In the heart of Goa lies Utopia and he, the greatestambassador of this Utopian dream. Where Fr Bismarque Dias lives, the houses arebuilt unlike elsewhere in Goa. “For ages we had common walls so that there wasno need to plunder Mother Earth and beget stones from neighbourhood quarry”says Fr. Dias. This simplistic learning from his environment molded probablythe most celebrated face of the Roman Catholic Church in Goa.
“As children, we would learn that the greatest heroes andinspirations were in the neighbourhood. The alcoholic philosopher, the lineageof midwife next doors, Jesus and Gandhi followed later in life”, recollectsDias. His robust rural roots and fierce loyalty for his environment built thefuture leader from St Estevam. But the sense of dedicating himself to the causeof Goa both from his father and mother. While little Bismarque would beam withpride seeing his father helping solve petty squabbles and even getting intopublic protest if somebody encroached someone else’s property, he would wonderwhat his Mother’s kindness and forgiveness would achieve. “Over the years, Iunderstood that it takes a lot of courage and conviction to forgive but in theend it keeps the society peaceful”, sums Dias. It was this core value that hecoined as ‘Dayagraha’.
“Dayagraha is about restoring the dignity of man and naturewith kindness. Protests can be made with love and understanding only each oneshould understand the proper perspective to any issue” explains Bismarque abouthis core philosophy. His concept of perspective, a part of his learning curve.Immediately after being ordained, the young priest did not join the Church.Instead he spent a year roaming as a hippie in North Goa’s coastal belt,notoriously known for its drugs and sex scene. “I had been out of Goa in mygrowing years but what I saw as I came back in 1998 was alarming. As a child Iunderstood that the whole of Goa was like St Estevam “ simple, valued andexemplary. Here it was the ultimate fall of human dignity”, recollects Fr.Dias. As a chaplain at Siolim, he organised youth groups, the counter brigadeto take on the prevalence of rave parties and illegal activities. 1000 people marchedto North Goa Collector’s Office in Goa’s first popular protest against ravesand thus Bismarque became the warrior preacher.
In Bismarque, the Church found someone who carried its’values with ease as he connected with Generation Next. This padre was not anageing man dishing out wisdom from the gospel but a young communicator whocould strum the guitar and walk the talk with the changing world. He wasquickly elected to the Priests Council. But there was something else bugginghim. A changing Goa that was compromising on its’ most unique trait, itssimplicity and values. He showed his mettle as a leader of society when thevillagers of St Estevam successful protested against a casino coming in theirneigbourhood.
The fight against Regional Plan, illegal mining whichfollowed was but the extension of that fight for retaining Goa in its pristinenature. Nothing not even priesthood would stop him from championing the causeof people. “For me restoring the dignity of man is more important than teachingthe fear of God” says the former priest. He became the Church’s most celebratedvoice of dissent when he spoke for the megaproject affected villagers ofVanxim. At 48 when people get older, Fr Bismarque strides across paddy fields,down urban jungles, up classic Goan resistance of saying “it can’t be done”,the boy from Jua spreads his village boundaries across Goa.
