------------ *From:* Stephen Dias <steve.dia...@gmail.com> *Sent:* Tuesday, 6 September 2016 8:02 PM *To:* Sujay Gupta *Cc:* editor; secretary herald; Michael- Manager Herald.; Alexandre Moniz Barbosa *Subject:* MY OBSERVATIONS ON ARVIND KEJRIWAL NARRATION MADE ON GLOBAL INTERNET ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------- To, The Editor, Sujay Gupta Heraldo Panjim Dear Sir, Kindly consider my article in your esteemed paper O HERALDO -alongwith with his text or no text whatever it suits you , Sir . (enclosed herein) This has a narration from Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader which appeared in the Internet on 5th September 2016. Hope you will publish as quickly as possible. Kind regards Yours faithfully, Stephen Dias Former NIO scientist Dona Paula AAP had a few tainted ministers, no doubt. They committed blunders including one involved in a sex scandal, but Arvind Kejriwal sacked this MLA involved immediately, which is to be appreciated. *Neither BJP, nor Congress *party have ever taken such steps so quick, to remove those involved in similar unacceptable action or cases. They either are suspended or later reinstated with full salary and arrears. That is the action taken after ascertaining the wrong done and not allowed him to continue, thereby demonstrating that AAP will not tolerate illegalities. It is simple that once you give them a chance to explain, that they hire the best of best lawyers and turn black into white and twist the facts to their advantage, and go scot free. Do we want that? Whatever Arvind Kejriwal has done so far, we need to appreciate and keep in mind that we need a change in government in Goa and that also we need to keep them on watch and censure their activities at the right time when they do wrong. Who has been deputed to the Vatican from Goa? Only, Luizinho Faleiro ? I do not have any idea of anyone else from the public who attended the canonization. Definitely no politician from Goa or Independents formed part of the delegation to the Vatican as per my knowledge. No Goan politician has to my knowledge associated so closely with a charitable organization in person and volunteered to work with such missionary zeal as Arvind Kejriwal. Please refer to the below quote made by Arvind Kejriwal and his entire narration of his association with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity which she founded in Kolkatta ( attached herein) : Quote: I am extremely happy that the Mother has been bestowed with Sainthood now. I am also happy to have been invited by the Vatican for the ceremony. My reaction: Kejriwal’s life has been influenced and touched by his association with Mother Theresa and hope that Saint Teresa will bless Kejriwal and his team to make Goa free from poverty and corruption. Stephen Dias Dona Paula Mob: 9422443110 [image: Mother Asked Me To Stroke The Dying So That They Would Feel The Warmth Of Another Person – by Arvind Kejriwal] It was November 1992. I was working with Tata Steel at that point—I had appeared for the civil services exam the previous year and had been selected for the Indian Revenue Service. In order to improve my rank, I took the exam once again and so, that November, I had just finished my mains. I already had IRS as an option, but my real keenness lay elsewhere. I wanted to do social work. So I went to the Tata Steel management and requested them to transfer me to their social welfare department—the wing that does all its CSR work. They refused, saying they had hired me as an engineer and wanted me to do engineering. I resigned from Tata Steel and, following my natural desire, went to meet the Mother in Kolkata. It was morning and there was a long queue of people who wanted to meet her. She was meeting everyone for a few seconds. When my turn came, she held my hand and asked me, “What do you want?” I said, “Mother, I want to work with you.” She asked me to go to the Kalighat Ashram—which was one of the important centres of the Missionaries of Charity—and work there. I did as she told me. Kolkata is a place where you have both extremes: extreme poverty as well as extreme opulence (I don’t know whether the situation has changed now). Those days, if you walked on the footpath you would find many beggars, some of them in a terribly pitiable condition. There would be wounds on their bodies, often worm-infested. Our job required us to move around the city and bring such people to Kalighat Ashram and nurse them. Some of them would be in a state of near-total physical disability so we would actually clean their excreta, wash their clothes, nurse them, cook food for them and help them eat. Mother told us that these were people who had never experienced dignity in life. She believed it would be a great service to God if we offered them at least dignity in death. Most of them would be brought in when their condition was so bad that it was clear they were in their last moments. A volunteer would put the dying person’s head on his lap and stroke the person with affection so that a dying human being could at least feel the warmth of another—the final reassurance that someone actually cared for him or her. I too had the chance to participate in and experience such moments of communion. “I resigned from Tata Steel and went to meet the Mother in Kolkata,” recalls the Delhi CM. There were times when a person would come to Mother Teresa’s house, get healed and then go back to the streets, only to return in a worse state. I asked Mother once, “Why don’t you provide them skills so that, after getting healed, they can become self-sustaining?” She had a very simple answer: “That is the job of the government and various other NGOs.” Her job was to serve the people. By serving people, she was serving God. The whole experience was a spiritual one for me. I stayed there for a few months, till I got an interview call. I was happy that I could be there, participating in her unique work. During my time there, I must have met Mother a few times and each meeting was a spiritual experience. She was a noble soul with a higher consciousness. I still remember my routine at the Ashram. I was in the morning shift. We would reach there at six in the morning. Our first job was to cook breakfast for all the patients. Then we would serve them and help them have breakfast, after which we would clean utensils. Some of them were bedridden and we would clean their clothes every morning. Often their clothes were completely filth-ridden. Regardless, we would clean them. By then, it would be time for the next task—preparing lunch. Just like with breakfast, we would cook, serve and help them have lunch. By this time, the first shift for volunteers would be over and the second set would have come in. It was a very tiring schedule—working without a break from six in the morning till one or 2 pm. Volunteers used to come from all walks of life, all kinds of people from all over the world. That was my first experience of public service. Mother said these were people who had never experienced dignity and it would be a great service to God if we offered them dignity at least in death. There was a huge turnover of volunteers—some would come for two to three days, others for a week. Since no skill was required, anyone could come and join as a volunteer. After my stint with Mother, I spent a couple of months with Ramakrishna Mission before joining the academy. The RK Mission work was different. We used to visit villages and campaign against alcohol and promote self-help groups. During those days, I was staying with one of my friends, Vikram Bhargava, who was also working with Tata Steel. I am still in touch with him. He is in Lucknow now. I was from IIT-Kharagpur and Vikram was from BIT-Ranchi. During my Kharagpur days, I never really thought about going to Mother Teresa. That desire took hold of me when I was at Tata Steel. After passing out from the IITs, people normally go abroad. A large chunk of my batch mates too went abroad. In fact, I took the civil services exam because I thought civil services would offer me the chance to do something for the country. When I went to Nagpur for training at the National Academy of Direct Taxes—that is where IRS trainees go—I found out that there was a Mother Teresa ashram very close to our academy. I had met Sunita, my wife, at the academy—we used to go to the ashram every weekend. We kept up with that routine religiously all the while we were there. The Nagpur ashram was different. Unlike the Kalighat ashram where volunteers did a lot of work, the Nagpur one was run by nuns. So we didn’t have much to do there. In Delhi, there is an ashram at Majnu ka Tila, but I have managed to go there only once or twice. Unfortunately, we could not continue with the visits the way we could those days. At Civil Lines too, there is an ashram for children. We have been there a couple of times. I am extremely happy that the Mother has been bestowed with sainthood now. I am also happy to have been invited by the Vatican for the ceremony. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------