Viva Jua

By Dr. Rufino Monteiro

Viva Jua!! Honrad amu Zunvenkar!! Lovely Green Island!! These are the exclamations we are used to hear and feel proud of and this year at Carnival time in Goa, we are all delighted to see our Zunvenkars all in true Goan Traditional attire and way thrilling the crowds in all the major cities of Goa and winning laurels besides the hearts of people from Goa, other parts of India and abroad.

Thus, the villagers of our great Green Island of Santo Estevam proved the point that if they come together for doing something constructive, they can surely be second to none.

Over the years, our islanders have been shining lights all over Goa and even abroad with their hard-work, dedication and clever minds. Our village has produced many holy priests, famous architects and engineers, renowned doctors, illustrious teachers and artists, good sports persons and numerous other well known and respected people in their fields. But alas! What is the state in recent years? Despite having good brains and sound financial status (due to many working in the Gulf and on board the ship) and all possible facilities, our villagers are hardly shining as they should have been. Our youngsters don’t look to have a vision nor do they seem to have a fighting spirit to earn laurels in their life. Take a simple example, our village football team: in yesteryears, when players played football barefoot in fields and without the aid of fancy coaches and TV football games (which makes learning the art of the game easier) our football team did us proud but now we do not have a decent team; we do not see boys coming out to play/practice football daily on our village football ground (our village was one of the few villages which had a ground right from the good old days). Unless our youth show their desire to be achievers in their life (rather than just do odd jobs) and unless our elders show they are visionaries, our village will not shine as in yesteryears.

Come on then my fellow Zunvenkars, wake up and rise to your glory for God has blessed you with talent and showered you with his choicest blessings. Let us march on progressing in leaps and bounds, hand-in-hand.