Septerber 30, 2012
To,
The Editors.
FYI: Goa's free flowing trash bin of a RIVER??.
Goa is a forward looking State which is even projecting it's dynamic Chief
Minister for the Prime Ministership of India.
And, Goa has remained the No.1 State in it's standing alongside other
States through various genuine or make-believe indices, for a long time.
It has bridges that have never been swept during their life-time. [Only a
couple of days ago, it was a pleasure to see the Mandovi Bridge being
actually swept with a broom. This unique feat on the part of the Government
of Goa must go down in the Guinness Book of World Records]
And Goa has it's religions which pollute the very environment that Goa is
famous for, where the flowers pledged to GODs find their way on the
footpath of the bridges when flung from the passing cars packed in
disposable plastic bags, flowers that are supposed to be immersed in the sea
or river as veneration to the Gods. And we complain that the bridges are
dirty??.
Come Ganesh Chaturthi, our rivers and seas become saturated with so much
flowers, toxic paints, plaster of paris, fire-cracker debris and such like
pollutants all pledged to the Gods. And we consume the fish from the very
waters without even thinking twice and land up at the next closest pharmacy
to purchase pills that will sooth our belly's aches.
As you see in the pictures, a mini-truck load of flower garlands of marigold
was dumped into the river at the Mapusa bridge. When asked "What are you
doing?" the response was :"This is our centuries old PARAMPARA. How dare you
question me what I am doing?" . So I say, "I am just taking some photographs
so that the world has a good look and appreciates your 'centuries old
PARAMPARA'. Just yesterday I have posted pictures of the same site i.e.
Mapusa River at the Mapusa bridge showing all the Ganapatis and what not,
including hotel garbage galore lying at the bottom on a high ebb tide. It is
one in a thousand chances that I got to click those photographs where the
water was just palm deep.
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE if we want to live in the 21st century, healthy,
they way our ancestors lived. We cannot go back to the centuries old
PARAMPARAs. And that something must be done by the GOVERNMENTS that we
ELECT. How long will our Governments allow this and other multitudinous
things that happen to take down God given beautiful Goa in order to protect
their VOTE BANKS? Somebody, somewhere, has to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ??
The fact is that the PARAMPARA dictates that God's flowers must be consigned
to the sea, river, pond, well water whatever. Fine. But it becomes very
convenient to pack one's house-hold garbage in a plastic bag and consign it
to the waters, camouflaged as God's flowers. If someone should question this
act, these become God's flowers, our age old PARAMPARA. And, therefore,
life goes on. Also, there is no one but no one to ask such a question to
any one. This is Goa. "Maka kiteak podlam?". Only, there are one or perhaps
two MAD Moidekars who do it on a regular basis, because, 'TENKAM PODLAM' no
matter what reprisals they have to face.
There was a time when I had stopped my car at the middle of the Mandovi
bridge when I had noted from my rear view mirror an air-conditioned sedan
winding its window glass and ejecting a missile into the river, falling
short of the target. When I picked up the plastic bag, there were numerous
goodies including sani-pads in the package. The owner of the posh car was
red-faced and begged to be forgiven. I let him go with this advice " If you,
high class citizens, are doing this in full view, then not much is left to
be desired when you call yourselves GOANS".
Therefore, let us make our GOVERNMENTS do what they are supposed to do. Let
the Governments sensitize the people to do this things in a different manner
and help them to do it. Let us respect our Gods. Let us respect the flowers
that we offer to our Gods. If they must be immersed in water, they must be
immersed in water. It is imperative that we adhere to our centuries old
PARAMPARAs. Do it. Immerse them physically in water. God will love, not
only like, this sacrifice you do for Him. But once immersed in water, take
them back and dispose them where they must be disposed, as trash. Your
belief, your faith remains intact, your duty done to God and to the civic
society. In any case, when you throw the flowers from your car or from the
bus you are travelling in, and when they land on the footpath or on the
road, instead of in the water, are they not trampled by people, animals,
what have you? And is it no disrespect to your Gods?
Someone on Facebook wrote in the context of the pictures I have posted of
the bottom of the Mapusa river at the Mapusa bridge saying that for
centuries the NATURE has taken care of these things. They are there today
and gone tomorrow. As a response to that great philosophy, I have asked the
gentlemen as to how long he is going to test the NATURE of taking care of
things for him and if that NATURE is not going to revolt back and strike in
the form of a TSUNAMI.
Testing NATURE is testing GOD. Isn't it?? And as an example, I have
mentioned this little true story that happened in the United States of
America and which story was shot as a wonderful film. The story is of a
child who is born diabetic. The parents get into the religious fanatic
fervor of believing that GOD always answers one's prayers when prayed
sincerely and from the heart. And they decided to test God with their
prayers. They prayed that the diabetes of the little boy be taken away. And
they denied the boy his regular dose of insulin, which dose he was taking by
himself when he needed it. The boy ultimately dies after screaming for
insulin. There was a police inquiry, a court case, and, the parents were
given lifers for this brutal murder, but the sentences commuted because
there were two other kids to look after. But the judgment read as follows:
GOD HAD GIVEN YOU A MIRACLE IN THE FORM OF INSULIN. BUT THIS MIRACLE CALLED
INSULIN WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU. YOU NEEDED TO TEST GOD.
Floriano Lobo
Gen. Secretary & Spokesperson
Goa Su-Raj Party
9890470896
www.goasu-raj.org
PS: The Registration No. of the vehicle in the picture is GA-03-N-1155
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Goa Su-Raj Party strongly believes that Parliamentary Elections must be
contested by National Parties only AND/OR by a Federation of State
Regional Parties.
with a reciprocating understanding by the National Parties that the 'State
Elections' shall be the prerogative of State Registered Political Parties
only. Even then, and in the absence of such a ruling by the Election
Commission of India, GSRP would want GOANS who are ERUDITE,
knowledgeable about India and its problems, as well as World affairs,
'STATESMEN/WOMEN' , to contest on it's 'TICKET' in the coming 2014
Parliamentary Elections. Let GOA endeavour to send two real Parliamentarians
to the House of the People in New Delhi for once.
