Mr Jose Perreira travels 10 km on his bicycle from Taleigaoto hoist the national flag at the Junta House on patriotic public holidays.Perreira has been doing this for the last 34-years.
Jose Perreira started life at the Public Works Department,Panaji, in 1971 as a peon. He was however marked for bigger things. In 1977, hewas confirmed as the telephone operator following the death of a colleague andgiven the responsibility of hoisting the national flag on Junta House terraceon August 15. It has been a custom ever since.
"I agreed to do so since Independence Day, LiberationDay and Republic Day invokes a lot of patriotism in me and I thought hoisting anational flag was a great honour" states Mr Perreira with a great pride.
He hoists the flag at 7 am and lowers the flag at 6 pmbefore sunset. He says “The flag is noticeable by all those who drive throughPanjim city. Besides students, nobody else attends a flag ceremony on thesepatriotic days and for people to watch the tri-colour flying high onIndependence Day or Liberation Day is a great feeling".
For 34 years he has been spending his money to maintain theflag and place flowers on the flag before hoisting it. He said “I have nevergiven a voucher or bill for the flowers, washing or ironing the flag or for anyother expenses I incur on this day. Actually on those days I don’t even claimtravel allowance to come and hoist the national flag".
"I participated in dharnas and peaceful andolans againstthe Portuguese government and never wanted the tag of a freedom fighter unlikesome who claimed it despite not participating in the freedom movement. My lovefor my nation and freedom is a very big part of my life” concludes Mr Perreira.
"Now, as I retire in 2013, I want to make a plea togovernment to let me continue doing this till I am physically active. The joyof hoisting the Indian flag and thinking about freedom is justunimaginable," asserted a patriotic Perreira.
