Dale Dias is a teacher by profession and the founder of ‘The Goan Pao’, one of the most popular meme pages in Goa with over 33.7k followers. Besides memes, the page also aims at creating awareness and sharing announcements pertaining to Goa. The page regularly puts up adoption posts to help dogs and cats find homes and creates awareness about fundraising campaigns to help people who need financial help in medical treatments.
Through financial help from his followers, Dale managed to collaborate with an NGO (Sparsh) and distributed sanitary pads to girls in Goa and Assam during the COVID-19 lockdown.
People of Goa is our original and official series that shares inspirational stories from the lives of incredible Goans. We speak to talented and contributing individuals from this wonderful tiny state. For more inspiring stories on incredible people in Goa, follow ‘ItsGoa’ on Facebook and Instagram.
In a brief chat with ItsGoa, Dale gave us an insight into his life, the work that he does, the various challenges that he faces while creating memes, and lots more…
Tell us about yourself.
Hey, I’m Dale Dias. I am an artist and a guitarist. I have done my master’s in Physics from Goa University. I am a teacher by profession and the founder of The Goan Pao, a popular page on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The page has 30,000+ followers on all platforms.
The page aims at creating memes and other creatives to raise awareness about various issues in and around Goa. Through this medium, I put up adoption posts for stray dogs and cats to find homes. I have also teamed up with animal welfare organizations to take care of ill and injured stray animals. I regularly share fundraising campaigns for people that may need financial aid in their medical treatments. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I collaborated with an NGO called Sparsh to provide sanitary pads to girls from Goa and Assam (who were stuck in the floods).
I’ve been featured on The Times of India, The Navhind Times, Lokmat, and Radio Indigo 91.9. I was recently included in the list of “Goa’s 50 Most Influential People” by Goan Insider. I was also felicitated as the Youth Icon 2022 by JCI Mormugao Port Town on the National Youth Day on 9th January 2022.
Your loved ones call you: Usually, they call me Dale!
You live in Goa at: Santa Cruz
What was that one moment that changed everything?
I think the moment I decided that I should start a platform for making social media content revolving around Goa, social issues, and the environment.
Any funny/inspiring childhood story or memory you want to share that shaped your life.
This one time at the Old Goa fair, my parents kept telling me to hold their hand so I don’t get lost in the crowd. I was so fascinated by the fair, I forcibly let go. And guess what? I got lost!
Luckily I remembered my father’s phone number and I asked a stranger to let me make a call. He helped me out and I eventually reunited with them but since then I’ve always made sure I listen to them so I don’t get lost in the crowd again.
Who are your role models? The ones you seek inspiration from?
I think Don Bosco and his work with the youth has always been a source of inspiration for me.
What role did family and friends play? Any stories of support you recall?
My parents never really doubted my ability in anything that I would do. They were quite supportive when I told them about “The Goan Pao”. My friends have also been instrumental in making this page a success. Right from creating content to helping me organize clean-up drives, they’ve always been there to show their support.
What advice would you give yourself if you went back in time?
I guess I’d want to tell myself “There’s no better time than now to do something you really want to do. You’ll figure it out.”
Anyone from the past or present you’d want to meet and why?
I’d really like to meet my teachers from all my school years. I think they played a vital role in my all-around development and in shaping me into what I am today.
What’s the biggest challenge when pursuing this full-time?
Definitely creating the content. Sometimes it’s not just the content but also the fact that I have to keep in mind people’s sentiments and beliefs before I post anything. This page has always been welcoming to audiences of all ages and sometimes it can be difficult to create content that everyone can relate to. Goa is a small state and the content can be limited too. So that is one barrier which I face.
What is the legacy you want to leave behind? Any advice for your followers…
I want to use this page to do as much good as I can. I know it can be difficult sometimes, but I think it’s my duty to give back to my audience all the love they’ve given me.
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