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.