Persistence Despite Resistance

Diverse situations in life bring with it a shadow of gloom. In such scenarios we are called to display our persistence. Though the pandemic serves as a ripple effect of devastating news, it can also make us stronger if we let it. Our self-confidence and worth will get tested through numerous setbacks in life, but life hardly offers us the luxury of stopping. Though we may be in grief we must remember life will go on irrespective of our response to it.

 

Despite there being darkness in life, there will always be light at the end of the tunnel. We have the option of becoming that light. This aspect is often mandatory as we live in a world where politicians form the core of major decisions that have an impact on human life. While the impact of decisions that politicians make is inevitable, we must strive to be persistent. From jobs to sports persistence is the only path to success. 

 

Goa has the potential to be more than a mere tourist destination. With proactive people in several fields, we can convert it into a reality. Enhancing the lives of many since its inception “Novi Survat Goa” is a name that has been the source of comfort for many by supporting their patients in diverse areas like nutrition, education, travel, provisions of medications, disability aid and appliances, counseling and therapeutic services for patients from diverse age groups. 

Logo of "Novi Survat Goa"

An initiative by two visionaries which began in 2007 by Dr. Philomena D’Souza, a Pediatrician and Ashika Sawant, a specialist in Pediatric Physiotherapy, "Novi Survat" began as a therapeutic center for the physically challenged and their parents who couldn’t afford paid therapists gradually evolved into something more significant over the course of years. Despite having a small team the professionals at "Novi Survat Goa" they ensured the patients kept coming back, as breaking the sessions midway would undo the progress of the previous sessions.

The Founders of "Novi Survat Goa"

Enthusiastic Good Samaritans from abroad collaborated to take care of the smooth functioning of “Novi Survat Goa” in various areas like its establishment, therapeutic services and the maintenance of the establishment and ensured treatment could continue without the financial burden on the patients. A small but effective team enabled “Novi Survat Goa” to individually focus on 5 people with children per day, and an average of 20-25 children per month.

A Physiotherapy session

Gradually the focus of the professionals of “Novi Survat Goa” began to spread to other needs such as nutritional needs, medical needs, and the need for speech therapy among others. Several situations over the course of years helped the experts of “Novi Survat Goa” understand that more children could avail of such advanced facilities. Thus medical assistance was extended to children with conditions that threatened their productivity and made them entirely dependent on their parents.

Children’s Palliative care was initiated by "Novi Survat Goa" in June 2019 with the objective of aiding children born with conditions that gradually became chronically progressive, and life limiting conditions that threatened their productivity and life span. Referrals are sent from several healthcare organizations which include both the government as well as the private sector, along with recommendations by individuals. 

 

Since "Novi Survat Goa" has been established there are two main areas of work which are:-

a) Physiotherapy clinic to provide physiotherapy, speech and language therapy to children with multiple disabilities.

b) Home care for all children in need of palliative and supportive care like children with HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Birth Defects, inherited diseases, and others.

 

The ripple effects of the pandemic were felt by the professionals of "Novi Survat Goa" as the lockdown disrupted physiotherapy sessions, along with undoing the progress made by the previous sessions. This hasn’t affected the drive of professionals of “Novi Survat Goa” to help their patients. Despite the pandemic they strive to assist their patients. From conducting video sessions, to diverse forms of relief like financial support, provisions for rations and medications are providing during the lockdown to their patients.

 

The Good Samaritans of “Novi Survat Goa” can either be e-mailed on ‘novisurvatgoa@gmail.com’ while also being accessible on Instagram as ‘childrenspalliative_novisurvat’, along with an elegant website called novisurvatgoa.com.

Discriminations That Prevail

We render our support to various things over the course of years. While the support for a few things can put them in the limelight, a lack of support can often make a society oblivious to certain things that should be considered common sense. The passage of time always sends us an indication of whether we are right in extending our support to diverse issues, but are we receptive in a fast paced world? Often people excel in certain fields that they develop a fan following. Their fan base increases to an extent that these celebrities criticize international celebrities who go out of their way to highlight a major human rights issue, yet why do we extend our support to such people who trample over human rights? Though a section of society may be experienced in judging issues shown in the media, we have failed to decipher issues in our backyard.  

Breaking barriers is a trend set by some and Tukaram Shanu Gaonkar is an excellent example of that as he is a visually impaired talent who also doubles up as a cricketer. Emerging on a journey as a cricketer from 2017, his parents encouraged him to pursue it as they received a boost in their confidence when Tukaram won a Gold Medal among the visually impaired contestants of Goa in the Paralympics held at Bangalore in 2012. Being a member of the ‘Blind Cricket Association of Goa’, he travelled to other states like Punjab, Rajasthan among others with his team mates. His adventures across states led him to milestones like scoring his first half century in the famous Wankhede Stadium. 

The squad of 'Blind Cricket Association of Goa'

 

 

Though time and again history has proven that disabled people can excel in diverse fields while competing with others in a society, people are guilty of discriminating against these talented individuals. Jolene Dias is one such talent who never let Muscular Dystrophy deter her from pursuing her passion. Developing an interest in the world of music from the early age of five, she introduced upcoming talents to the world of music through ‘Blue Ocean Waves,’ an initiative she began since 2009 where she used to mentor students from her home in Goa. Though she loved singing and enjoyed her time as a musician, she never pictured herself as a music teacher, and hence was sceptical of this suggestion by her parents. Today she is passionate about imparting others with the knowledge of music that she has continued her passion in the U.K after the completion of all the musical grades required. She additionally has a belief that everybody can pick up music which is why she began teaching children with special needs since 2015.

Jolene Practicing

Despite being a student of an ICSCE school, the discrimination Jolene endured forced her to skip school. Her condition meant that Jolene had difficulty in getting up from low seats. Rather than being compassionate, her classmates just found another excuse to poke fun at her. She underwent an ordeal while climbing the stairs, as she could climb the stairs very slowly with the help of a railing. As sources of humiliation started piling up, she would avoid school from Tuesdays to Fridays to get away from the taunts of her classmates. Avoiding an encore of the humiliations meant that she had to think of diverse tactics like headaches and others to remain at home

A happy Jolene

 The worsening of her disability in 12th Std meant that she would limp, and have frequent falls whenever she used to encounter either uneven paths, or surfaces which were very smooth. To make matters even worse nobody from her school used to assist her, and it was only the labourers who used to help her. Her knees used to bleed frequently and she used to cry a lot because no one from the school used to be come to her aid. Though things improved slightly, her disability made it impossible for her to continue her studies from college, and had to continue the remainder of her course from home.  Whenever she used to advertise about her music school too in public places, people used to tear the posters down.  When she released her first single, the public used to discourage those who assisted her. Marriage was again another area where she faced massive discrimination.

Jolene outdoors

 These repeated taunts of society forced her to migrate to the UK. As UK is a disabled friendly country she gradually had the courage to replace the previous bitter memories with happy ones. Accessible structures and significant amounts of help from the government which she could never have dreamt of in Goa have aided in making her life in UK a memorable experience. After witnessing the concern which UK displays towards the disabled, she has renewed hopes of achieving her visions which includes converting Blue Ocean Waves into her music school, and finding a husband in the UK. Despite these discriminations finding its way in the 21st century, I am not surprised that society has devised new methods to sweep these under the rug, especially in ‘modern India’ where people gain international fame for finding unique ways to highlight issues, only to be jailed for their efforts. What’s even more humorous is that Indian lawmakers who are aware of article 19 devise methods that drive a wedge between people, and emerge from it unscathed.

Ironies That Matter

Numerous emotions combine to form the complex beings called humans who are responsible for inflicting others with positivity as well as negativity. Ironies are a complicated reaction which has existed in the earth for a single reason. From a mere thought which creates dilemmas in people to controversial deeds, people have been causing ironic thoughts in the 21st century. Politicians too cannot escape from the rule of irony which is evident in the digital era. Even as Twitter did the world a favor by banning Donald Trump, Indian politicians like Tejasvi Surya and Amit Malviya condemned the action by the social media platform by citing ‘threats to democracy’ and ‘curtailing freedom of speech’.

 

At times people don’t give a second thought about what they are going to say; while these blunders can be reversed for a normal person thoughts that evade logic by certain elected leaders should alarm us. One such example is UK’s regulator Office of Communication fined Arnab Goswami’s ‘Republic TV’ £20,000 for hate speech, while the arrest of Arnab Goswami was defended by Rajnath Singh as an attempt to save democracy in India’s recent past. 

 

Another example of an ironical situation in the recent past occurred as UP police had lodged an FIR against a journalist called Supriya Sharma for reporting on the Prime Minister’s adopted village in Varanasi. If we do an analysis of ironies in human life I guess the list would be endless, but citing the various ironies is crucial in society. For those who didn’t get a clue from reading the above examples, all will be revealed in the article. A massive source of strife as well as irony is the endless debates between private vs government jobs. 

 

Ehrlson de Sousa who currently works in various private hospitals as an ENT specialist previously worked in GMC as a senior resident ENT for three years followed by a stint in Ponda sub-district hospital for a year as a consultant ENT. Unavailability of further posts played the decisive role in his decision to opt for the private sector.  Though he was initially skeptical of the private sector due to diverse uncertainties, it has been one and a half years with the private sector. 

Ehrlson de Sousa

Though he agrees government hospitals ensure a steady flow of income irrespective of the number of patients seen, and the teaching experience offered is superior to private, he also acknowledges the stress due to a government job, for example the night shifts. He has gotten calls again to return to the government sector but prefers not to do so, as the private sector offers him a flexibility which he otherwise couldn’t afford.

Ehrlson de Sousa

The ability of friends to swim against the tide and pave the way for sources of income has been proven true by Mansi Kumbharjuvekar and Shreyash Duikar who shared a passion for traveling. The venture called ‘Folk Living’ was supported extensively by the parents of the courageous duo, being a Konkani teacher Mansi’s mother had extensive knowledge regarding the subject. She encourages her daughter’s endeavours by being a quick responder to new posts on Instagram and Facebook pages. Arising from a combination of sustainable tourism, experimental learning, and research ‘Folk Living’ was born on October 2019. ‘Folk Living’ strives to give its guests a raw rural experience by leading them to villages that are not found on Google Maps.

Tourists with the enthusiasts of 'Folk Living'

It also connects people and gives a platform to showcase the works of artisans in the process. While Shreyash has an MBA in Marketing, Mansi is a post graduate in Film Studies, and is currently pursuing masters in Anthropology. ‘Folk Living’ continues to empower itself with recruits like Sampan Sail who utilizes his MBA in rural tourism to enrich the experiences, along with Sampan Anushree Divkar also contributes to make events a memorable experience worth relishing. Samradni Kumbharjuvekar and a group of enthusiasts take care of ‘Folk Living’s’ shop, and assists in simplifying the connection to the villages. The masterminds of ‘Folk Living’ do not take large groups to these exclusive location as they believe in striking a balance between maintaining the serenity of villagers and giving memorable experiences to tourists.

Mansi & Shreyash

‘Folk Living’ specializes in experiences where tourists will be spending their days living the life of a villager. Along with an aesthetically rich website called ‘Folkliving.in’ they also have a series called ‘Folk Stories’ on YouTube. Running it efficiently is Apurva Sawant who has done her masters in education with a focus in history. Hence she has developed a passion for documenting the heritage of ‘Folk Living’. Such initiatives require tremendous support which is provided by Mansi’s mentors professor Prajal Sakhardande and Sharmila Rao.

Gaining insights into the life of a villager

I came across a meme a while ago which ran on the lines of ‘if all religions advocated peace why don’t they practice it?’ The answer to that is very simple; it’s mankind that has used religion to create strife. In the 21st century it exists too, in the form of laws that dictate what should be consumed, and who to marry. The examples depicted above are just few of the ironies that dictate societies. Let’s all use our ‘brains’ to figure out which ironies should matter to us. While progressive candidates emerge victorious in one section of the globe, ordinary farmers and their supporters are perceived as terrorists in the other.