IN SEARCH OF CLEAN AIR
A regular afternoon in Goa, a busy time in an automobile showroom where various calls are attended to by young sales consultants like me hoping that someone would enquire about any vehicle and I would push the deal for the best price. I received a call. I was excited. “Hope this customer asks for an expensive car,” my mind was full of expectations.
“Hello, good afternoon sir how may I help you?” I greeted in a usual greeting. “Hello,” said the person at the other end. The voice seemed concerned and worried. “Am I speaking with Mathew?” “Yes sir”, I replied. “ One of my friends gave me your contact number……….” “Yes sire please tell me which car you would like to go for?” I interrupted the conversation with the presumption of certainty. “Well I am actually not looking for a car. I am sorry. If you have sometime could I speak with you for sometime or else i can call you later. I need your help.” I started getting a little disinterested since the person said that he had called not for a vehicle enquiry but something else. But since I some time to spare and one of my friends had given the contact I realised that it could be important and i could speak with him for some time, as it is, I had just finished lunch and there were some minutes to resume back to work.
“What is it sir? Please tell me. Let me see how I can be of help to you.” I made the atmosphere comfortable with a soft and comforting voice. The man narrated what was troubling his heart and mind. “I am from Delhi. My five year old son has been having asthmatic problems. The air here is not clean enough for him to survive. Therefore we have planned to shift to Goa. That is the best place I can think of in terms of clean air and other facilities which are easily available. Can you please suggest to me a village area in Goa not too remote but close to Panjim? I have decided to give up my job here and take up a job in Panjim.”
Just some days back we celebrated Diwali. And the only concern raised at festival like this is that of air pollution caused due to burning of fireworks. When I too put a post about avoiding the burning of fireworks, some Hindu young friends started a discussion on my post and questioning me. They felt that I oppose their religious ceremonies and have problems only with their celebrations. While on social media many concerned people shared posts about the air quality, dogs getting scared and running here and there to hide themselves. One of my friends sent a video of a monkey who got scared of the fireworks noise and jumped on to a high tension wire and died due to electric shock. It does create a huge problem for animals,[1]
At this time I remembered the conversation i mentioned above. Apart from this I also remember that a family from Pune shifted to my neighbourhood due to same problems. I too have asthmatic problems and when the air is so polluted by the smoke caused by the gunpowder burning, it causes very bad headache, affects my sinuses and so on. I get fever for nearly two days. This disturbs my work and rest as well. Many people shift to Goa because of clean air.[2]
The Archbishop of Goa Cardinal Filipe Nerri Ferrao directed the faithful some years back to completely stop the use of fireworks at any celebration in the Church and if possible even at home to keep the air clean in Goa. A decision so commendable and exemplary that it needs more appreciation then what is already done.
People of Goa must understand that keeping our air clean is not only the need of the hour but also the identity and trademark of Goa’s flourishing tourism industry. Fireworks , I suppose, has no religious meaning to any festival therefore an unnecessary part of any celebration which can be replaced by something else or eco friendly fireworks. Let our celebrations be that which help us relate with nature in a better way and keep polarisation away!!!
[1] Read the following article on India Today; https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/effects-loud-firecrackers-diwali-devastating-pets-experts-2287947-2022-10-21
[2] Article online: Travellers Escape urban air, available online; https://m.economictimes.com/industry/services/travel/travellers-from-indias-major-metros-escape-for-a-breath-of-clean-air/amp_articleshow/87941152.cms
WHEN GANDHI VISITED ROME…….
WHEN MAHATMA GANDHI VISITED ROME!!!
Mahatma gandhi had not left any stone unturned in his struggle to demand the freedom of India. A lot of trips even to the UK to talk in the UK parlaiment in the year 1931 had him engaged to meet with the Pope which unfortunately did not turn into reality.
A British officer who was responsible for fixing the Mahatma’s meeting with the leader of the world largest religious denomination and the Sovereign of a city state that had been created just 2 years before[1] his visit. Mahatma Gandhi had very well understood the power of diplomacy the Pope exercises as one of the world’s oldest diplomatic institution. Ages of rebellion and attempts to drown the power of papacy could not put a lid on the influence that Catholic Church has been having. Who could have whispered into the ears of Mahatma Gandhi to meet the Pope? Was it only a visit to a spiritual head trying to convince him that the future India he dreams of creating would be a safe haven even to the Christians? Whatever the reasons could be, the meeting did not happen. However he did visit the St. Peter’s Basilica and went through the corridors and the walls. Looking upon the magnificent paintings and the artefacts. But his glance fell on a simple crucifix: the image of Christ crucified. Mahatma Gandhi has always been an open admirer of Jesus Christ[2]. He gazed on the crucifix, reflecting the power of love Jesus had for human kind. He also mentions the moment in his autobiography [3] and said that his death became a liberating force for others. This was the principle Gandhi had used to take up and offer his suffering for the good and liberation of others.
Did Gandhi know that following Christ would mean to die in the same way he died by the hands of those same people he had fought for? Many critics criticised Pope Pius XI for not giving an audience to Gandhi. But days before Gandhi arrived in Rome the official Newspaper of Vatican “L’osservatore Romano” had published an article on Gandhi as the messenger of Peace.[4] With these evidences in hand we can conclude that it may not have been the Pope who refused the audience but surely other forces were at work.
India and the Vatican have had good relations since the beginning. But many times Vatican has been used to prove someone less or more patriotic. The visit of PM Narendra Modi to Pope Francis has sparked a new hope that Christian community in India which somehow is feeling insecure due to the rising neo nationalistic ideologies which contradicts that of Mahatma Gandhi. Such ideologies seemed to suggest even removing Gandhi from the pedestal every Indian and world leaders have placed him. As a catholic I have to remind such ideologues that Christians too have been patriotic. Mahatma Gandhi is the soul that unites Indians and we can call ourselves Indians. May his spirit keep guiding our nation.
[1] The vatican city was created as a result of negatiations between the Mussolini troops and the Pope in the year 1929 for more please read the article available online
https://rome.us/ask-us/when-was-the-vatican-established.html
[2] read the news article online https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-gandhi-resonates-in-rome/
[3] https://www.theflorentine.net/2019/02/06/mahatma-gandhi-italian-visit-mussolini/
[4] The Vatican Church and Mahatma Gandhi’s India, 1920-1948, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27644309
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