16 October 2014

2 6 October 20142 6 October 2014

Our New Government

It is over 5 months since the newGovernment came to power at theCentre. Has there been any sub-

stantial change in the country? Havethe ‘ache din’ promised during theelection campaign arrived? What isunmistakably noticeable is that a ‘per-sonality cult’ of the new PM is still be-ing vigorously promoted, day in andday out, by most of the media, espe-cially the social networking media.Even “Teachers’ Day”, which has al-ways been devoted to honouring ourteachers, was virtually hijacked toproject the PM as the one and only‘supreme leader’ of the country. TheCentre has been busy with dramaticforeign relations gestures and numer-ous foreign trips by the PM, ostensi-

trips, no opportunity is lost to show theworld that the country has only oneunique culture and one major languageof which all Indians ought to be proud.This is a powerful message being con-veyed to reassure the constituencyback home and the diaspora abroadwhich helped bring the new Govern-ment to power at the Centre.

ruling party, denouncing oppositiongroups and minorities as anti-national,even to the extent of openly attackingor threatening them and their institu-tions in many states. There has notbeen a word from the PM regardingthese open displays of communalism,which browbeat all dissent and evenconsider the word ‘secularism’ as ta-boo. A set of new political icons, whichappeal to the majority communityalone, are being promoted through elo-quent speeches. Through the HRDMinistry, History books and textbooksfor schools are being re-written topropagate an exclusivist ideology.There is also greater interference inthe affairs of universities and collegesmaking a mockery of all talk of au-tonomy and raising the standards ofeducation. Mega projects which dam-age the environment are being clearedin all haste and licenses are being is-sued to corporates that expoit pooradivasis and tribals depriving them oftheir lands and livelihoods. The IB Re-port on the working of reputed foreignNGOs questions the integrity and loy-alty to the nation even of those sin-cerely working to safeguard the envi-ronment and the welfare of themarginalized. What has become of theslogan, ‘sabke saath, sabka vikas’?

Given this alarming scenario, onewonders where the country is headed.It is high time the minorities and thestruggling masses become aware ofwhat all these trends mean for themand unite to safeguard their legitimaterights and freedoms guaranteed by theConstitution. The recent bye-electionresults in several states indicate thatour people are slowly beginning to re-alize this.

Joseph M. Dias, S.J.

On the home front, the secular,socialist, democratic and inclusiveNehruvian model of governance is be-ing systematically dismantled with theabolition of the ‘Planning Commission’,the earlier consultative bodies of Gov-ernment and the collegium system ofappointing judges. No Leader of theOpposition in the Lok Sabha has beenappointed, and criticism of the PM ispromptly stifled in many subtle ways.New governors too have been ap-pointed in a hurry in most states. Thus,all three organs of government will nowcome effectively under the control ofthe ruling dispensation. The emphasison adequate sanitation and toilets forall is, surely, the most welcome andlong overdue step initiated by the PM.It remains to be seen whether it will beimplemented, given the strong castecompulsions and prejudices still preva-lent in our society against cleaningpublic places – a menial task reservedonly for the outcastes. Another wel-come move is that the bureaucracy isbeing shaken up and a good work cul-ture introduced.

What is alarming is that stridentvoices are now constantly being raisedby leaders and groups supporting the

bly to invite foreign investment for thecountry’s development, but even more,to showcase the diplomatic skills of thePM as a ‘world statesman’. On these

36 October 2014

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(Contd.. on p. 4)

Role and responsibility of youthin building up morden India

Youth is the spring of Life. It is the age of discovery and dreams. India isof largest youth population in the world today. The entire world is eyeingIndia as a source of technical manpower. They are looking at our youth

as a source of talents at low costs for their future super profits. If Indian youthmake up their mind and work in close unity with working class people, they canhold the political power in their hands. Indian youth has the power to make ourcountry from developing nation to a developed nation. Their dreams take themto stars and galaxies to the far corners.

Youth are the building blocks of a nation. It is a fact that the more stronger theyouth, the more developed the nation is. The role of the youth in the nation-building occupies the central place. The countries which utilize their youth in asright direction are more developed. The energy and brightness of minds ofyouth act as torch-bearer for a nation. On the contrary, the countries which failto realize the importance of the youth lag behind in every department of life. Thisis one of the reasons of the backwardness of Pakistan. Hence the youth lacksproper patronage. Developed countries are totally aware of the worth of their.They consider their youth as an asset. Most important, these countries cater tothe needs of their youth and provide them education, employment, recreationalactivities etc. such healthy and competitive environment prepare the youth tolead the country through thick and thin. If youth is not in the right direction andis unconcerned about the future of the nation, it will become a burden for thenation. Consequently, it will not play any productive role.

The countries where the youth are agile and pay their proper contribu-tions towards their nation are more developed. The entire success of a nationdepends on the youth. It is the duty of the government to provide the youth withample opportunities to play their role in an effective manner. Parents also havea major responsibility to fulfil. They must induce patriotic feelings in their youngones. The youth fraught with patriotism would lead the nation to the front. Theyouth have following role and responsibilities towards their nation.

• They must get proper and complete education.• Take part in welfare activities.

Cover : Why the World is Silent?(Article on pg. 10)

Contentspg. 2 - Our New Governmentpg. 3 - Role and responsibility ...pg. 5 - Reader's Viewspg. 8 - "Mother Teresa, A Living

Saint In Person!"pg. 9 - 'Make in India' Simply to

Divert Peoples' Attentionpg 10 - Why the World is Silent?pg 14 - Views on Newspg 15 - Novenas And Prayer-Vigils

Heal Woundspg 16 - Tweets From Space: ...pg 17 - Are Computer Boon Or a

Bane For Children?pg 18 - Every interview is a ...pg 19 - Inspiration!pg 20 - Matrimonialspg 23 - Church in the City

4 6 October 2014

(Contd.. from p. 3)

Mumbai : For the first time in recentmemory, the Catholic Church will urgeits flock to vote for "good governance"rather than "secular parties" during theassembly elections. Up until the LokSabha polls in May, the leaders of thefaith had made a veiled appeal for theCongress. The new mantra of goodgovernance, however, is the new slo-gan of the BJP.

Archbishop Oswald Cardinal Gracias,the head of the Catholic Church inMumbai, told TOI Wednesday, "We willappeal to voters to vote for good gover-nance. India, and Mumbai of course,needs a government that promises in-clusive growth, one that takes care ofeverybody. Yet, whichever party or can-didate people choose to vote for, I ex-hort them to cast their vote."

A fraction of the priesthood had divertedits pitch to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)during the Lok Sabha election. Theyhad told TOI that the Congress had notserved their interests despite years ofloyalty. But AAP is not contesting theassembly election. "It is a pity that AAPdid not have the 'winnability' factor. I

have met them, they are such nicepeople," Cardinal Gracias said.

Last week, the East Indian Christians ofMumbai announced a new party, theMaharashtra Swaraj Party (MSP). Fiveof its candidates will fight as indepen-dents because the outfit is yet to beregistered. The Cardinal said, "I don'tthink they will fragment the Christianvote except in certain places whereEast Indians stay together, perhaps thegaothans."

Cardinal Gracias enjoys the confidenceof Pope Francis by virtue of being hisadvisor. He has met His Holiness fre-quently over the past year-and-a-halffor he sits on several committees re-lated to education, sacraments forchurch law, communication and liturgi-cal translation. "Senior leaders in theNarendra Modi government feel it wouldbe nice if the Pope visited India. But thistrip calls for intricate planning and logis-tical support. Ours is a vast country sohe may need to set aside a few days totour four or five different cities," theCardinal said.

TOI

Church Pitches For ‘GoodGovernance’ Over ‘Secular Parties’

• Spread awareness and educationamong the masses about theirrights and responsibilities.

• Help other youths in building con-fidence and pursuing the field ofinterest.

• Guide newcomers in every field onright lines.

• Promotes the fair image of thecountry before the world.

• Serve the country with their skillsand talent in various fields.

• To nip in the bud all the evils thatare polluting our society.

• To reinvigorate the culture, trendand traditions of the society.

• Help the government in the imple-mentation of policies.

• They can play a vital role in theelimination of terrorism.

• The young people are full of vi-brant ideas. Their ideas can showthe country a new path towardsprosperity.

• Young people have energy to tryout things and the patience tolearn from mistakes. Giving themopportunities to plan, to decideand to work prepares them toface harsher realities in life.

• Young participation is importantbecause youth are the country'spower. Youth recognize problemsand can solve them. Youth arestrong force in social movements.

Youth and the ChurchThe youth in the church play an

equal role as the other members. Aseveryone in the church is to serve asa part of the body of Christ, youthplay no lesser a role than elders inthe community. 1 Timothy 4:12states, "Don't let anyone think less ofyou because you are young. Be anexample to all believers in what youteach, in the way you live, in yourlove, your faith, and your purity."(NLT) The youth are to live to astandard similar to that of any otherin the church community. The role ofthe youth in the church is to serve,stand strong in faith, shine the lightof Christ, and to go out to the worldwith the Good News, through wordsand actions.

162-Malad (W) . Tony D'Souza

56 October 2014

Telugu Department of Maris StellaCollege organized a TeluguBhasha Dinostsavam to cel-

ebrate the birth anniversary of SriGidugu Rama Murthi on Wednesday,August 27,2014 at Maris Stella CollegeAuditorium.

The celebration was meant toshow admiration to the great Telugumentor Sri Gidugu Rama Murthi whohad worked to empower, enrich andpopularize a heartfelt devotion to theTelugu language.

The assembly of over five hun-dred college students who vowed theirallegiance to the Telugu language,hailed the day as auspicious and re-solved to develop Telugu literature andcommunication skills among the col-lege students. In the wake of trends ofmodernism where English is used as astyle language and the vernacular lan-guages are undermined, the studentswere motivated to uphold their ownlocal culture and symbols and be proudof their own ethnicity expressed throughtheir mother tongue.

Acharya Krishna Murthy fromNagarjuna University chaired the meet-ing. Mr. Ramesh, lecturer from AndhraLoyola College and Sr. Sleeva Corre-spondent of Maris Stella College, andDr. P. Usha the head of the Telugudepartment of the college spoke.

The speakers on the podium de-cried the treatment meted out to theTelugu language especially by themodern youth who choose to study inEnglish medium having high hopes forfuture jobs in foreign countries ratherthan develop their mother tongue andwork for their own country and fellowcitizens. They also asked the studentsnot to mix up languages but makecorrect use of the unadulterated Teluguin their conversations.

Calling Telugu language as themusic of the heart, Acharya RamaMurthy chanted a few slokas and ragasin Telugu to impress the audience aboutthe musical versatility of Telugu lan-guage and stressed the importance of

the native language to build up a healthyand harmonious society.

Mr. Ramesh interacted with thestudents and elicited from them re-sponses in favour of Telugu language.The students promised that they wouldstand by Telugu culture and be loyal totheir mother tongue. They would spreadthe message also in their families, teachit to their children and spread the wordin their neighbourhood.

Acharya Krishna Murthy inaugu-rated the Telugu Club in Maris StellaCollege for the first time to improve theliterary and communication skillsamong the students and Sr. SleevaThumma the correspondent of the col-lege pledged her total support to thedevelopment of the club in the college.

Lekeya Barani, Ujwala, andSrawani made the day striking by theirCarnatic dance performance at the

Telugu Bhasha DinotsavamCelebrated

beginning of thethree- hour con-vention in the Col-lege Auditorium.

Miss P.Vijaya Prasanna, aTelugu lecturer ofthe College pro-posed the vote ofthanks. She wasespecially gratefulto Sr. Sleeva, FMMand the collegemanagement fortheir wholehearted support toorganize the daysuccessfully.

by Sr. BenignaMenezes, MSI

Vijayawada

MaharashtraSwaraj Party

MSP (Maharashtra SwarajParty) is "not a East Indianpolitical party" but a party

for all people of Mumbai who havebeen subjected to injustice, neglect& a "no time for you" attitude by themain frame political parties. It is aparty formed initially by the comingtogether of Christian Activists whohave been fighting for all citizensagainst the Govt/BMC for the cor-ruption & misuse of tax-payers funds& resources (some of the Activistsby default happened to be EastIndian hence the mistaken notionthat MSP is an East Indianparty).Today the MSP is supportedby all like minded individuals fromall communities who are fightinginjustice daily & look forward to theday when "Good Governance" willbe delivered to the common manon the street

6 6 October 2014

Extraordinarysynod on family

There is a mood of high expect-ancy and hope in the Catholic churchand among the laity that the upcomingextraordinary synod on the family con-voked by Pope Francis and scheduledto take place from October 5-19, 2014,in Rome , will help to remove some ofthe hurdles currently plaguing thechurch and families in their married life.Some of the doctrinal challenges fac-ing the church are issues like contra-ception, cohabitation, same-sex mar-riages , single parent families , divorceand remarriage which need to be dis-cussed from a larger perspective. Thenthere are problems faced by divorcedand remarried couples and those whocannot remarry in church because thechurch refuses to annul their marriage.All these require a sympathetic under-standing by the church. Unfortunatelythe Indian church’s response to theVatican questionnaire circulated in alldioceses on such matters, has beenon the whole poor , as it failed to involvethe laity in formulating the answers andthe report it submitted to Rome. Never-theless, Pope Francis hopes to ad-dress some of these hot button issuesat the two Synods in October 2014 andOctober 2015, when pastoral guide-lines will be formulated on the pointsdiscussed in the synod of 2014.

—A, F. Nazareth, Alto Porvorim

" Good MorningFriends"

Cardinal Archbishop of Manila isreported to have advised his priests todo away with the habit of starting thecelebration of Mass with the greetings"Good Morning Friends ". He does notsee the need for such introductions asMass is not a social function but areligious sacrifice. As LadislausD'Souza brought this subject ( Secularcitizen July 21 ) I would like to expressmy opinion. In India this custom wasintroduced few years ago by somepriests and it spreads all over . I feel that

it might have started by some priests orbishops who have seen and heard thiscustom in America and Europe. Simi-larly now even before the last blessingof the Mass when announcements aremade or when the guest priest is intro-duced, or when performance of stu-dents is recognized by giving someawards,the audience clap their handsas if they are in a theater or a maidan.We can argue for and against thiscustom, but there are many who feelthat Church is not to be taken like atheater or public meeting place. It is aholy place where the living Christ iswholly present and our voices,our ges-tures and all must be such bearing inmind the holiness of the place. To saythat God is present in particular placedoes not in any way reduce his omni-presence. It is just not an informal groupof individuals ,but people of faith gath-ered to contact the divine and to Wor-ship Him. We have to place ourselvesin the right mindset as we gather topraise, worship and thank God.

One of the moments of highdrama in the Old Testament is whenMoses beheld the burning bush withthe voice of God telling him " to put offyour shoes from your feet for the placeon which you are standing is holyground." Is not this concept of "holyground" valid these days ? It is clearfrom the Scripture that there is sup-posed to be "holy ground" set apart forworship and we are expected to treatsuch places as truly holy.It includesdressing modestly, speaking respect-fully, keeping silence,and having a holybehaviour when we are in God's house.The churches should not be taken as

ecclesiastical Malls for our convenienceas it is the holy dwelling place of theIncarnate God. Let us not dilute theeternal truth and teachings with mod-ern concepts and arguments or bybecoming copy-cats.

—K C Thomas

Climate Change(CC) on India

There was an “Inter- Faith Sum-mit on Climate Change” sponsored bythe UNO in New York from 21st Sep to23rd 2014. But what impact has (CC)presently on India’s fragile economy?

(CC) is going to hit the poorpeople real hard. The main effect of(CC) is ‘Global Warming’ with heatwaves, cyclones, floods, erratic weatheretc. Green-house gases like carbondioxide, methane, nitrous oxide andsuspended particulate matter are emit-ted by the burning of fossil fuels, coal,petrol and diesel and firewood. Thiscontributes to atmospheric pollutionleading to respiratory and cardiac dis-eases. (CC) in India is especially lead-ing to increase in sea levels resulting incoastal flooding, damage to its infra-structure and hitting ‘Beach Tourism’!

There are three important stepsto stop or reverse (CC):Use fluorescent bulbs only. Minimizeuse of motor vehicles— Commute inelectric trains and bicycles. And fore-most, plant trees and halt deforesta-tion. Trees give shade, cool the envi-ronment and provide life-giving oxy-gen–“Do not destroy trees; the treesare not your enemies” (Deuteronomy,20:19).

—Dr Trevor Colaso

Good Governance– A wake up call?

The Maharashtra Swaraj Party(MSP) parishioners should be congratu-lated for accepting the challenge ofcontesting the forthcoming elections.The Archdiocese of Bombay has about122 parishes. The Catholic populationis about five hundred and twenty five

76 October 2014

thousand and seventeen (525,017)persons. Every parish has a Civic &Political Cell (CPC), and a Parish YouthCell (PYC). The CPCs/PYCs are anintegral part of the Parish Pastoral Com-mittees (PPCs), along with the SmallChristian Communities (SCCs). Everymonth a consolidated report is sent tothe Apex Body by the PPC. In a five yearperiod between elections, approx.7320(122*60) monthly reports of the 122PPCs. Cardinal Oswald Gracias willbase his statements on these reports.

Some time back, John Dayal,President of All India Catholic Union,also commented on the alleged lack ofsupport from the Church authorities.

The PPCs/CPCs should stream-line their approach and turn away fromchurch centered religiosity.

They should strategize their ap-proach and assist the various NGOs/individuals who are involved in tacklinggrassroots issues with the elected rep-resentatives at the National and Statelevel.

This will protect the interests ofthe Minorities and the Educational In-stitutions from being exploited ormarginalized by vested interests.

—Denis Khan

A ContinuousCleanliness and

EnvironmentPledges

PM Modi has inaugurated theCleanliness Pledge—CP or‘Swasthatha Shapath’—a coreGandhian vow. This week long CP fromSep 25 to Oct 02 is a need to createmassive public awareness, and to en-sure participation and action for clean-ing homes, government offices,schools, hospitals, work places, busterminals, railway stations, monuments,rivers, lakes, ponds and other publicplaces. There will be surprise inspec-tions to confirm the effectiveness of theCP.

But I suggest that this CP anddrive should be a ‘continuous process’;

and, a day like the 2nd of every month orbetter still the Tuesday of every weekbe dedicated for this CP and its volun-tary implementation.

Along with this CP the five ‘Envi-ronmental Pledges’ of St Francis, tocare for God’s creation and the poor—Pray, Learn, Assess, Act and Advo-cate, as ecologically explained by FrAllwyn D’Silva in The Examiner, Sep27—Oct 03 , 2014, pg 7 could also befruitfully performed.

Here I propose five ‘Inner Clean-liness Pledges’. A concerted effort

should unceasingly be made to ridoneself and society of the interior im-pulses of corruption, violence, immo-rality, vices and bigotry, which some ofits five external manifestations lead tomis-management, crime, adultery, ad-dictions and discriminations respec-tively. So as the good word encour-ages: “Let us ‘cleanse’ ourselves fromevery defilement of body and spirit,making holiness perfect in the fear ofGod” (2 Corinthians, 7:1)

—Dr Trevor Colaso

Goa Exposition Time Table

MASSESMasses will be held during the entire45 day period of the exposition of theSacred Relics. Masses will be in vari-ous Indian and foreign languages. Thefollowing are the Mass timings.

Special CeremoniesNov. 22nd 2014Inaugural Ceremony Solemn Pontifi-cal Mass(only one mass on 22nd Novat 9.30 a.m)Dec. 3rd 2014Feast of St. Francis Xavier SolemnPontifical Mass at 10.30 a.mJan. 4th 2015Closing Ceremony Solemn PontificalMass at 9.00 a.m

ALL MASSESNov. 23 rd 20146 a.m, 7 a.m, 8 a.m, 9.15 a.m (English)4 p.m, 5 p.m, 6 p.m (English)Nov 24th 2014 - 2nd Dec 2014Novena Days6 a.m, 7.15 a.m, 8.15 a.m, 9.30 a.m,10.30 a.m (English)3.45 p.m, 5.15 p.m, 6.15 p.m (English)Dec 3rd 2014Feast of St. Francis Xavier Solemnity4 a.m, 5 a.m, 6 a.m, 7 a.m, 8 a.m, 9

a.m, 10.30 a.m(Feast Mass)4 p.m, 5 p.m, 6 p.m (English)Dec 4th 2014 – Jan 3rd 20156 a.m, 7 a.m, 8 a.m, 9.30 a.m,10.45 a.m(English)4 p.m, 5 p.m, 6 p.m (English)

NOVENASThe novenas to St. Francis Xavier willbegin on the 23rd Nov 2014 till 2ndDec 2014 with celebration of the sol-emn feast on the 3rd Dec 2014. Masseswill be in various Indian and foreignlanguages.

CONFESSIONSThe sacrament Reconciliation will becelebrated everyday during the pe-riod of the exposition of the sacredrelics in the Sacristy of Bom JesusBasilica.

VENERATION OF THE SACREDRELICSThe sacred relics will be venerated inthe Sé Catedral Church from Nov 23 rd2014 till Jan 3rd 2015(No kissing of therelics on 4th Jan 2015) from 6.00 a.m.to 7.00 p.m.

Sent by Agnelo Rodrigues,Wadala E.

8 6 October 2014

Decades ago, when MotherTeresa was still alive, a non-Christian named Hariram,

stunned at the sight of the kind ofmission Mother and her sisters wereperforming, sang glowingly of her as“a living saint inperson,……..bearing the livingCross!” 5 September 2014 markedthe 17th anniversary of the passing ofthat living saint of international re-nown into eternity and 19 October2014 marks the 11th anniversary ofher beatification. In the interveningperiod between her beatification andits 11th anniversary, other Indians haveattained sainthood, the distinction ofbecoming the First Indian WomanSaint going to Sister Alphonsa of theImmaculate Conception. Novemberwill herald the canonization of BeatiKuriakose Elias Chavara and MariamTheresa Chiramel. Early January2015 is likely to see another holybeliever of Indian origin being con-ferred sainthood. Significantly, withPope Francis waiving the “one-more-miracle” requirement in the case ofBlessed Joseph Vaz, one cannot helpbut question as to why Mother Teresa’scanonization continues to be held upfor want of “one more miracle”. Indeed!Wasn’t her whole life a miracle?

Saintly to the core!The fact is that while the cause for thecanonization of Joseph Vaz dependedon reports and testimonies that had theChurch delve into the past 300 years,Teresa’s life has been an open bookbefore the whole world ever since, inresponse to “the call within the call”,she left Loreto’s to serve the poorest ofthe poor in the slums and hovels ofCalcutta. For over half a century, theworld has been witnessing firsthandthe miracle of love in action every stepof the way that Mother and her Sistersand Brothers of Charity covered andcontinue to cover, be it in India oracross the world. In all that she saidand in all that she did she broughthumanity the presence of the Messiah,the healing touch of the great physi-cian, the mercy of the mighty healer-

faithful God! Not for nothing was sheknown as the ‘saint of the gutters’, withnothing but saintliness oozing from herhands and her eyes, her heart and herlips. Pray, what better miracle can welook for before having her declared aSaint!

Multifaceted recognitionEncomiums and awards came her waywith the same ease with which the kindof work she was involved in drew her.From the Nobel to the Bharat Ratna,Teresa, whose ministrations tran-scended social norms and taboos,defying the imagination of entire gen-erations, earned due recognition with-out letting herself be overwhelmed byit. The high and the mighty bent theirknee before her casket even as the I.K.Gujral government in India fittingly ac-corded her a State Funeral—a rarehonour!

Past popes likewise were known tohave had an open admiration for MotherTeresa, never shying away from dem-onstrating that admiration. Paul VI giftedthis epitome of saintliness the whiteceremonial Lincoln Convertible gifted

to him by Ameri-can Catholics andused by him on hisvisit to Bombayduring the 38th In-ternational Eucha-ristic Congress.Characteristically,she raffled off thiscar for the purposeof funds to build aleprosy hospital in India. The warmthof affection between John Paul II andTeresa is legendary, with the Popeeven going so far as to waive threeyears of the 5-year waiting period forthe process of her beatification to beset in motion and eventually beatify-ing her himself. Not so with PopeFrancis, apparently. What’s with himone wonders! Strangely, even asearch on the internet for a picture ofthe saintly nun with him, taken if at allmaybe during his Argentinian days,draws a blank. O well! He did say on

his recent visit to Albania that if Teresawere his Superior, he would have beenscared of her! But that’s neither herenor there! In fact, if he can waive the 2nd

miracle requirement for Vaz, or for anybeati for that matter, it’s obvious that it’sa mere technicality that he, as Pope,can very well dispense with in the caseof Mother Teresa who, he claims, satright behind him at the 1994 Synod andwhose strength and “the determined-ness with which she spoke, never let-ting herself be fazed by the assemblyof bishops” he so admired.

Is the Pope listening?O Pope Francis! We all love you so,and you know it! We are certain thatanother like you will not come our wayin our lifetime! But wouldn’t you, HolyFather, also agree that another gem ofa saint like Mother, the Blessed Teresaof Kolkata, will not walk the earth againfor a very long time to come? SantoPadre, just why do we need a miraclecure of some incurably ill person toprove the saintliness of someone whoseholiness has so seized our consciencesas to pose a challenge to the modernworld!

“Mother Teresa, A Living Saint In Person!”

by Ladislaus LD’Souza

96 October 2014

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TEL: Mob: 9029981260

After much hype, theHon’ble Prime Minister -Mr. Narendra Modi

launched MAKE IN INDIA Cam-paign, just before few hoursleaving to US.

In the Lok Sabha Polls , 2014 theBJP had promised “Acche Din” to thepeople of this country and be-lieving this populist slogan of“Acche Din” the people of thiscountry voted BJP led NDAgovernment to power. Today,70% population of our countryis still struggling to have onesquare meal a day. Millions arestill living in hunger and poverty.Millions are jobless and do noteven get Rs.20/- per day, whichis the stark reality of Acche Din.

In contrast Acche Din hascome for few rich and powerful Corpo-rate Industrial houses and that thereason the Industrialists like Mr.Mukesh Ambani (Reliance) Mr. CyrusMistry (Tata), Mr. Aditya Birla ( BirlaGroup), Mr. Kenicha Auawa (MarutiSuzuki) are all in praise for Mr.Narendra Modi for launching MAKE ININDIA campaign.

The Prime Minister has assuredhuge concessions to the Corporatesand Industrial housess in form of taxexemptions, excise duty and importduty. It is very clear that thisgovernment is obliged to pleasethese Corporate houses who sup-ported BJP during the Lok Sabha –2014 election.

The manufacrturing sector whichcontributes only 15% of Indias GDPgrowth is given priority over othersectors of economy.

The agricultural sector whichfeeds millions in this country, employ-ing more than 25 - crore agriculturallabourers, besides 8 - crore farmersare totally neglected. The governmenthas failed to increase the subsidy

given to the farmers to procure seedsand fertilizers. There is no supportprice given for agricultural products.

The European Aircraft Giants like

Airbus, Samsung Electronics, HondaMotors, Mercedez Benz are in apursuit to exploit cheap Indian labourand raw material available in abun-dance in this country with the help ofBJP Government. The Government isall set to help these Corporates andMultinatinal Companies at the cost ofcommon man. Millions are stillawaiting for Acche Din. There is norelief for common-man middle classand working people of this country.The prices of essential commodities,food items of mass consumption aregoing beynd the reach of common-

man.This slogan of Make In India is

nothing but a systematic effort madeto DIVERT the attention of peoplefrom real & general issues likeunchecked price-rise, un employment,hunger, poverty & jobless growth.

The BJP led NDA Government isall set to dilute the existingLabour Laws and other LabourWelfare Social Legislationswhich were enacted in thisCountry as a result of gloriousworking class struggles. Thepre-condtions to lay-off &retrench workers employingmore than 100 and to close thecompany is also sought to bechanged to favour the em-ployers. The employment ofcontract labour and fixed-term

employment is sought to be made freefor all the employers without any pre-conditions. Presently, the workingclass does not have any job securityand with the present amendments,the employers would be given freehand to exploit the cheap labour inthis Country encouraging hire-&-firesystem.

The BJP led NDA Government isfollowing the same policies of erst-while UPA-II Government and hascompletely betrayed the common-man, middle class, working people,peasants and farmers.

‘Make in India’ Simply toDivert Peoples' Attention

by Adv. Suhaas NaikPresident – AIYF – Goa State

10 6 October 2014

(Contd.. on p. 15)

As violent persecution againstChristians around the world intensifies, one would ask, "Why

is the world silent while Christians arebeing slaughtered in the Middle Eastand Africa?" Even leaders and organi-zations that should know the gravity ofthe situation better appear to be silent.It is observed that the United Nationshas been mostly mum. World leadersseem to be consumed with other mat-ters. There are no flotillas traveling toSyria or Iraq. And the beautiful celebri-ties and aging rock stars — why doesn'tthe slaughter of Christians seem toactivate their social antennas?

The Church, and especially allChristians around the world, is sup-posed to understand the scale and themagnitude of persecution around theworld their brothers and sisters arefacing today and to lead the world inthe fight against this sort of escalatingoppression.

Christians are dying because oftheir beliefs, because they are defense-less and because the world is indiffer-ent to their suffering. It is only the Jew-ish people who understand all too wellwhat can happen when the world issilent. This campaign of death must bestopped.

Europe and the United States,have witnessed demonstrations overthe tragic deaths of Palestinians whohave been used as human shields byHamas, the terrorist organization thatcontrols Gaza. The United Nations hasheld inquiries and focuses its anger onIsrael for defending itself against thatsame terrorist organization. But thebarbarous slaughter of thousands uponthousands of Christians is met withrelative indifference. In the Middle Eastand in parts of Central Africa, entireChristian communities are being lost inareas where peace had previously pre-vailed for centuries.

The terrorist group Boko Haramhas kidnapped and killed hundreds ofChristians this year — ravaging thepredominantly Christian town of Gwoza,in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria.

Half a million Christian Arabs have beendriven out of Syria during the three-plus years of civil war there. Christianshave been persecuted and killed incountries from Lebanon to Sudan andISIS selling Christian Women as SexSlaves as Militants overrun Qaraqosh.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

onciliation must be tried first. But “lastresort” does not mean “never.” Wag-ing war requires a just cause, such asdefending oneself or another from un-just aggression. But not every just causeis an excuse for the use of militarymight. Besides a just cause, the mili-tary intervention must cause less harmthan not intervening. You do not de-stroy a village to save it. The use ofmilitary force must be proportionate,and everything possible should be doneto avoid civilian casualties as it is be-lieved military intervention would onlymake matters worse. It is hard to arguethat the thousands of deaths and bil-lions of dollars spent have made Iraqbetter.

Pope Francis opposed any Ameri-can intervention in Syria because hedid not think those actions fulfilled thecriteria demanded by the just war doc-trine. There is no evidence that Ameri-can intervention would have done bet-ter in Syria than they did in Iraq, espe-cially with a much smaller investmentof resources. The just war theory saysyou should not wage a war you cannotwin.

The Pope said something similarduring his press conference on his wayhome from South Korea. In response toa journalist’s question, he said:

In these cases where there is un-just aggression, I can only say that it islicit to stop the unjust aggressor. I un-derscore the verb “stop”; I don’t saybomb, make war — stop him. Themeans by which he may be stoppedshould be evaluated. To stop the unjustaggressor is licit, but we neverthelessneed to remember how many times,using this excuse of stopping an unjustaggressor, the powerful nations havedominated other peoples, made a realwar of conquest. A single nation can-not judge how to stop this, how to stopan unjust aggressor. After the SecondWorld War, there arose the idea of theUnited Nations. That is where we shoulddiscuss: “Is there an unjust aggressor?It seems there is. How do we stop

Why the World is Silent ?Christians are dying be-cause of their beliefs,because they are de-fenseless and becausethe world is indifferentto their suffering.

Don Aguiar

(ISIS) is not a loose coalition of jihadistgroups, but a real military force that hasmanaged to take over much of Iraq anduses money from banks and gold shopsit has captured, along with control of oilresources and old-fashioned extortion,to finance its killing machine, making itperhaps the wealthiest Islamist terror-ist group in the world, The generalindifference to ISIS, with its mass ex-ecutions of Christians, isn't just wrong;it's obscene.

When it comes to the use of mili-tary force, Americans tend to be in twocamps: those who want to use over-whelming force to defeat their enemiesand those who oppose the use of forcefor one reason or another. The limiteduse of force is denigrated by both sides.Foreign policy realists, on the otherhand, see the use of military force assimply one among many tools of for-eign policy.

It is this context that makes it sodifficult for Americans to understandthe Vatican’s position on the use ofmilitary force, which is based on thejust war theory.

The Vatican begins with a pre-sumption against war. War can only bea last resort after all other avenues havebeen exhausted. Diplomacy and rec-

116 October 2014 116 October 2014

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The Ryan International Group ofInstitutions was honoured with SixAwards for their continuing efforts in pro-

viding quality education at the Education World2014 Awards held at Hotel Lalit, New Delhi. TheRyan Global School, Mumbai was awarded forbeing ranked in the Top 10 in the Best Interna-tional School category in India while the RyanInternational Schools at Jaipur, Surat, Shahjahanpur,Ludhiana and Nasik were felicitated for being amongthe best schools in their respective cities.

In addition to this, the group had a total of 37schools in the Best Schools of India in variouscategories. The Ryan Schools have distinguishedthemselves by their focus on academic excellenceand all-round development.

The Awards were received by the CEO, Mr.Ryan Pinto and Director Ms Snehal Pinto. Speak-ing on the occasion, Mr. Ryan Pinto said, “We arevery encouraged. Thirty seven schools of our groupbeing ranked in the country reflects the commit-ment of our stakeholders to offer quality educationto our children. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ forcontinuing to show us the way. I thank our teamwho contribute to the cause of ensuring excellencefor holistic development of our students. In the

6 Awards for Ryan School Group

coming years we intend to relentlessly work to better our peda-gogical practices and process to enable our students becomelifelong learners.”

The ranking was based on the several parameters such asindividual Attention to students, Infrastructure, Value for money,Academic reputation, and Education quality among others. Mostof the Ryan Schools were well matched to the criteria laid down bysurveyors. —Ronida

12 6 October 201412 6 October 2014

136 October 2014 136 October 2014

14 6 October 201414 6 October 2014

End Of Pre-poll AllianceRegime?

The way the four major players inthe Maharashtra politics, have behavedfor the past few weeks, gives a feelingthat the days of ‘give and take’ haveended. For any credible alliance tosustain there must be coherence andthe way this is being eroded it couldsignal the end of pre-election coalitionera at least in Maharashtra. The muchtouted ‘strong alliance’ of the saffronoutfits has ended when they shouldhave been celebrating their Silver Jubi-lee. Both the parties are now free to spitvenom during the campaign. The BJPboasted about the alliance with Bihar’sNitish Kumar which also ended simi-larly.

The Congress-NCP marriage hasalso ended, albeit, with lesser acrimony.Nobody wants to cozy up with a loser.Both are losers anyway. Sharad Pawarwas keener to keep his options open inthe post poll scenario. The Shiv Senahas given him elbow space as also theBJP. NCP which was formed withoutany ideology has been a fence sittersince inception. Pawar when he formedthe party had fantasized his chances ofbecoming a PM. Like L.K.Advani hisdreams will remain unfulfilled.

This time around, the Shiv Sena,unlike during the national electionsearlier this year, took an aggressivestand though Raj Thackerary may notagree. This is the result of the big brotherattitude of the BJP. The Sena’s impor-tance was under-played then. Theyconsidered it below their dignity to talkto Uddhav ignoring the fact that he isthe President of his party. They autho-rized leaders to negotiate with Sena.This was insulting.

The Modi factor may be on thedecline as the recent bye-elections haveshown in many States. In the generalelections, though BJP got 23 [27.2%votes] against 18 [20.8% votes] of ShivSena in Mahaarastra the story inMumbai and extended suburbs [Thane,Bhiwandi, Palghar and Kalyan] wasdifferent. The honours were shared withboth getting 5 each. In 2009 electionswhich were also fought jointly the BJPvote share was 14.02% as against16.26% of the Shiv Sena [MNS got5.71%]. Both Senas polled 22.96%

This time around, the MNS led byRaj Thackeray has been completely side-lined with nobody wanting to align withhim. The dismal showing in the generalelections made him an untouchable atleast for the moment. Let us see with hisnew slogan ‘Yes, it is possible” a varia-tion of Obama’s ‘Yes, we can’, whetherhe can turn the tide. He could be a king-maker under the changed circum-stances. Ashmita pride may pay somedividends. Screening outsiders whoenter Mumbai may not go well with theNorthern constituency.

The Congress-NCP, even withoutan alliance, will make little or no impact.Their fate will be akin to the UPA in thelast general elections. Whether we like itor not and their confidence in the fourthterm notwithstanding, the role of Con-gress and NCP in Maharashtra appearsto be over at least for the time being. Atbest individually, NCP could lend sup-port should it become crucial. NCP hatesto be ‘out of power’.

The BJP is paying for its arro-gance. The Sena was given just onecabinet berth. The SAD too is beingsidelined. At this rate the BJP willremain alone – friendless. Of coursefor the sake of power, they will sidewith anybody even the devil. The per-formance of the MNS will be worthwatching. Uddhav did not want MNSto join the NDA when BJP made dis-creet attempts. The new hotline be-tween MNS and the Sena will remainquite busy but Raj may not want todiscuss anything from a position ofweakness. But things can changeafter the polls.

*****

Sweet And Sour DishThe just concluded visit of the Chi-

nese President Xi Jinping has ended ina disaster the likes of which has neverbeen witnessed before. The all powerfulPresident of the most populated countrycomes on an official visit [and a fewgoodies] and organizes serious borderincursions simultaneously. This is un-precedented. With this atmosphere, onecould hardly expect any serious andwell meaning bonhomie between thetwo leaders. Modi was forced to talk

tough and it paid. The tension is cool-ing off.

The visit was obviously to coun-teract the fairly successful visit of theIndian PM to Japan where he securedan assurance of some 35 billion dollars[but no nuclear fuel]. China has alwaysfelt that they are free to do what theywant and nobody should questionthem. China was also expecting Modito visit China before Japan. Xi wasexpected to come with a bouquet ofsome 100 billion dollars and his visitwas much hyped some weeks before itactually happened. What he actuallycame with is just a fraction of thatamount – a mere 20% with a majorchunk going to finance the Bullet trainbetween Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Thewhole exercise seemed to be Gujaratcentric.

China has always been very closeto Pakistan and has been openly tryingto encircle India by befriending smallercountries like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka,Maldives etc. But it has taken umbrageat the move by India to befriend coun-tries like Vietnam, Japan, and Indone-sia etc with whom China has somebitterness over territorial issues. Chinais going to show its muscle power toIndia and make its displeasure publicover the reported closeness with theiradversaries, particular Japan. Like theUSA, India needs to handle China withcaution, considering the importance ofChina in world politics.

While India is much strongertoday compared to 1962, so is Chinawith its vast military strength. It iseasy to talk tough but if the pushcomes to a shove, the result could beugly for this country especially at atime when India is trying to emergeas a global economic super power.China mercifully also realizes India’smarket potential. The ‘congratula-tions’ on the success of MOM has tobe seen in that context. But bothcountries will keep the pressure onfor ultimate political gains.

VIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWS

by Marshall SequeiraMarshall SequeiraMarshall SequeiraMarshall SequeiraMarshall Sequeira

156 October 2014

Novenas And Prayer-Vigils Heal Wounds

Novenas are special prayers orservices set in

spiritual formation for anumber of specified days,woven in the divine webof faith and trust beseech-ing God for His mercy,love and forgiveness.Novenas are made mostoften through the inter-cession of His Mother orthe saints.

Vigils are kept (usually at night) inprayers with the sole purpose of fo-cusing attention to urgent problemswith varied patterns of devotion in ser-vices, asking for God’s justice or as-sistance as the case might be.

Novenas and Vigils are alwaysperformed in faith and in trust. A no-vena for nine days would have medita-tion for each day. For example:

Day 1. The acceptance of the Word ofGod. Luke 1:26-38.

Day 2. About humility, Luke.1:48.Day 3. Meditate on charity. Luke.1:36-

39.

Day 4. A deep love for God. Luke.2:21,22, 40.

Day 5. Grateful for our gifts. Luke.1:46-49.

Day 6. Gratefulness at the temple. Luke2:22-24.

Day 7. The acceptance of poverty withtrust in God. Luke 1:48.

Day 8. Prayer in the community. Acts1:12-14.

Day 9. Thinking about Mary our Mother.John 19:25-27.

Each day of the novena shouldhave a short meditation on the Word ofGod. This is generally followed by a

prayer of supplication. AHail Mary, an Our Fatherwould be correct. Finally,a closing prayer. A novenais for nine days, of publicor private prayers, alwayswith an intention. Some no-venas are known for 3 or 6days; some for 9 hours in

a single day. The origin of the novenastarted with the nine days of prayerwhen Mary, the Mother of Jesus andthe disciples were together betweenAscension and Pentecost Sunday.

The novena should not be bro-ken when in a time frame. Some nove-nas can be for nine weeks. Novenasare made when people ask God forfavours and make promises on itscompletion. To continue praying re-minds us of what Jesus had said :“Ask and it will be given you; seek andyou will find; knock, and it will beopened to you. For everyone whoasks receives, and he who seeks finds,and to him who knocks it will beopened.” (Luke.11:9-10).

(Contd.. on p. 22)

BY MELVYNBROWN

him?” But only that, nothing more.Here, Pope Francis has been criti-

cized as being “reticent” as 200,000Christians (and other minorities) arefleeing, hunted down by Islamist mili-tants who crucify, behead and stonetheir enemies. Foreign policy realistswill say that the Pope is naive. The onlyway that the Islamic State is stopped iswith force, including bombs. And ifthey have to wait until the U.N. acts, itwould be too late to save anyone.

The Pope is being extremely cau-tious because he does not want Ameri-can hawks to say he is blessing Ameri-can military intervention to destroy theIslamic State. Nor does he want Mus-lim extremists to say he is calling acrusade against Islam. He prudentlyerrs on the side of caution and lets hisdiplomats fill in the blanks.

Limited military intervention pro-

vides time for the new Iraqi govern-ment to get its act together, especiallyby bringing the Sunnis on board. Thereis no American military solution to theconflict in Iraq. Only the Sunnis candefeat the Islamic State. This requiresthe intervention of the United Nationsand not only one nation America. Afterall, it was the Sunni awakening that

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defeated al-Qaida, not the Americansurge.

The Pope and the Vatican arelooking at the United Nations to holddiscussion and find a solution to endthis campaign of death by the IslamicState on Christians and minorities butthe silence of the United Nations be-trays its very purpose. To save Chris-tians and minorities from the campaignof death by the Islamic State the inter-national community must act. This caninclude disarming the aggressor asthis is a case of “humanitarian interven-tion,” but it should be done by theinternational community and not uni-laterally by one nation. In view of thisthe Pope and the Vatican should leadthe world to fight against this sort ofescalating oppression and that bringsus to the question - Why is the worldsilent, while Christians are slaughteredin the Middle East & Africa?

(Contd.. from p. 10)

16 6 October 2014

by Mayank Jain

Radio taxi fare: Rs. 18/Km

Auto rickshaw fare: Rs. 14/Km

Taxi fare: Rs. 12/Km

India’s Mars Orbiter: Rs. 11.25/Km

That’s the sum total of India’s spacemission: cheap, efficient and illustri-ous. Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) hasentered the Martian orbit after beinglaunched from Sriharikota, AndhraPradesh by PSLV C25 rocket/carrieron November 5th, 2013.

After a long journey spanning 11 monthsand multiple maneuvers that re-launched the orbiter from earth’s sphereof influence into the Mars’ orbit, it hasfinally reached the position where it willbegin operating and fulfilling the mis-sion objectives. The major objective isto look for traces of methane in theatmosphere of Mars as has been de-tected by signals on Earth, but NASA’sMars rover hasn’t been able to find anyclue of the same so far. However, withIndia’s mission in place along withNASA’s MAVEN, hopes of a break-through have rejuvenated.

Here are the five things that you mustknow about India’s Mars Orbiter Mis-sion, affectionately referred to as MOMby our PM:

1. Jugaad’ Innovation: They say thatnecessity is the mother of inventionand similarly, deficiency fuels creativ-ity. We are known for the ability toinnovate and offer goods at cheaperprices while maintaining the quality;ISRO has thus added itself to the listwhich includes Micromax, Lava andsimilar enterprises. ISRO being an un-dervalued but over performing entity inthe country’s balance sheet, set out toachieve another feat through this mis-sion. It is India’s first interplanetary mis-sion on a shoe string budget, but pre-

cision, right from the beginning made ithappen. The project was approved bythe government of India on 3rd August2012 and costs Rs. 450 crores, muchless than what it took Hollywood tomake ‘Gravity’, a movie based on spacemissions and astronauts. The budgetof the movie was almost $100 million.

2. Looking for Methane: The 1350 kilo-gram payload launched from India isloaded up with analyzers, imaging de-vices and scientific instruments which

will gaze into the planet and its sur-roundings to give back reports of thepresence of methane. Apart from tech-nological leaps like developing prow-ess to manage space missions, it willgive India a peek into Mars’ structuraland atmospherically relevant history.The traces of gases detected in andaround the atmosphere will prove use-ful in the study of the universe as awhole as well.

3. Successful at the First Attempt: Ac-cording to NASA, out of the 57 mis-sions to the red planet by differentcountries, only 21 have been success-ful. India is only next to Soviet spaceprogram, NASA, and the EuropeanSpace Agency to send a successfulmission to the planet. However, we arethe first ones to do it in the first attempt.As explained by a Reddit user, puttingit into the orbit in the first attempt is likehitting a grain of dust particle fromacross the world to a hole on the otherend.

4. Only 4 Rupees Per Person: A lot ofcriticism about the mission stems fromthe fact that it did incur hundreds ofcrores and the amount could be uti-lized for public welfare in a country with400 million people living in poverty.However, the cost of Mars Missioncomes out to be just around Rs. 4 perperson which is essentially 10% of aday’s poverty threshold for the country.The cost in fact is too low for such anambitious and successful (so far) ex-ploration which holds multiple pros-pects for welfare at large.

5. Tweeting From Space: The MarsOrbiter also joined Twitter and interest-ing conversations ensued once itstarted sending tweets from space.NASA’s own Curosity Rover sent agreeting in Hindi to welcome it aroundand asked to keep in touch. The one ofa kind exchange became a spectacleon social media and made sci-fi fanta-sies of talking rovers come true for awhile.

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Tweets From Space: 5 Things You Should KnowAbout India’s Mars Orbiter Mission

176 October 2014

Technologies and inventions haverevolutionized the modern era.In modern age, with booming

techno world, the computers have ex-tended their reach to everyone fromchildren to adults and it has got every-one hooked onto it. As computers havebecome really affordable for families,nearly every household of middle andmiddle upper class family has one.

The introduction of 3-D gamesand the consistent use of it have left anegative impact on children’s minds.Psychologists and sociologists believethat some of the violent game leads toimitation of violent activities in children.Thus we find a behavioral change inthem. Evidences have been found re-garding the addiction of these com-puter games. People aged between 25to 30 years cannot retreat from thischildhood activity within themselves.

Computers are a big boon to chil-dren as they not only help them withtheir education but also help them en-hance their knowledge in many ways.But due to the presence of this elec-tronic device, children have startedspending more time in front of it ascomputer games have become a dearlything to them. This has not only led totheir health getting affected but hasalso put their social life on thebackburner.

Computer influence has takenover children lives so much that todaythey prefer to play games on it ratherthan go out and indulge in some physi-cal exercise by playing various sports.Such a thing severely affects a child’shealth as a lack of physical exercisecould lead to health problems. Re-search shows that youngsters whospend their valuable time in playingvideo games fifteen hours a week areintended to be more aggressive in na-ture. A good example of this is my 14year old cousin who was addicted tocomputer games at a very early age.His addiction confined him to his roomfor most of the day and he rarely wentout to play some sport. This addictionproved to be harsh on him after a yearwhen health problems such as pain inthe eyes and inability to concentrate on

studies, started affecting him. The onlytreatment which the doctor suggestedwas for him to go out and involve inphysical activities.

Together with the computers,internet today has more or less erasedthe physical boundaries betweenpeople. With online social networkingfast catching on with children, sociallives of children have been affectedvery much. Earlier children used tohangout with each other in groups,have fun playing board games witheach other, etc. But now they preferinteracting with each other online. Thishas led to them becoming less activewith the people around them and hasalso affected their personality. I hadalso experienced myself getting caughtin the world of social networking whichled me to become very introvert innature.

It is necessary for children as wellas parents to understand the dire con-sequences of this mind gripping ma-chine. It not only halts the child’s resis-tive power to the outer world but alsothe mental ability to think and response.To avoid children getting sucked intothe world of computers so much so thatit starts affecting them health wise anddisconnects them from the real world,parents have to start advising them atan early age about the ill-effects of toomuch computing and they should takecare that their children spends morequality time with their family and friends.In this way computer would not onlyhelp children have better worldly knowl-edge but also make them responsibleadults in the future.

—Sara Khan

Are Computer Boon Or a Bane For Children?

While India’s ‘Mars OrbiterMission’ (MOM) has doneIndia proud and is hailed

as a landmark achievement in theexploration of outer space, besidesputting India in the hallowed andexclusive company of US, Russiaand the European space agency,questions are being raised whetherit was worthwhile spending a whop-ping Rs 450/ crore on the project,when millions of Indians are living inpenury. Even though the cost hasbeen played-down by some, withcalculations that show that it worksout to less than Rs 7/ per km, whichis less than the rickshaw fare inMumbai and Delhi, the fact remainsthat such projects do not bring directbenefits to the common man who isleast bothered whether methane orwater has been found as indicatorsof earlier life on the red planet. Wehave also spent huge amounts onpast experiments, but are also thebeneficiaries of the satellites put intoorbit, which warn us of weatherchanges, impending floods, cy-clones and tsunamis. Communica-tion has also been revolutionizedthrough these satellites with the useof mobiles, internet and GPS track-ing. The question now is whether weneed to go further in the explorationof outer space with projects whichentail huge expenditure and littlebenefit to the common man, and forwhat reason?

—A. F. Nazareth, Alto Porvorim.

Pros and consof outer spaceexplorations

18 6 October 2014

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cerned person. His/her name, desig-nation and the name and address ofthe Company should be correctly writ-ten. An application should not read likea railway timetable. Rather, itshould tell the prospective em-ployer briefly what you can doand how you will contribute to-wards his/her enterprise.

A couple of good refer-ences always help, but it shouldbe provided only after obtainingthe person’s permission. Con-clude the letter by offering toappear for the interview, if de-sired. This act displays your self-confi-dence and creates an opening for youto be considered as a prospective em-ployee.

Before posting your application,ensure that you have signed it and allenclosures have been properly insertedin the envelope and it has been fullyaddressed and stamped. Any negli-gence from your part will on result intothe rejection of the application.

When you are asked to appear for

the interview, always go neatlydressed. Avoid picnic and partydresses and funny hairstyles. Al-though, dress and grooming arematters of individual taste, it is pru-dent to be dressed neatly in a well-ironed pant and a shirt, if you are amale or a salwar-kameez or a saree,if you are a female. Avoid wearingjeans and T-shirts.

Enter the boss’s cabin only whencalled for. If there is no system ofcalling out names, tap the door of

the cabin gently and enter only aftergetting a reply to the question, “May Icome in, Sir?” or “May I come in,Ma’am?”

Greet the boss with agood morning or a good after-noon, depending on what timeof the day you enter. Take aseat when asked to, and sit ina confident relaxed manner.These preliminaries make thefirst and lasting impression oninterviewers. Do not reply inmono-syllables. Give full andaccurate replies. Do not try to

bluff or give incorrect or false informa-tion. You will soon be terminated if notimmediately then at a subsequentstage. If you are unable to answer anyquestion, be frank about it.

A question which is frequentlyasked by all interviewers is, “What canyou do?” Avoid replying, “I can doanything.” You must understand thatyou can’t perform several tasks. Justhighlight the skills you have and prom-ise to learn quickly whatever else isrequired, and do your best. Ask ques-tions about the job profile.

It is not necessary to possess anencyclopedia of knowledge becausethe interview is not a demonstration ofyour awareness. However, it is impor-tant to read the day’s newspaper be-fore you appear for the interview. Thiswill enable you to answer questionswithout hesitation as you can impressthe interviewer. Lastly, depart with apleasant greeting. Never ask when youwill receive a letter of appointment. Beprepared for a negative reply.

While planning a career, thesearch for the first job isthe most tiresome one.

Everywhere you will be asked,“What experience do you have?”Without experience, you won’t begiven the job and without a job youwon’t gain experience. This issuecan be resolved to certain extent byperforming a part-time job.

Although, it may hardly fetchyou an income, the experience andcertificate you will receive will bebeneficial to you in future. Now thequestion that arises is: “Where shouldI apply for a job?” The first instinct is toapply to all big companies. It is worthtrying if you can join one of them.However you can also join a small ormedium-sized company. Your chancesof getting hired here are far greater;moreover you will get an all-round ex-perience in such an organization. Sub-sequently, you can switch on to a big-ger company and make your markthere.

The manner in which you applyfor a job is of utmost importance too.Do not write your bio-data on a shabbypaper. Your personality counts. If pos-sible, get letterheads printed. If thiscannot be done, then use a good qual-ity paper and write or type out your bio-data legibly. Your name and addressshould be written or typed at the top.Do not forget to write the date on theapplication. A letter or application sansonly gives the impression to the em-ployer that the applicant is careless.

Address the letter to the con-

Every interview is a learning experience

BY JUBEL D'CRUZ

196 October 2014

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The toddler trying to match feetwith his brothers, the tiny spidercrawling up the mighty wall, the

obese lady trying to control her diet,the small ant carrying its heavy food, anaddict trying to give up hisdrug and a mediocre childtrying to excel in academics-in order to achieve their goalseveryone has to surpass fail-ure. Sometimes the destina-tion does not come easily toyou. One has to work. Reallyhard. Whenever we are notable to accomplish a task, orachieve our goals and meetup to our expectations we arein a state of FAILURE. Thisstate has the capability toplunge us into despair anddisappointment. Failure is un-deterred: the word itself isfilled with the underlying con-notations of negativity but theact of failing does not have tobe. If handled well, failure cando wonders improving livesand ameliorating the personas a whole. Following thingsare worth learning from a fail-ure:

Nothing is permanent:Failure tastes really bad when it hits. It

is unexpected: creates pain, despairand abominable lull. But time is a greathealer. It never remains same. How-ever, difficult it may be, it changes.Failure is not the ultimate end. Past

cannot be altered.

Flush out unwanted opin-ions.It takes lot amount of courage to acceptone’s mistake. We often come up withdifferent explanations to save ourselvesfrom bearing the guilt of our failure. Weall are Escapists. Pampering our big fatego is our real concern. This is the solereason for permanent damage to vari-ous companies and even relationships.But if someone is responsible for ourfailure it is completely, totally and solelyus. Rather than playing a blame gameif we accept our mistakes with all humil-ity we can rectify them and work to-wards achieving our goals.

Take responsibility.Beholding oneself responsible for one’sfailure intensifies the feeling of guiltand desire to succeed as well. Thisfeeling acts as a catalyst and acceler-ates progress towards the ultimatedestination. Hence all the inaction anddelay ceases. It gears up, reenergizes,rejuvenates, recreates and reinvents.We are able to rediscover ourselves. Afat man turns to run faster when chasedby a dog similarly once hit by a failurewe tend to work faster with much more

efficiency and lessflaws.

Failure helps toovercome fearsSome people fearheights, some deepwaters, some fearcrowd while othersfear failure. Psycholo-gists say, one canovercome one’s pho-bia by facing it right inface. Hence when youfail you are living yourgreatest fear. Onceyou are over it, youbecome fearless.

Taking failure asa positive thingSometimes if you don’tget what you desire, it

turns out into a blessing. We alwayshave a choice to look things from differ-ent perspectives. Glass may be half fullor half empty. One can choose to sit indark or find your inner light and dis-cover the most power pieces of your-self. Similarly, failure or crisis can beviewed positively as an invitation tolearn something new, viewing theshakeup in your outer world as anenlightening opportunity to wake upyour inner world.

Failure gives an opportunity to workharder on any goal. And as we know ittastes sweetest when it comes aftermuch of hard work and labor. So what-ever failures you had in life overcomethem, don't let them dishearten you.

Learn from Failures

20 6 October 2014

MATRIMONIALSMUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 30 yrs, wheatish com-plexion, ht 5'9", wt. 68 kgs, sober hab-its, Edn. B.E. (Mech), MBA, Employedwith an MNC, seeks alliance from R.Cspinsters with pleasant personality andstrong moral values. Contact:m a t r i a d v e r t 8 @ g m a i l . c o m /9869480235. (Regd. No. 6163)USA : RC Bachelor 34 / 5’ 9”, workingin the USA, with a reputed organisationon a senior position, M.Com (India),MBA (USA) has good family valuesgod fearing, pleasing personality, fam-ily oriented and having ownaccomodation in the USA. Seeks lifepartner from a Roman Catholic spin-ster having good christian values andwilling to settle in the USA.Please send Bio-data alongwiththelatest photograph toovrille@gmail.com (Regd. No. 6204)USA : Mangalorean Roman CatholicDivorcee, aged 46 years, Ht. 5’ 6”, Wt.65 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.Masters in Engineeing and Business.Working as a Vice President. Seeks agirl below 40 years. Contact email :vinodmiranda@yahoo.com /miranda.ronald20@yahoo.com OR9322191670 (Regd. No. 6199)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Divocee, aged 44 years, Ht.6’, Fair Complexion, Edn. Undergradu-ate, working as a Security oficer inShip. Coming in the month of Decem-ber, Seeks a suitable match. Contact09480157258 (Regd. No. 6198)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor aged 29 years, Ht. 5’ 6”, Wt,67 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.MBA, working as a Asst. ManagerMarketing in Pune. Seeks a suitablematch preferably Goan. Contact email: s.alistair.a@gmail.com OR9892091909 (Regd. No. 6197)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 35 years, Ht. 6’ 4”,Wt.80 kgs, Wheatsih Complexion,Edn. 8th Std., Working as an Asst. ACTechnician in Dubai. Seeks a under-standing and homely girl. Contact :

Address your replies to :

Regd. No.ROYAL CHRISTIAN FAMILY,99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st

Floor, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.

To Place Your MatrimonialAdvertisement Call:

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9022935415 / 9819257399 (Regd.No. 5992)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Divorcee, aged 32 years, Ht.5’ 5”, Wt.57 kgs, Wheatsih Complex-ion, Edn. Graduate, having own busi-ness and accommodation. Only child.Seeks a understanding, honest girl.Contact email :livewide@gmail.com OR 8652878111(Regd. No. 5989)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RC Divorcee,aged 45 years, Ht. 6’ 1”, Wt. 87 kgs,Wheatish Complexion, Edn P.U.C.,working as a A/C Mechanic in Kuwait.Mob.: 00965-65983992 / 00965-67724704 (Regd. No. 6012)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 45 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt.65 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.SSC, well settled. Seeks a suitablematch. Contact Mob.: 9867764737(Regd. No. 6022)POONA : Roman Catholic Bachelor,aged 35 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt. 65 kgs,Fair Complexion, Edn. B.Sc., + Certi-fied Fumigation Operator, Having ownbusiness. Seeks a fair good lookinggirl willing to settle in Poona. Contactemail :nelsoncarvalho@rediffmail.com OR9096466322 / 8600528122 (Regd.No. 6020)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Bachelor, aged 29 years, Ht.6’ 1”, Fair Complexion, Edn. BE andMasters in Computers (IT) from Lon-don, working in an MNC (IT) inMumbai, Seeks an educated, simple,mangalorean girl. Contact email :johnsonquadros@yahoo.co.in OR28618926 / 9920631575 (Regd. No.6014)MUMBAI : Roman Catholic Bachelor,aged 44 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt. 50 kgs,

Members are requested toinform us when they are settled,so that publication of theirdetails can be discontinued.

Wheatish Complexion, Edn. SSC.,working as a Jewellery setter. Seeksa suitable match. Contact Mob :9833046266. (Regd. No. 6121)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 36 years, Ht. 5’ 8”, Wt.78 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.Com., Having own well establishedbusiness. Conact email :dollylopes@ymail.com OR9220566467 / 9892320912 (Regd.No. 6120)BANGALORE : Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 30 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt.78 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.Tech., MBA, PGDM., working as aIT Sofwere - Business Analyst. Seeksa suitable match. Contact email :osbon_prusty@yahoo.co.in OR8123090908. (Regd. No. 6158)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic 1st marriage annuled by thechurch, aged 37 years, Ht. 5.’ 7”,Wt. 80 kgs, Fair Complexion,Edn. HSC., Diploma in Hotel andRestaurants Management, Working inFront office Department, well settled.Seeks a simple, humble, godfearinggirl. Contact email :menezes_kenneth@rediffmail.comOR 9619089645 (Regd. No. 6154)MUMBAI : East Indian Roman Catho-lic Divorcee, aged 33 years, Ht. 5’ 8”,Wt. 75 kgs, Wheatish complexion,Edn. MBA., in Intl. Businessfrom Newzealand. working as a Man-ager. Contact : emailbnipra@gmail.com OR Mob.:7738071111 (Regd. No. 6047)

216 October 2014

MATRIMONIALS

Address your replies to :

Regd. No.ROYAL CHRISTIAN FAMILY,99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st

Floor, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.

Royal Christian FamilyHelps In Choosing

The Right Life-PartnerServing Since 33 Years

Please renew your membershipat lease a month in advancebefore its expiration date.

MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Spinster, aged 29 years, Ht.5’ 4”, Wt. 65 kgs, Wheatish Complex-ion, Edn. B.E., working as a Sr. Ana-lyst in MNC. Contact email :joe51in@yahoo.co.in or 9322282297(Regd. No. 6203)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, aged 23 years, Ht. 5’ 6”, Wt.58 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.A. (Hons), B.Ed., M.A. (Part),Teacher by profession. Contact email: cancer5belita@gmail.com OR9892499656 (Regd. No. 6202)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Divorcee, having 4 years son,aged 32 years, Ht. 5’ 6”, Wt. 80 kgs,Fair complexion, Edn. B. Tech (Eng),working as a Risk Analyst in ForeignBank. Contact email :karenm@rediffmail.com OR9833021161 (Regd. No. 6201)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, aged 35 years, Ht. 5’ 2”, Wt.45 kgs, Wheatish Complexion,Edn.B.A., working as an Execuive inMNC. Contact email :zeenie28@yahoo.com OR9594597319 (Regd. No. 6200)MUMBAI : Maharashtrian ProtestantChristian Spinster, aged 28 years, Ht.5’ 7”, Wt. 59 kgs, Fair Complexion,good looking, Only Child. Edn.B.Com., LL.B., working as a Officer inBank. Contact email :vmbhide100@yahoo.com OR9819369243 / 9969052200 (Regd. No.6196)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic spinster 1973 born, 5’ 5” tall,fair complexion with qualifications,B.Com. (Mumbai), M.B.A. Finance(Canada), M.B.A., (H.R.) and Diplo-mas in I.T. (NIIT), Comp. (APTEC),and Cert.Ind Acct. (I.C.A.), working ingood position. Graduate / Post Gradu-ate unmarried R.C. Bachelors upto 45

years, employed in good position andwell settled in Mumbai or abroad. Con-tact email : bellwether77@yahoo.comor Mobile No. 9892700617. (Regd. No.6166)MUMBAI : Goan Roman Catholic Spin-ster, aged 35 years, Ht. 5’, Wt. 65 kgs,Fair Complexion, Edn. B.A., working aan Executive. Contact email :dsm1909@rediffmail.com OR9819800179 (Regd. No. 6079)MUMBAI : Goan Roman Catholic Spin-ster, aged 29 years, Ht. 5’3”, Wt. 70 kgs,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.Com,working as a Client Associate. Contactemail : a_fernandes@ateindia.com OR976939984 (Regd. No. 6077)MUMBAI : Goan Roman Catholic Spin-ster, aged 25 years, Ht. 5’5”, Wt. 67 kgs,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.E. (In-formation Technology) working as aSoftware Engineer. Contact email :sharondrz@gmail.com OR8655875558 (Regd. No. 6072)MUMBAI : Roman Catholic Spinster,aged 32 years, Ht. 5’2”, Wt. 55 kgs,Very Fair Complexion, Edn. MBA (HR)working as a Sr. GR Associate. Con-tact email : dianne.j12@gmail.com OR9867098306 (Regd. No. 6071)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Spinster, aged 25 years, Ht.5’ 4”, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.M.Sc. Maths, Professor. Contact email: alinbombay@yahoo.co.in OR7738931958 (Regd. No. 6070)MUMBAI : Goan Roman Catholic Spin-ster, aged 35 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt. 60kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.A.,employed as a Secretary. Contact :Mob: 9833120168 (Regd. No. 6010)MUMBAI : Goan R.C. Spinster, aged30 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt. 65 kgs, FairComplexion, B.Com., working as aSME, Seeks sober, well settled bach-elor. Contact : email :megna.fernandes@gmail.com OR9820264984 (Regd. No. 6007)MUMBAI : Goan R.C. Spinster, aged26 years, Ht. 5’ 2”, Wt. 60 kgs, TanComplexion, Edn. B.Sc + PGDQA,working as a QA Personnel in Pharma-ceutical, Seeks a good looking, under-

standing, responsible, well settledbachelor. Contact email :renmail1987@yahoo.co.in OR9892394604 (Regd. No. 6006)AHMEDABAD : Goan R.C. Spinster,Wheatish, slim, good looking, aged 29years, Ht. 5’ 4”, Wt. 49 kgs, Edn. B.A.,PGDMFI, Pursuing MBA, working asa Senior Officer in Bank. Seeks a edu-cated, well settled bachelor from de-cent and respectable family. Contactemail : steffi8138@gmail.com /jerrypeter02@yahoo.com OR 079-22162694 (Regd. No. 6004)MUMBAI : Mangalorean R.C. Spinster,fair, good looking, aged 29 years, Ht.5’ 2”, Wt. 62 kgs, Edn. Post graduate(MBA), working as a Manager inMNC, Seeks a well educated and wellsettled bachelor. Contact Mob.:9930441402 / 9769678734 Email:sjd0110@gmail.com (Regd. No. 6003)MUMBAI : East Indian Roman Catho-lic Spinster, aged 32 years, Ht. 5’ 3”,Wt. 58 kgs, Fair Complexion, goodlooking, smart, Edn. M.M.S., B.Com.,working as a Manager - Marketing.Seeks a handsome, intelligent, wellsettled bachelor. Contact email :christophersequeira@hotmail.com OR9167650179 (Regd. NO. 6002)QATAR : R.C. Spinster, age 28, Ht. 5’6”, MBA, working in Qatar for an OilCompany along with her family, seeksalliance from tall, well educated bach-elors (working on ship or abroad-En-gineers), having strong catholic values.Please respond to email:vanspereira25@gmail.com OR97466756066 (Regd. No. 5990)

22 6 October 2014

For two turbulent millenniums thenovena has been the dominant prayerdevotion in the Catholic Church. Theword, novena, comes from the Latin“novem” and means ‘nine’ –that’s oneof the reasons why novenas are fornine days and are a popular devotion –it should be mentioned ‘ not part of theliturgy”.

The number 9 in Christian andJewish thinking was related to suffer-ing and, grief, imperfection; making it acuriosity when ‘man’s imperfectionturned in prayer to God.’ (Catholic En-cyclopedia). In connection with thenumber 9, St. Jerome wrote that the‘number 9 in Holy Writ is indicative ofsuffering and grief.’

Novenas have a sense of “ur-gency”. The devotion asks the faithfulto continue the prayers for the allottednumber of days, in public or in private.St. Jude, in his letters to the early Chris-tians wanted them to persevere inprayer regardless of the persecutions.He became known as the patron of“hopeless” causes. There is a novenain his name. Jude was the brother ofJames. Read, Jude Vs.20-21. And oncompletion of a novena it has becomea Catholic tradition to make public ex-pression of your gratitude.

Basically there are four types`ofnovenas and they can fit into more than

one category. The first is the novena ofmourning. For example, following thedeath of a Pope. The second novena isthat of preparation. As in the case ofChristmas or Easter. The third is basedon prayers. The fourth are novenas ofindulgence.

There are novenas when the sameprayer is said for nine days or ninetimes in one single day, every hour fornine hours. Novenas are prepared tocoincide with the feast day of a particu-lar saint, or that of Our Lord, or OurLady. It always ends the day before thefeast. We should bear in mind thatsome novenas are not really” novenas”for the simple reason that the numbernine has no part in it. Yet it keeps thelabel.

The Novena to the Holy Spiritstarts on the day after Ascension Thurs-day and ends on Pentecost. That is agood and proper novena.

The most “efficacious” novena isthe 54-Rosary Novena. This is a verypowerful novena. You say 3 rosaries inone day and repeat it for 9 days, whichmakes it 27 rosaries. Now, you repeatthe cycle for 2 more times – 27X2 = 54rosaries.

The Novena to St. Philomenabegins 31st August and ends 8th Sep-tember, eve of the Feast.

There are also Novena-Vigils for 9hours. These vigils in combination withthe normal novena are not so popularwith the laity. Novenas to the SacredHeart, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. JohnBosco, St. Anthony, Our Lady ofVailankanni, St. Rita, St. JudeThaddeus, St. Ignatius, Our Lady ofMount Carmel, Mary Help of Chris-tians, are a few of the many well-lovednovenas.

We hear of Candlelight Vigils.“Vigils are the vanguards of

change and hope”, I recall reading. Ithelps to destabilize a situation andbring about change. At the same timehaving vigils helps to heal wounds,drawing the attention of those whomatter.

Prayer-Vigils are more emotive –or spiritually charged. ALL-NIGHT vig-ils in churches for world peace andother causes are in vogue. Christianshave a vocation to holiness.

In the Vatican Council’s Constitu-tion on the Church (Ch.V) ,Lumen Gen-tium, we are informed that every Chris-tian is called by God to holiness.Prayers, novenas and vigils are themeans for the people to accept what-ever situation they are in life. Novenasare an exhortation to trust in Godthrough His Mother, angels and saints.To be in the grace of God you arecalled to be one who strives towardssanctity. This happens when you offerprayers, intercede for those suffering,make novenas, and when the hourcalls for collective prayer and witness,to join vigils. In this way we propagateand promote devotion, creating a cul-ture that encourages the laity to prayand be proud as witnesses of theirCatholic faith.

Novenas held in parish churchescan create a wealth of spiritual bless-ing. Novenas are an act of progressivefaith and devotion. Their homilies deliv-ered and issues touched upon alwaysinspires and motivates Catholic actionin the pastoral sense.

Vigil-Novenas are rare, but havebeen a mirror reflecting God’s love andspecial grace. Ultimately, prayers andthe Sacraments are the most abundantwellspring of God’s benevolence. Thenovena, vigil and intercessory prayersfor the spiritual vanguard of the Chris-tian faith and Catholic belief will remainwith us for all time.

The Holy Sacraments are the eter-nal flames to keep alive the Church ofChrist, and to carry forward the Word ofGod. So, continue praying and neverlose hope and trust in Christ. Alwaysbear it in mind that Novenas and Prayer-Vigils also heal our mental and spiritualwounds.

(Contd.. from p. 15)

Subscriptions forThe Secular Citizen

Renewal as well as New, can be sentthrough Bank Fund Transfer to any oneof the following banks:

Bank: HDFC BankBranch : CST - Mumbai VTAccount Name: The Secular CitizenAccount No. 03552000006744ISFC code: HDFC0000355orBank: Citizen Credit Co-op Bank Ltd.,Branch : Colaba, MumbaiAccount Name: The Secular CitizenAccount No. 000000000100489ISFC code: CCBL0209003

Please inform us through email:secular@vsnl.com or through phone:22693578 after transferring the same.

PUNE : Pune based R.C. Goanbachelor, aged 30 years, Ht. 6’ 1”,Fair Complexioned, Slim, teatotallar,well qualified having own house inprime location working for TCS asmanager. Seeks suitable partnerfrom R.C. Spinster with strong fam-ily values. Contact with full detailsand recent photograph on09923334018. Email:lovette.dsouza@gmail.com

Matrimonials

236 October 2014 236 October 2014

Church in the City

‘Good Governance’ is neither anew mantra, nor an exclusive BJPslogan. Away from the hierarchy’sreach, politically enlightened Chris-tians have been propagating the sameto their brethren at every opportunityand cause, pointing out that we needa government not only to safeguardour religious identity but also work forthe welfare of all, especially the poorand marginalised. This opinion hasbeen conveyed to the political partiestime and again, only to be disregardedin their frantic race to grab power. Sonow we come full circle with the Churchauthorities openly advocating goodgovernance over preference for secu-lar parties.

The teachings of the CatholicChurch include the Bible Verse, ‘AndJesus said to them, “Render to Caesarthe things that are Caesar’s, and toGod the things that are God’s.” Andthey were amazed at him.’- Mark 12:17.The church authorities explain to theflock that loyalty and service to thecountry is as important as being faith-ful to one’s religion. At election timeCatholics are reminded that they areduty bound to cast their votes to electworthy people to assure good gover-nance of the country. Though Catho-lics have been loyal to the secularparties on the whole, the turmoil inpolitics has forced a major chunk ofthem to endorse politicians of integrityirrespective of their party affiliations. Itis also true that the pattern of voting fora secular party by Christians arosefrom the need to protect the commu-nity and its institutions from hardcorefundamentalists who do not stop atmere violence to create communaldisturbances in society. And Historyis witness to the fact that the fringe

groups run free to implement their hatepropaganda during particular regimes.

So what were the tremors thatshook the foundations of this firm andunshakable loyalty to ‘Secular Party’,particularly by the religious in the com-munity that normally votes en mass forit? Archbishop Oswald CardinalGracias, the head of the Catholic Churchin Mumbai, has clearly highlighted an-other course of action, retrieving theidea from the murky waters of commu-nity news and views! Have we been soambushed on the well-beaten path thata church leader makes known a differ-ent route already chosen by the in-formed voters in the community?

For decades, the ‘Minorities’ weretreated as the traditional Vote Bank ofthe Congress that took their support forgranted in the mistaken belief that inthe face of atrocities they would cling tothe party for survival. Appeasement ofsome sections, unjust reservation forsome and false assurances to some

others were the implements used tokeep up the charade. Given the factthat the community was not politicallysavvy because of years of side-step-ping anything as dirty as ‘politics’,Congress became complacent andnegligent of the grievances and aspi-ration of the very Vote Bank that kept itin power for so long.

The indifference is so great thatnone from the community howeverhighly educated and qualified, everfeatured on the list of Congress candi-dates at election time! Besides the fewpuppets on the strings, there has beenabsolutely no representation of thecommunity by the community in thegovernments. The excuse of coalitioncompulsion has been touted by theparty as excuse for all its ills andmisdemeanours, an excuse that holdsno substance any longer. Complaintsof lack of compensation, reservations,facilities for Catholics, the original land-owners in this Constituency have fallenon deaf ears. Throwing crumbs at thenoisemakers to appease the wholecommunity, empty words and prom-ises that never get translated into ac-tions is the only fare served with muchpomposity. So the time has come todiscard the tiny begging bowls andreplace them with a charter of de-mands for inclusive growth of the com-munity.

This disillusionment was evidentwhen last week, the East Indian Chris-tians of Mumbai announced a newparty, the Maharashtra Swaraj Party(MSP). The EI Christians should belauded for taking this bold step at thislate hour as an attempt to right thewrongs done to all citizens under acorrupt and complacent government.However, let it be made clear that thisnew fledgling party is not for EI orCatholics alone but has been born torealise the hopes and aspirations ofall’ underdogs’ suppressed under theself-serving rule of the present regime!

BY VERA ALVARES

“For the first time in recent memory, the Catholic Church will urgeits flock to vote for “good governance” rather than “secularparties” during the assembly elections. Up until the Lok Sabhapolls in May, the leaders of the faith had made a veiled appeal forthe Congress. The new mantra of good governance, however, isthe new slogan of the BJP.” – A news report in a Mumbai Daily.

24 6 October 2014

24 6 October 2014

Printed and Published by Lawrence Coelho at The Secular Citizen, 99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st Floor, Harihar Nivas, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001. Tel.: 2269 3578, 2265 4924Printers: The Secular Citizen, Fort, Mumbai 400001. Editor : Philip Myaboo

Published on every Monday & Posted on Monday & Tuesday of every weekPosted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai - 400001.

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