The Bittersweet Pandemic

Though ‘Covid-19’ brought the entire world to a halt, monetary activities are gradually resuming due to various compulsions. While ‘Covid-19’ has brought the disastrous news of a huge number of deaths globally, it has also taught us new skills and introduced us to platforms like ‘Zoom’ and ‘Google Meet’ which would not have grown in popularity if not for Covid-19. 

 

News like the robotic dolphin which has the potential to replace zoo animals comes as a pleasant surprise when the world is undergoing a crisis, proving that the pandemic is bittersweet, rather than merely being bad news. In a pandemic one would assume governments globally are concerned about its citizens, but the people have painfully realized that Covid-19 has given governments a new excuse for bad choices.

 

Though the Goa government has ‘publicly displayed’ masks and precautions during the pandemic and has repeatedly assured citizens that it will listen to their woes, they also continue the rampant destruction of Goa’s environment, which has resulted in an education rap on ‘Mollem’ by a local rapper called ‘Waking Grunt’, and other tactics where the rapper teamed up with an activist to highlight the pathetic conditions of the roads in Goa.

 

 Technological innovations have contributed to the creation of campaigns like Save Mollem. It’s not just states like Goa that suffers from poor governance, but the way the controversial farm bills were cleared highlights the mess Indians have created for themselves. Apart from this human rights received a blow in India when ‘Amnesty International’ was shut down in India.

 

 The government of India has found a natural punching bag in the opposition, namely the Congress. Owing to people like ‘Dhruv Rathee’ and several others, Indians are becoming aware of major issues affecting them. Goa too does not lag behind its counterparts owing to channels like ‘InGoa 24x7’ who have repeatedly portrayed their fearlessness while covering stories like the attack of a journalist in Goa. A local newspaper ‘Herald’ too does a brilliant job of keeping Goans updated. 

 

During such time when Goa has a shady government it takes tremendous effort to remain positive. Having lived in Dubai for 30 years and witnessing a society free of corruption where a person is rewarded for their hard work, at the age of 62 she has initiated a number of Facebook pages like ‘Cynthia Solutions’, ‘Global Goan Women’ among others which have a huge following. ‘Cynthia Solutions’ began as a good Samaritan in 2007 providing jobs from diverse parts of the world without accepting financial rewards..

 

 Cynthia Fernandes has proven that age is merely a number, and strives to assist uplift people with help from her family. Beginning in 2015 'Doopthi' a generous gesture of quilting was born which would evolve into a means of livelihood for 7 down trodden women. From quilts to cloth bags this venture has been dishing out some creative products. 

 

A bag by 'Doopthi'

 

As Cynthia doesn’t like to be idle, she began Mandala Art as an innovative hobby in August 2020 from which she finds inner peace. Possessing a book filled with such creative designs, she plans to distribute it for free once the book is completed, and designs are framed. 

 

A beautiful design by Cynthia

I hope my readers will take a cue from this and reach out to others and help in any way that they can, instead of waiting for political parties to do the same. In states like Goa people have been successful in using emotions as an excuse but helping the voiceless in the process for a hidden agenda. If we bypass the political parties and reach out to others we can grow wiser eventually as well as counter the blunders of governments to some extent.