Pics: Ramesh Pandith
Daijiworld Media Network- Mangaluru (JM)

Mangaluru Jul 2: The Internal Quality Assuarance Cell of St Agnes College, here organised a 'Mother Mary Aloysia Third Endowment Lecture' on Saturday, July 1.

The lecture was based on the intimate connection between womanhood and environmental issues. Gissele Mehta, author, public intellectual, entrepreuner and former bureaucrat and also an alumna of St Agnes College was the guest speaker at the lecture.

Dr Sr Maria Kripa AC, superior and Joint Secretary of St Agnes, Dr Sr Jeswina AC, principal of St Agnes, Sr Venessa , Dr Sr Olivia AC, Sr Vimala, general counsellor of St Agnes, Dr Nancy H Vaz, convenor, were the dignitaries at the lecture.

Dr Venessa AC, vice principal, showed a tribute video,the compilation of all the achievements of Mother Mary Aloysia AC, foundress of the college, which was displayed to students. A floral tribute to the Potrait of Mother Mary Aloysia was given by all the dignitaries present. Giselle Mehta then presided over the gathering.

The programme kick started with a hymn by the college choir. It was then followed by a welcome speech by Malini Hebbar, assistant professor, English department, who was also conincidentally the lecturer of the Gissele Mehta. She introduced the chief guest and spoke a few words to her credit and said, “She was always a great student. I was always amazed by her answers in the examinations, and always felt like preserving her answer sheets to keep it as an sample for others,for the kind of extraordinary answers she wrote.” She also mentioned Giselle's accomplishments and said that she was a writer and has written Ariel Roots and Blossoms shower which is one of her highest sold books. She also mentioned that Giselle was a bureaucrat, and served as in the Indian Revenue Service and gave up to follow her dreams and became an entrepreuner.

Giselle Mehta spoke of the connection between the womanhood and environment. She addressed the gathering and said that the usage of vegan food should be practiced more often than non- veg food. Soy milk, almond milk should be used rather than using the cow milk. She also spoke about usage of eco-friendly sanitary pads over the regular sanitary pads. She stressed on eco-friendly constructions by usage of solar powers and white walls. She spoke about the conservation of rain water by rain water harvesting. She made a mention of how we could even utilize the waste water , by using them to water the plants instead of using the clean water which would again help in the conservation of water.

She mentioned the harazdous effect on the environment and animals due to the usage of leather bags and cosmetics." Girls like using branded leather bags," she said, and added, "it is the reason for the imbalance in the environment causing the death of a lot of animals. We all are equally responsible and should equally contribute to protect the environment."

The floor was then open for questions before the programme concluded.