May His Spirit And Legacy Live Forever
Man thou are dust and unto dust thou shall return, were the words that were
rung in the ears of most Catholics in Goa on the 22nd of February this year,
the symbolism of Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are indeed mere insignificant
mortals, alive today gone the next. We do not know nor can we foretell the
longevity of our existence. But we can be sure of one thing, sooner or later we
will get the "call" which we will not be able to re-route nor will we be
allowed an extension, so we will have to go, we come with nothing and we go
with nothing but when we go, we do leave behind a trail, a trail that will
reflect our existence.
I am sure Mr Mathany Saldanha nor any one else must have thought that the
significance of Ash Wednesday would be a reality four weeks into lent. On that
fateful day and at that fateful time he was called and he had to leave, as
everyone else he may have taken nothing with him but with the trail that he has
left behind, he has left us a legacy, a bountiful reflection of his existence,
like any of us a mere mortal he may have been but what he has left behind is
his immortal legacy.
Since his sudden and untimely demise, platitudes have been pouring in from all
sides far and near, from friends and foes alike. Someone has even called him
the father of activism in Goa. Yes, he was a born activist, a sublime orator
and ofcourse a crowd puller, he was blessed with charisma that could turn any
lateral movement into a tsunami of mass participation and I had seen this
blitzing effect during the language and SEZ movements. These have been two gold
stars among the many on his never ending silver lined resume.
Goa has indeed lost a dedicated and honest fighter of the Goans causes. He
excelled in his fight for the rights of besieged fishermen and for the
protection of our fragile environment. He had a vision of a corruption free and
a greener Goa. Now with his untimely demise, it's only appropriate that his
friends and colleagues in the Goa administration keep alive his vision and his
dreams of a better and a greener Goa in sync with his legacy.
It is very disheartening to note that Goan politics has stooped so low that
even before the mortal remains of beloved Mathany Saldanha were buried there
was a buzz about candidates for the by-election and a few even sighed a sigh of
relief fancying their chances. It does show our shallow or hollow reverence and
lack of respect for a man who gave so much to Goa and Goans without expecting
much in return. A by-election will surely be on the cards but as a mark of
respect for the departed Soul, it should have been left till an appropriate
time.
In the last few days going through the writings on Mathany Saldanha in the
print and electronic media I have realized that it is indeed true that, the
worth of a person of the caliber of Mathany Saldanha is only know after his
death or can anyone explain why a good person like Mathany won an election in
Goa for just the second time whereas imbeciles, crooks and scamsters have been
winning elections for the last 15 to 30 or even more years ?
We all know that Mathany Saldanha was a good person but it is not enough to say
he was good, what we need to do is, promote and elect good and honest people
only then we will get good governance in return. I surely hope the many
aspiring to be politicians will take honest and dedicated Mathany Saldanha as
their role model and try to walk in his footsteps and work for the greater
glory of Goa and Goans like he did. May his spirit and legacy live forever and
may we Goans elect good and honest politicians in future.
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