PRESIDENT DRAUPADI MURMU
KNOW your new President of India Droupadi Murmu! Veteran journalist Sheela Bhatt did some homework and offers this insight into the life of the new president of India, it is worth sharing here:
“Shrimati Draupadi Murmu’s personal life is a story of resilience and `self-pride.’ There was an unforgettable moment for her in 2009 when her 25-year-old son Lakshman died unexpectedly after attending a gathering in Bhubaneshwar. His death broke her. Supriya Kumari, head of the Brahma Kumari Ashram in Rairangpaur Odisha says, ‘She was completely shattered. She wasn’t having any life within her to even talk.’
“In one of the talks on Brahma Kumari’s television programme, Draupadi Murmu herself narrated this event, ‘The tsunami came into my life in 2009. It was a huge jolt to me. I couldn’t hear anything for a few days. I slipped into depression. Log kehte the ye to mar jaegi (people thought I will not survive). But, no, I wanted to live.’
“After two months, she visited Supriya Kumari in the Brahma Kumaris Ashram, completed a course and learnt Sahaj Rajyog. She recovered by changing her life. Since then, she gets up every day around 3.30am and retires to bed by 9.30pm. She does yoga and meditation unfailingly and is punctual as well. The spiritual bent of life not only survived but stabilized her too.
“But tragedy befell Murmu again when her younger son, Shipun, died in a road accident. When his body was brought home, she was broken completely, once again.
“Rajesh Sharma, a local journalist who was present at her home, says, `She was crying uncontrollably. She broke down before her son’s body. She raised her hands to the sky asking, “God what more do you want from me? What is left now?”’ The catastrophe came in droves.
“In an indescribable series of events, her mother and a younger brother died within a month And a year later, due to husband, Shyam Charan Murmu, died as well. At that point, Droupadi Murmu told a TV anchor with pain in her voice: `When my second son died, the jolt was a little less than before because I was doing meditation. My husband wasn’t as strong as me, so he couldn’t survive.’ She insisted on her only daughter Itishree, to marry and lead a normal life. After the deaths of five family members, she turned to spirituality and vegetarianism. When she was the governor of Jharkhand (2015-2021), she made the kitchen completely vegetarian. She is likely to bring many fundamental changes in the running of the government in Rashtrapati Bhavan if she becomes the president.
“Draupadi Murmu has donated her family’s land in Pahadpur for public causes. She runs the SLS residential school in memory of her husband and two sons. At the exact location, she has made samadhis in their memory. It’s a heart-wrenching sight.
“At the same time when you see tribal girls and boys getting free education and decent surroundings around samadhis, you can visualise carving out a beautiful future out of a deathly past.
“Take a bow Droupadi Murmu, to be the President of India!”
–Pankajbala R Patel, Panaji (courtesy The Print)
GOA DAIRY TO COMPETE!
MINISTER for Co-operation Subhash Shirodkar chaired a meeting with the Board of Directors and section heads of Goa Dairy Corporation on July 26 at Curti, Ponda yesterday and interacted with all the members and listened to their grievances and other issues related to milk production in Goa. Reportedly, Shirodkar asserted that Goa Dairy can now deal with competition from other upcoming dairy plants in Goa!
To enhance production of milk in Goa and boost sales Goa Dairy will now focus on increasing production and changing its marketing strategy. For your information almost 42,000 litres of milk is collected from Goan dairy farmers and supplied to consumers daily. The demand is huge for Goa Dairy milk and people also ask for milk items like butter and cheese.
Come the festivals the demand for milk rises. According to the Minister Shirodkar said milk will be upgraded as also if need be milk will be procured from out of state. Goa Dairy is having meetings with farmers in this respect and the target is to sell 60,000 litres of milk daily till come September.
FILM ON SANTA MONICA CONVENT
STANDING atop the
Monte Santo, resolutely facing north is the Convent of Santa Monica, Asia’s first and largest convent dating back
to 1627. The one time cloistered convent now houses the Institute Mater Dei and
Museum of Christian Art (MoCA). The convent had 11 private chapels of which
only three survive today. Filmmaker Dr Omkar Bhatkar, on one of his Goan
sojourns, came across murals in Santa Monica of which little is known and
written. So with varied efforts and permissions he has created a film to
document the fading 17th-century murals in a poetic form.
The film has its Goa premiere organised by Museum of Christian Art on Sunday, 4pm at the Church of Santa Monica in Old Goa on July 31, 2022. The screening of the film will be followed by a Q & A with Heta Pandit, Natasha Fernandes and the filmmaker. The evening is open to all but prior registration is compulsory, please do so on WhatsApp +91 8308805399. Tea will be served at 4pm and guests may look around the museum before or after the screening of the film.
PANCHAYAT POLLS
THERE will be no sale of liquor on August 9, 10 and 12. The government of Goa has directed all licensed premises “for the sale of liquor” to remain closed from August 9, 10 and 12, 2022 in the entire State of Goa, on account of Polling day and counting of votes for the General Elections to Village Panchayat 2022. Licensed premises having license for bar and restaurant may be open for food service only. A board stating “No Liquor” should be displayed on the prominently. The order also restricts transportation of liquor from one place to another. The order remains in force only on August 9, 10 and 12 in the entire state of Goa in view of polling and counting of votes for the general election to the Village Panchayat 2022, as informed by the Department of Information & Publicity.