One's heart leapt with joy, upon hearing the announcement, that one of our very own Goan, Ligia Noronha Sousa, rocked the party and was appointed as the Assistant Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Full disclosure: I have known Ligia and her equally erudite husband Peter Ronnie for years now and I am not going to wax eloquent about the qualities of head and heart that they both possess in abundance.
You will read about it elsewhere.
Ligia’s appointment to me is a moment of catharsis, indeed an epiphany, especially after the brutal incarceration of a young girl, Disha Ravi, for raising these very climate and environment issues.
Ligia, by her appointment and the sterling work which will surely follow, will be a torch-bearer for young activists, economists, and social and environmental scientists that, even when your blood turns cold as repressive governments across the globe crack down on environmental champions and dreamers, a little glow of hope, a flame that burns bright, somehow shines through.
Preserving the environment is perhaps the most patriotic global act one can indulge in.
One hopes that, with Ligia at the helm, these little drops of water of environmental protection get converted into a massive tidal wave that achieves the objective.
We know we are putting you in the dock to bite the bullet, Ligia, but as Goans, we frankly expect nothing else.
For all you little boys and girls, traumatised by the unconscionable devastation of our Goan landscape, just Dream On.
And Keep the faith!!
