If I was asked to choose one person for the qualities of honesty,
kindness and sincerity, I would definitely choose Matanhy Saldanha.
Matanhy Saldanha was my teacher in school, in Don Bosco Panjim where I
studied. He was a multi-faceted personality. Apart from being a good
teacher, he was also a social activist, a writer, speaker,
environmentalist, politician and most importantly a simple kind
hearted human being. He was so unlike the other teachers, not the
strict disciplinarian but more of a friend with extra-ordinary
communication skills. What others would take hours and hours to teach,
he had the unique ability to convey the same within just a few
minutes. He was a trifle absent minded but everybody in school loved
him. He in turn loved Goa immensely. Along with science which he
taught as a subject, value education always became an important
subject in our classrooms. He was a role model to us and always
encouraged us to do something good for Goa - its heritage, culture and
environment. He was one of the nicest, sweetest and kindest person I
ever met. Since he lived quite close to my house, I had the
opportunity of meeting and interacting with him on a regular basis,
which was always such a pleasure.
Matanhy was unhappy with a lot of things and tried to change all that
by first being the change himself. He got himself submersed totally
into people's causes and struggles and devoted his full life fighting
for it. Trying to do something good for Goa became an important
mission of his life. He fought various battles for Goa, battles
against large scale land conversions, destruction of environment,
pollution, language agitation, special status, corruption, etc.
Whenever there was a cause representing Public interest, here was a
person who you would always see at the forefront. He was a political
rockstar who rocked every platform with his thundering voice. His
contributions to Goa, particularly in the field of politics,
environment and social activism, are immense. Restoring Goa back to
it's pristine glory was something he wanted to see. He left this abode
with an unfinished agenda. His demise is an immeasurable loss for us
all. We will miss him dearly. Completing his unfinished agenda will be
the greatest tribute we could pay to him. Let his life be an
inspiration for us to achieve the best for our beloved state. The
different battles he fought for must continue!
Sandeep Heble
Panaji-Goa
9326129171
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protect Goa's natural beauty
Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve
Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
