[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.8″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.8″]<\/p>\n
Tanya Pinto Dias was invited by the Royal Commonwealth Society to attend the Commonwealth Day service held recently at Westminster Abbey, London. NT KURIOCITY <\/strong>learns more from <\/strong>Dias who is currently pursuing a PhD in a subject relevant to the Goan educational ecosystem<\/p>\n NT KURIOCITY<\/strong><\/p>\n Having grown up in Dona Paula, Tanya Pinto Dias who moved to UK for studies around six years ago was invited by the Royal Commonwealth Society to attend the prestigious Commonwealth Day service held on March 9 at Westminster Abbey, London. The event was celebrated in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, senior members of the British royal family and dignitaries from around the world.<\/p>\n Dias says that she was pleasantly surprised when she received an invite by the Royal Commonwealth Society. \u201cEach year, a select handful of top dignitaries and youth achievers are selected from across the Commonwealth to attend the cultural gathering. I was truly humbled to have been featured on the guest list for the Commonwealth Day service,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Describing the experience as \u2018fantastic\u2019, Dias tell us that the event had traditional music and inspirational speeches from highly accomplished personalities, including a ceremonial procession of the royal family and flag bearers from different nations. \u201cI felt extremely proud to be a representative of my Goan heritage at the event, amidst talented youth from around the world,\u201d she says. \u201cFrom growing up amidst the natural beauty of my hometown Goa to watching the honourable Queen enter the Westminster Abbey, I thought to myself \u2014 anyone can achieve anything they want to, irrespective of where they come from or what their circumstances are. All you need is a little faith and lots of focus and hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n Dias has previously brought laurels to the state. When she was fourteen years old, she entered a national children\u2019s competition organised by Bal Bhavan, where she participated in a year-long selection process to identify India\u2019s top talent. Dias says: \u201cI was absolutely thrilled when I won the National Balshree Award in Creative Writing, presented by then President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan. This was a turning point in my life, making me realise what my passion truly was.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus, she chose to follow her creative interests in the Arts stream and completed BA in Sociology at Fergusson College, Pune, where she also trained in advanced French language at Alliance Fran\u00e7aise. \u201cWhen I achieved top marks on completion of my degree, I was awarded an excellence scholarship by London School of Economics to pursue my Masters degree in the United Kingdom. In recognition of my academic calibre, I was also conferred the Goa Scholar\u2019s award by the former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Following this, she was appointed as an Associate Fellow by the Royal Commonwealth Society in appreciation of her achievement as an Indian youth. \u201cI promised myself that wherever life took me from this point, I would always make the effort to contribute to Goa in whichever way I could,\u201d says Dias.<\/p>\n Besides this, she has published three novels \u2014 two are part of a series with a Goan cop Inspector Pinto as the protagonist, while the latest one, \u2018Nothing to Regret\u2019, is about a young girl who beats depression and finds meaning in life, while she travels the world to fulfill someone\u2019s last wish.<\/p>\n Alongside her writing projects, she is also pursuing a PhD at Anglia Ruskin University. And her research subject is based on the educational experiences of certain groups of students in Goa. \u201cMy PhD project is on children in childcare institutions. My mother who is a high school teacher inspired me to explore this subject, as she has worked with vulnerable children living in childcare institutions and felt their needs are not well understood,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n And indeed, Dias credits her parents\u2019 upbringing for whatever she is today. She states that her mother has always been positive about anything she wanted to pursue, encouraging her to focus on building her professional capabilities rather than complying by the social norms that restrict what a girl can achieve.<\/p>\n And for youngsters who nurture a dream, her advice is really simple. Firstly, she says they should have the courage to dream big. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about how you\u2019ll get to your destination, simply visualise what you want to achieve and work towards your goal diligently. With confidence and positivity, you can unlock the boundless potential you have within you. Don\u2019t let the world\u2019s rules decide what you\u2019re capable of,\u201d says Dias.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.8″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.8″] Tanya Pinto Dias was invited by the Royal Commonwealth Society to attend the Commonwealth Day service held recently at Westminster Abbey, London. NT KURIOCITY learns more from Dias who is currently pursuing a PhD in a subject relevant to the Goan educational ecosystem NT KURIOCITY Having grown up in Dona […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aspire-inspire","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2233,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions\/2233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navhindtimes.in\/kuriocity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}