Congratulations to Bab Veronica & Fatima Fernandes on their 28th Wedding Anniversary – Thursday 20th September 2007.
Marriage in our culture, it is a sacred union - husband and wife are bonded for life. Unlike the west, there is so much love and affection in our family life. This is the essence of Goan values and one of our key strengths. The great Mark Twain once said, “No man or woman knows what perfect love is unless they have been married quarter of a century.”
Veronica and Fatima were married at the Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait City in 1979.
Knowing Bab Veronica for the last few years, I am reminded of what the great philosopher Leo Tolstoy uttered: The goal of our life should not be to find joy in marriage, but to bring more love and truth into the world.
Bab Veronica – as everyone knows him – is a man of strong values practicing simple living throughout. He is as much in love with the society as with his wife and family. He has helped to form a progressive community and perhaps strived more in putting the community interests ahead of his own.
Bab Veronica has been a teacher for our society – specially for those who suffer from feudal thinking. His regular efforts in his writings to show us the roots of where we belong and the commitment to our culture and language were recently recognized by a well-known Konkani organization in Kuwait Konkani Kullvar who honored him for his achievements for the promotion of Konkani language over the years.
We are all aware of our rights as citizens. But Veronica bab has taught us all that our duty is towards the community as a whole, as much as it is towards our families. He has struggled for a better community in line with the famous Winston Churchill who said: Responsibility is the price of greatness. We should know that this is exactly what Bab Veronica has been doing over the years as Veronica himself often says, “We have to extend our family values beyond the boundaries of our home.”
One of the greatest achievements of Bab Veronica was the Goa-Kuwait Solidarity Movement during the invasion of Kuwait. The fact that the movement was recognized by Delhi and Kuwait Government makes it one of the prized memorabilias of Veronica’s life.
As they say, an anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow, I wish Veronica bab and Fatima yet another year of a great beginning and cheerful togetherness.
May the winds of heaven dance between them.
Sincerely,
GASPER CRASTO
Kuwait
