The Sadbhav Mahotsav was celebrated on October 7, 2023 at the Neura Panchayat Ghar which was an initiative by the Society of Pilar in collaboration with Fr Agnel College of Arts & Commerce, the Village Panchayats of Agassaim,Azossim-Mandur,Batim,Curca-Bambolim-Talaulim,Goa-Velha,Siridao-Palem. It was hosted by Neura Village Panchayat, Goa College of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture (Government of Goa).
The compere introduced the students of the high schools and higher secondary with a brief introduction of the beautiful village of Neura. The panelists - Saloni Patil ,Tallulah D’Silva ,Honorina Araujo(Sarpanch of Neura) and Fr Elvis Fernandes (Convenor of Sadbhav) were invited to the dais. Marisha & Khushboo (Fr Agnel College of Arts & Commerce) presented flowers and tokens to our esteemed panelists.
The activities of Sadbhav aim to foster inter religious relations and communal harmony.
Sadbhav Mahotsav was a community festival to bring together the community and celebrate their unity.
Fr Elvis welcomed the students and teachers present for the celebration. Followed by the audience been split into two groups where each group got to witness the screening of the documentary film on Goa’s Khazan system which was directed by Kabir Naik.
The two groups also had an interactive session by Resource Person Saloni Patil on the cultivation of paddy in Khazans.The groups also went for excursion to explore the khazans of Neura which are more than 3500 years old, man built system in the riverine floodplains used to harvest fish, salt and rice and also the local plant diversity. The excursion was led by Resource Persons, Tallulah D’Silva and Vishal Rawley. After a 15 minute break, the school students were awarded with participation certificates and the resource persons were given tokens of appreciation.
Fr Elvis thanked the compere- Steffany for doing an excellent job and the school students for being present for the programme and with that the first half of the programme concluded.
The secondary and college students then had a community lunch after which the second half of the programme commenced.
The second session started by welcoming the priests,representatives of the collaborating institutions, villagers of St.Andre Constituency ,peasants,students and teachers. After which,the students of Fr Agnel Higher Secondary School performed a song which spoke about our beautiful state, Goa and its hardworking farmers. Following which our resource person, Ms Tallulah D’Silva briefly introduced the director of the documentary, Kabir Naik. Followed by which the audience witnessed the screening of the documentary film on Goa’s Khazan system which was directed by Kabir Naik. Fr Elvis’ self-composed song- ‘Give Peace a Chance’ was officially released after the music video of the song was played.
Later on Fr Elvis presented tokens of appreciation to the singers and musicians of the song- ‘Give Peace a Chance’ ,Mukesh Ghatwal ,Naisa Lotlekar and Marwino Da Costa. Following the felicitation,a dance troupe of girls gave a fugdi performance. The traditional lamp was lit by the dignitaries present.
Honorina Araujo (Sarpanch of Neura) welcomed and thanked the participants of the evening session.
The panelists Ms Tallulah D’Silva,Nestor Rangel,Yeshwant Gauns and Ramrao Wagh were presented with tokens of appreciation.
The panel discussion was started by Mr Ramrao Wagh by giving a brief introduction and talking about the importance and the current deteriorating situation of the khazan lands in Goa.
The discussion was carried forward Ms Tallulah D’Silva who spoke about how she discovered that the simple khazans that is an excellent system built by ancestors which looks after flood management as well as food security.
The discussion was taken over by Nestor Rangel spoke about his experiences on his field work and encouraging goans to learn and start farming and make it a profitable occupation.
Later on Yeshwant Gauns took over the discussion and spoke about the provisions,schemes, machinery, fertilizers, services which are provided by the Government.
Mr Ramrao Wagh put up a lot of issues faced as well as some questions to the panelists before concluding the session. After which Fr Elvis felicitated the panelists - Ms Tallulah D’Silva, Nestor Rangel, Yeshwant Gauns and Mr Ramrao Wagh. The gathering was then addressed by Dr. Pradip Sarmokadam and made the audience aware of the eminent role of agriculture and farming. Followed by which Fr Joseph Fernandes spoke about the valuable insights he gained through the Sadbhav Mahotsav and said it was truly an awareness session and helped us to understand what and how things required to be done.
