Developing The Vision

Throughout their life people are always taught about the significance of having a vision. Since a majority of the population travels to different cities and countries, the remainder of the population typically associates terms like ‘thinking big’ with moving to different places.  How do people develop the vision they require to transform lives around them? 

Umbelina Menezes e Da Costa, a person who hails from Loutolim, born and raised in Panjim, and married in Curtorim, is an example of a person who has a vision. When her aunt Inês Maria Do Carmo Costa became a widower, she came up with an idea to support her family. Thus 'Bolache Nezita’ or biscuits and cakes. After Umbelina’s marriage in 1989 she thought of carrying forward the business.

Umbelina in action

Since Umbelina’s husband didn’t want her to work, he suggested that she could take over her aunt’s business. Although she changed the name to ‘Nezita’, she wanted to continue with the same concept and brand. Following in her aunt’s footsteps, Umbelina took up this initiative for supporting her family, and funding the education of her children.

The visiting card of 'Nezita'

Initially she started with bebincas, and slowly began preparing other sweets like Chana Doce, Batica, Bolinha, Dodol and others. Currently she bakes seven products. When she took over her aunt’s business, she also thought about how other women can easily bake the sweets at home but choose to buy it from shops instead. 

Umbelina preparing her kitchen for baking sweets

Apart from focusing solely on her business, she went out of her way to teach other women also to bake these goods. She thus created a method for the neighbouring women to do something on their own, rather than relying on their husbands. Umbelina’s motivation has gone a long way in helping the neighboourhood to enjoy the goods they bake.

Just like companies face challenges throughout their career, so did Umbelina face difficulties which she had to overcome. During the course of this venture she hadn’t imagined she would have to bake more than 100 bebincas, which she had to do so for an order by a bakery in Goa called ‘Monginis’. 

Although she used to supply her products to Monginis for a while, she had to discontinue the same due to a minor accident. While this is an example of the challenge that she faced, there are others too which she overcomes with the support of her family, and the people working under her. Her family helps her in aspects like packaging, sealing, etc. 

A vision not only helps individuals, but countries too. Many politicians today are busy in playing politics rather than developing a vision. Vladmir Putin is a famous example in current times, but not the only one who has a destructive vision.

India can slowly star building its vision through movies like ‘Jhund’ and ‘Pink’ from Bollywood. Certain people can be detrimental to India’s vision. An example of this is the debate regarding the movies from south India vs Bollywood. I recently wanted a dubbed version of ‘Raatchasi’ titled ‘Madam Geeta Rani’.

Apart from movies, it’s high time for Indians to look at the educational qualifications of the ministers. As my readers read this article, I want them to constantly seek diverse methods to develop a vision for their states, societies and countries. This is mandatory because of people who say India is the mother of all democracies, and are involved in defections  

Choices That Define

In a world that induces despair regularly, individuals counter a dark world by bringing light into it. In the current generation there is no shortage of tools that individuals can utilise to send a message that resonates with audiences. People face a choice of either focusing solely on themselves or being a beacon of inspiration for others.

Dr. Oscar Braganca Demelo is a person with credentials like ‘Fellow of Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of India’, Company Secretary from the ‘Institute of Company Secretaries of India’, a graduate of degrees like ‘Masters Diploma of Business Administration’ from Symbiosis Institute, Pune. He has also completed Master of Commerce (M.Com), Master of Philosophy (M.Phil), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and Master of Science (MSC).

Dr Oscar Braganca Demelo

He is presently employed as a lecturer at St Xavier’s College, Mapusa, Goa, h has been teaching Cost Accounting to the students for the past 27 years. Despite helping students complete their syllabus, he also goes out of his way to inspire people with his motivational series through a YouTube channel under his name. 

    

Dr Oscar

Delivering messages that resonates with others is the objective behind Dr. Oscar’s YouTube channel. He makes sure that each episode is effective by dedicating adequate time to craft the script of each episode. He carries forward with each episode inspite of the costs associated with it, like the video editing and the photography expenditures.

Dr. Oscar's YouTube channel

Finding topics that strike a chord with viewers is one of the biggest challenges that Dr. Oscar faces. Others include selecting appropriate locations, anticipating the weather, writing scripts and recording the same every week. It is inevitable that such tasks introduce people to new routines. Dr Oscar has sacrificed the free time he gets after his lectures for activities such as reading, writing and recording scripts. He spends approximately 3 hours for reading and writing scripts

Dr Oscar rising above challenges

Fuelled by his self-belief, Dr Oscar goes above and beyond to navigate through these challenges. Although he plays a major role in building the future of his pupils, he firmly believes that if teachers restrict themselves to completing the syllabus, they leave students ill-equipped to deal with diverse challenges in their path. 

He thus plays a crucial role in quenching the thirst that students have for strategies that prepare them to deal with various obstacles, a plan for being successful in their respective fields and lessons that can be learnt from the experiences that people have. Apart from the weekly inspirations by Dr. Oscar, it is evident by reading about him in the paragraphs above that he is a man of ethics.

From Russia’s famous butcher called Vladmir Putin to the incident of poorly preserved platelets that resulted in a Dengue patient’s death in U.P, there are numerous instances of a lack of morals around the globe. Educational institutions and family play a huge role in building a future generation filled with people of ethics. 

In an era where entities like RSS exist that demands action on Global Hunger Index surveyors, morals are an underrated solution which educators and the masterminds behind inspirational videos are responsible for giving. People who don’t cultivate good values in their children run the risk of creating terrors like Vladmir Putin.

Inspirations Uncovered

In a world filled with news that upsets many people, they often seek inspiration. From watching movies to reading books, inspiration comes in various forms. While movies like “King Richard” and activities like listening to music do a brilliant job of inspiring people, it can also come from unlikely sources at times.

An employee of the skill development department of Satari Government Industrial Training Institute, Ramkrishna Vithal Gawas is a person with disabilities who creates beautiful paintings on stone in his free time. A person who has an interest in pursuing a particular activity refines these skills under the guidance of a mentor, but Ramkrishna mastered this hobby over time. 

Ramkrishna Vithal Gawas

He began this work of art from 3rd May 2022. He uses stones near the banks of rivers as these stones are fresh and help the paintings last longer. While there’s no fixed protocol for the type of stones that can be used, the stones used by Ramkrishna last for a longer amount of time. Each individual painting by Ramkrishna dictates the time that he has to dedicate to it.

A work of art by Ramkrishna

His first experiment with art was the first painting on stone that he created on 3rd May 2022. This hobby soon turned into something more significant, as Ramkrishna was invited to Montfort Private Industrial Training Institute in Corlim to sell his masterpieces on 8th May 2022 during the ‘Ambeachem fest’ or ‘Mango festival’.

A work of art by Ramkrishna

He also had the opportunity to showcase and sell his art in Caculo Mall on 28th and 29th May 2022 on the occasion of ‘Purumentachem fest’ which is collecting provisions for the monsoons. The same festival which was held on 5th June 2022 in Khedekar Hall, Sanquelim gave him yet another opportunity to sell his art. 

Ramkrishna selling his art at Caculo Mall

Apart from specific locations that assisted Ramkrishna in promoting his art, people interested in purchasing his art can do so through Facebook, where he goes by ‘Ramkrishna Gawas’ and by either calling him on 9637094491 or chatting with him on the same number in WhatsApp.  All I had to do to extract these details were either call or text Ramkrishna on WhatsApp. 

A work of art by Ramkrishna 

This is especially true because some entities in Goa can use the love that people have for their State and convert it into hate. If people analyse the outfit called as ‘Revolutionary Goans’ they will immediately realise that in times when the Goa police claimed they were unaware of the drug matters that the Hyderabad police shed light on, ‘Revolutionary Goans’ conveniently chose to target outsiders.

If they truly are care about Goans, they should fix the low salaries being given in companies, as this is one of the major reasons Goans go outside the State for employment. They should also collaborate with others to create a sustainable means of generating electricity. Should Goans change political parties to accomplish this?

People applaud Keralites for rejecting the saffronised government. In the aftermath of elections some desire to replicate the same in Goa, but people hardly consider geography. For example, since Kerala is a huge State, it becomes a difficult task to divide votes. Goa on the other hand being a tiny State, makes it easy for parties to divide votes. 

The entry of TMC in Goa is the recent example of this, the entry of political parties combined with other issues makes people think they need to rely on external sources to save Goa. While self-help books and videos talk about being unselfish in the spheres of life, it can be extended to political situations too.

Recreating The Passion

From football to cricket, there are numerous teams that fans can support. Staying awake at night to watch matches is an example of a method in which people showcase their loyalty to the clubs and teams that they support. ‘The Football Dugout’ is Goa’s biggest community of passionate football supporters that hold screening of various football matches throughout Goa that unite the supporters of clubs and teams.

A poster advertising the screening of a football match

The mastermind behind this initiative, Conrad Barreto is a passionate fan of a club playing in the English Premiere League called Liverpool. He met several like-minded people on Facebook and began a group called Liverpool FC Goa to unite fans, this group currently has a strength exceeding 700 members. Apart from showcasing their support digitally, the group decided to meet together for watching the games. Conrad felt inspired at one of the screenings to allow the supporters of their rivals to join them too. Being aware of the passion that Goa has for football, he had a vision which would culminate in an atmosphere that is similar to stadiums.

The logo of 'The Football Dugout'

He succeeded in creating an environment which brought fans of diverse leagues together, thus creating the venture called 'The Football Dugout'. This community was established not only to connect football fans across Goa and India, but to encourage debates with like-minded individuals on a regular basis while simultaneously growing as a community that watches games together. The passion of this football centric community evolved into something more significant, members of this community began adding their close friends, who come from various parts of India and also around the globe.

The Facebook page of 'The Football Dugout'

This group currently has more than 24,000 members across India, they also have members that live in the U.K and others parts of the world that attend games, meet players, share their experiences online and etc.  This group also inspires people to travel to meet their idols. This group is kept alive 24x7 due to engaging and lively chats and updates by fans. Their first screening was the match between Manchester Utd and Liverpool. The largest screening of the passionate supporters of 'The Football Dugout' was the 2014 World Cup Final which was attended by more than thousand fans. They set up a screening for the recent Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, which received a crowd of more than 600.

Football screenings held 'The Football Dugout'

They have been successful in developing a fan culture in Goa. Despite establishing a fan culture in Goa, they faced a lot of challenges during their early days. A lot of fans would get upset during debates and accuse the admins of partiality towards a specific team, unaware that the admins of “The Football Dugout” support different teams. Since the group wanted to uphold the views of every supporter, they never judged anyone according to the teams they supported. As Conrad believes that healthy discussions are crucial to keep the passion and rivalry alive, this group reinforces these beliefs without discriminating anyone, as their focus remains on creating a football fan. 

The lively chats of  'The Football Dugout's' Facebook group

Their challenges were not restricted solely to the group as plenty of effort, hard work and time goes behind creating an excellent viewing experience. Seeing the huge rush for games, several people began offering their places. When the crowds were massive, several people pitched in financially to create a memorable experience. Over the years all of these efforts helped them grow as a community. The passion of the masterminds behind 'The Football Dugout' should be adequate to rid Goa of many problems.

The massive rush for a screening held by 'The Football Dugout'

A simple example of this passion in solving one of Goa’s environmental problems is to avoid the usage of plastics whenever people visit the marketplace. My readers who hail from diverse parts of India and the world can utilise this passion to expose the people that distort religion to create conflicts. The problem in such cases is not religion itself but forcing diverse interpretations of religion and sowing seeds of hatred between communities.

While Nupur Sharma has stoked controversy recently, the retaliation of the Muslim community in various parts of India shouldn’t be justified. Blind hatred is never the answer to resolve issues, this hatred manifests in a section of Goans and people of the world that exist to aggravate the issues of insiders vs outsiders. Though this aspect should be considered by people, they should scrutinise such matters as it has the potential to create societies which nurture hatred more than love.  

Sports & Life

In the world of sports people often focus on victories and want their preferred team to emerge victorious. While this is understandable spectators as well as players must be comfortable for dealing with losses too as they are inevitable in sports. This must be emphasized to prevent incidents like the ones that occurred in the aftermath of England’s defeat against Italy in Euro 2020. Such incidents can often have ripple effects. In the digital era while people are focused solely on victories, do we ponder about the lives of such players?

Lloyd Fernandes who hails from Santa Cruz in Goa recently made headlines for being awarded a silver medal in the Para Table Tennis National Championship 2021 held at Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 27th to 30th April. Making his debut in the tournament, he made his presence felt by being victorious against opponents from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Punjab. Lloyd was part of a squad that included 8 players and 4 escorts.

The talented squad gets appreciated

It wasn’t a smooth road for the squad though as they had to endure difficulties like the lack of facilities that were accessible by wheelchair for practice, para athletes having to pay expenditures from their pocket including travelling, accommodation and the costs for their meals. They had to travel by flight which was expensive as railways were not accessible. Apart from these, there were other difficulties involved like each para player having to travel with an escort to help them with their daily activities and many unable to bear the expenses of a sports wheelchair. 

While Lloyd overcame these challenges by purchasing a 2nd hand table and practicing at home, others in the squad could not afford the same as it was expensive. The other players couldn’t travel with escorts as the costs of such individual were high for the players to bear. A motorbike accident that occurred in Sanquelim in 2016 resulted in a C6 level spinal cord injury that paralysed Lloyd below the chest. Since the doctors had told him a recovery was impossible and added   that he has to keep his muscles fit he resorted to playing TT which not only gave him the exercise that he needed but entertained him as well.      

Prior to the tournament in Indore, Lloyd had won the district tournaments in Goa in 2021 and 2021. As Lloyd is a geologist, before his injuries he used to work on oil rigs in Brunei, Vietnam and Mynamar. Lloyd and the squad of courageous sportspeople have numerous lessons to teach for everyone. This article has numerous lessons for the readers of my blog. While the point of proving one’s worth is applicable to the average person, it also should be applicable to the entities in power that portray a nationalist image on one hand and on the other destroy the same image by sowing seeds of hatred across India.

In a consumerist society where things can be dictated by fiscal power, asking politicians to prove their worth will bring the focus the societies need rather than trivial matters like conversions and imposing one language spoken by some Indians on the other sections of India.  As politicians all over the world find reasons to introduce chaos into the world, may we bring back the unity by telling influential people like politicians to win us over by the quality they induce in societies.

Victories and Losses

While the processes of elections have both losers as well as winners, these rules have become complicated over the years due to several factors. While some may be satisfied with the procedures associated with elections, some others do not share these sentiments. The performance of diverse parties in election often leads to a scrutiny of their losses and victories. Although despair and associated reactions are natural for supporters of the losing side, sulking is the wrong reaction towards the results. What is the appropriate reaction in such scenarios?

 

Although his family is renowned in Margao for the ‘Golden Needle’ which is a bridal lounge and a tailoring studio, Alden DoRosario who currently resides in Boston with his family is popular for another reason among Goans and their diaspora. What began as a game played by Alden’s friends on social media soon evolved into something more significant. ‘Uttor’ is a game made in Konkani that is inspired by the popular game on the internet “Wordle”.

The mastermind behind "Uttor".

Alden managed to quickly code it in a few hours and host it online at https://www.uttor.org. Word games typically help people by making them remember words which aren’t used everyday. Similarly ‘Uttor’ forces people to recall Konkani words they wouldn’t normally use. Thus this game is an excellent method to improve people’s Konkani vocabulary and speaking skills. It is helpful in teaching Konkani to children too. Rather than getting to memorize words, it will help them to learn Konkani in a fun environment. Apart from cherishing their moments of victory children will learn to think on their feet.

                                                               A glimpse of the game

Wordle’s popularity has resulted in opportunities for indigenous languages to be promoted. Besides Konkani, this game has been translated to many languages. In such a scenario it’s an added honour that Konkani is the first Indian language for the game’s translation. Apart from this Alden has enjoyed success with other ventures too.  Chitika, an online advertising network which Alden started along with his co-founder after borrowing $7 from their wives, occupied the no 2. Spot behind Google Adsense in the contextual advertising space.

The Logo of Chitika

 

 

Presently Alden is working on a usability testing online platform called ‘Poll the People’ which he began with his daughter. It focuses on helping businesses make decisions leveraging a tactic called ‘Usability A/B Testing’. Technology offers a means of uniting people, it leads to many success stories and allows people to join forces for a better Goa, and an improved world.

The logo of Poll the People

 
RJ Joed Almeida of Radio Indigo 91.9 FM, Goans residing in diverse places like Alden are a part of online WhatsApp groups. Such tactics are crucial as both Goans who reside in Goa as well as those who live in various parts of the globe strive to improve Goa.  People who seek a prosperous Goa must ignore narrow-minded people who make comments like ‘People who went out of Goa should be concerned with their lives there and not bother abut Goa’ 

 

An example of a WhatsApp group connecting Goa through ideas

We live in a world where the intentions of people are not always straightforward. We need all the help we can get, not just for a better Goa, but for a better world.

An Example from Agriculture

A question that will arise in the minds of many readers regarding this article is the timings. People who read my blog posts regularly will detect a pattern. I usually associate the efforts of diverse Goans with political developments in Goa. As the elections in Goa have concluded recently, what is my intention behind this blog post? Let me illustrate this with the help of an example.

 

In a state that is renowned for tourism, Cleto Avito Fernandes is an inspiration for others. Apart from being a 12th Std student of Science in Don Bosco Higher Secondary School in Panjim, he leverages the passion he has for agriculture into kitchen gardening. He not only grows his own produce, but sells it too to other areas of Goa.

Cleto and a glimpse of his kitchen garden

Cleto was introduced to the world of agriculture in 7th Std through a trip to Kulem or Colem where he decided to spend his summer vacation. The lush greenery of Colem was a different atmosphere from the city of Panjim which Cleto was accustomed to. His uncle who was a priest belonging to the Society of Pilar was posted in Kulem during Cleto’s visit.

Cleto in a recent trip to Taleigao in June 2021

The Pilar Fathers have around 500 sq meters of land in Kulem for growing vegetables. Cleto’s first lesson about the world of agriculture was the tilling of the land which resulted in a lot of boils on his hand. This was followed by a lesson on the planting and the watering ladyfinger seeds. As he was there for 10 days, he not only oversaw the growth of this crop and learnt more about it, but also planted the seeds for his future in agriculture.

Children planting crops in Taleigao

When Cleto was returning home, his uncle gifted him some seeds which he tried growing. Unfortunately many seeds were destroyed either due to neighbourhood dogs or excessive rain during that particular year, though two plants survived this destruction. Viewing the signs of progress on these two plants Cleto took additional care of them by watching YouTube tutorials and with support from his uncle. This tactic yielded its rewards when harvest time came, and he got around 10 ladyfingers per plant.

 

This motivated him to begin the kitchen garden on a larger scale with vegetables such as Radish, Red Radish, diverse varieties of Brinjals and others. He also attempted the intercropping of Marigolds during the period in October when Mother Mary’s statue visits households. He purchased a garland of Marigolds and tried cultivating Marigold’s from the dried flowers of the garland. Although it was his first attempt in doing this, he had a bumper crop.  

Brinjals from Cleto's kitchen garden

He soon added various vegetables that can be grown in Goa. He has begun an experiment of cultivating sweet potatoes on Laterite soil which he has been successful in. In the initial stages of his kitchen garden he used cow dung as manure but now he uses a BSF compost barrel. He recently came across Panchagavya, Jeevanamrut, Ghana Jeevanamrutham that are manures of excellent quality. While Panchagavya is excellent for the growth of trees that bear fruits, Jeevanamrut and Ghana Jeevanamrutham are ideal for trees that bear flowers and vegetables.

A Jackfruit tree in Cleto's garden

Readers too can leverage this passion of Cleto towards their states, as enthusiastic individuals are the solution to counter the people who are active only during the time of elections. This can result in people developing unconventional ideas for their states, alert citizens, journalists who speak the truth always. When people join forces they can accomplish wonders. This approach is crucial as a new government takes shape.