“The Man Who Didn’t Seek Power, But Purpose: Remembering Manohar Parrikar”, Goa Chronicles, March 17, 2026
“In 2019, India lost a son, and Goa lost its fiercest protector. But for some of us, the loss was deeply personal. It was the passing of a man who did not merely occupy public office, but one who shaped minds, inspired action, and quietly demanded a higher standard of nationhood from those who watched him closely. Manohar Parrikar was not just a political leader to me – he was a catalyst.
In today’s political discourse, it has almost become fashionable to invoke Parrikar’s name. Many use it to score points, to claim ideological proximity, or to wrap themselves in borrowed credibility. But very few have truly understood what drove him. Parrikar was never a man chasing fame, nor was he interested in the optics of power. He was, at his core, a man on a mission – someone who believed he had come to discipline systems, to challenge complacency, and to push society towards a larger national purpose.
I did not arrive in Goa by accident. Nor did I choose to engage with public life here out of convenience. The decision was shaped, in no small measure, by the example Parrikar set. Here was a man who could have chosen a far more comfortable path – an IIT graduate with the world open to him – but instead chose service over self, Goa over global opportunity, and India over individual ambition……”
Read full article at goachronicle.com
