Peter Borges
Some people enter your life loudly. Others enter quietly — and change the direction of your work, your thinking, and your hope forever. Dr. Farida D’Silva Dias was one such person.
I first met Farida in 2011 during a workshop for vulnerable communities — young people living with HIV, transgender persons, sex workers, homosexuals, and others who were often pushed to the margins of society. Having worked with these communities outside Goa for years, I was uncertain whether Goa was ready for conversations around their dignity, health, and wellbeing without reducing them to questions of morality.
Then came Farida. What unfolded in that room was not merely a session. It was healing. She spoke to participants not as “cases” or “problems,” but as human beings deserving of dignity, understanding, and emotional safety. At a time when stigma spoke louder than compassion, Farida courageously shifted the focus towards mental health, coping, relationships, self-worth, and healing.
For many present that day, it was perhaps the first time they felt truly seen. That was Farida’s gift. She carried no judgement, only gentleness.
Over the years, she became one of the greatest patrons and well-wishers of Human Touch Foundation. Quietly and without seeking recognition, she stood beside vulnerable children, orphans, and young people struggling through emotional pain. She supported education, offered guidance, opened spaces for difficult conversations, and constantly reminded us that those working with pain also need healing.
Even while battling illness, her concern was not for herself but for others. She spoke to us about sustaining ourselves emotionally in this work. She even offered to conduct a workshop for our team at her residence despite her health challenges. That was Farida — always giving, always nurturing, always thinking of those carrying invisible burdens.
Professionally, Dr Farida D’Silva Dias was deeply respected. A qualified Clinical Psychologist, educator, trainer, and Senior Faculty Instructor of the William Glasser Institute, USA, she brought Choice Theory and Reality Therapy into the lives of countless individuals through the Centre for Reality Therapy India. But beyond qualifications and titles, she will be remembered for something far greater — her humanity.
Goa has lost not just a psychologist or trainer, but a silent angel who walked gently beside people in their darkest moments.
In a world that increasingly forgets how to listen, Farida listened. In a society quick to judge, she chose compassion. And in lives carrying despair, she quietly planted hope.
Thank you, Farida.
For seeing people beyond labels. For standing beside the forgotten. For making so many feel human again. (The writer is the founder of Human Touch Foundation and former member & chairperson, Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights)
