“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Its loveliness increases.
It will never pass into nothingness.” - John Keats
The poet Keats wrote these lines with reference to an exquisite piece of art- ‘The Grecian Urn.’ For those of us who related closely with Inez, she was one such specially crafted masterpiece. Beautiful as she was, this was only an embellishment to her inner grace and intrinsic goodness. Inez spent her early years being raised in Nagpur, honing her athletic skills and appearing on the probable list of India’s women’s Olympic hockey team. Her marriage to Ligorio, nephew of Dr T B Cunha brought her back to the land of her ancestors. Despite being widowed several years later with a two-year-old son, she was determined that life was all about the choices that one makes. In Abraham Maslow’s parlance, Inez was a self-actualised woman. This woman of steel made a conscious decision to rise up and do justice to herself, her son, family and society. From then on there was no looking back.
In those nascent years of liberated Goa, Inez realised that women had a significant role to play in nation-building. As President of the Women’s Congress Wing, she set up 40 Mahila Congress Units in the then Union Territory of Goa, her first step towards women’s empowerment.
Rather than curse the darkness, Inez decided to light candles of hope for the hapless and the homeless. Children’s rights was an issue close to her heart. She opened up the doors of her home to tens of abandoned children. It was not only food, clothes and shelter that she provided, but she also saw to it that they were educated and independent. Happily married they now have families of their own.
It is no coincidence that this beautiful woman shares her birthday with our Country’s Independence Day and the Feast of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Liberated woman in every sense of the term, she also had a deep-seated devotion to the Blessed Mother. As the Founder Member of the Legion of Mary of Grace Church, she along with her Legionaries did yeomen service to the marginalised and provided them with support- material, mental and moral.
It will never pass into nothingness.” - John Keats
The poet Keats wrote these lines with reference to an exquisite piece of art- ‘The Grecian Urn.’ For those of us who related closely with Inez, she was one such specially crafted masterpiece. Beautiful as she was, this was only an embellishment to her inner grace and intrinsic goodness. Inez spent her early years being raised in Nagpur, honing her athletic skills and appearing on the probable list of India’s women’s Olympic hockey team. Her marriage to Ligorio, nephew of Dr T B Cunha brought her back to the land of her ancestors. Despite being widowed several years later with a two-year-old son, she was determined that life was all about the choices that one makes. In Abraham Maslow’s parlance, Inez was a self-actualised woman. This woman of steel made a conscious decision to rise up and do justice to herself, her son, family and society. From then on there was no looking back.
In those nascent years of liberated Goa, Inez realised that women had a significant role to play in nation-building. As President of the Women’s Congress Wing, she set up 40 Mahila Congress Units in the then Union Territory of Goa, her first step towards women’s empowerment.
Rather than curse the darkness, Inez decided to light candles of hope for the hapless and the homeless. Children’s rights was an issue close to her heart. She opened up the doors of her home to tens of abandoned children. It was not only food, clothes and shelter that she provided, but she also saw to it that they were educated and independent. Happily married they now have families of their own.
It is no coincidence that this beautiful woman shares her birthday with our Country’s Independence Day and the Feast of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Liberated woman in every sense of the term, she also had a deep-seated devotion to the Blessed Mother. As the Founder Member of the Legion of Mary of Grace Church, she along with her Legionaries did yeomen service to the marginalised and provided them with support- material, mental and moral.
