TO OUR GOA WE OWE IT ALL
Having been born on 24th May 1960, I was naturally Portuguese at Birth just like any other Goan born before 19 December 1961, Goa’s Liberation Day. After over six decades of very close bond with Goa and more particularly my birthplace Ribandar, in 2023 I took a heart-breaking but well thought out decision to opt for Portuguese Citizenship.
It was deeply anguishing that the Goa Police were working overtime and needlessly burdening the State exchequer in trying to desperately single me out without reason, to prove that I was not an Indian.
Those actions may well have served to propel me to make that call on my future in 2023. But despite all that has happened, my love for Ribandar and Goa, the land of my birth remains unabated. After all, I may have taken myself out of Ribandar and Goa, but it is not possible to take Ribandar and Goa out of me!
In those decades of serving the soil of my birth, the greatest and most invaluable asset that God has blessed me with that I will cherish till my very end is the multitude of friends and well-wishers across Goa from Pernem to Canacona.
