Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MD)
Mangalore, Jul 3: The first-ever Konkani Club instituted by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy was inaugurated at a ceremony held in Rosario auditorium here on Thursday July 3. The occasion also marked the release of two Konkani books - 'Sumati' by Hemacharya and 'Bhangrachi Goddadi' written by the late Kudpi Vasudev Shenoy.
Fr J B Crasta, parish priest of Rosario church inaugurated the first of 50 Konkani Clubs which will be installed in the coming days in various colleges.
After inaugurating the Club, Fr J B Crasta said, "It is a very important day for the Karnataka Konkani Sahithya Academy, as it launches its first Konkani Club at Rosario College. A club means a group of people coming together and starting a conversation. Konkani Club is going to provide lots of opportunities and conduct activities for students, which will help them improve their Konkani language skills. It is a proud moment for me to inaugurate the first Konkani Club."
An anthology of short stories titled 'Sumathi', authored by Hemacharya, well-known writer and editor-in-chief of Daijiworld Weekly, was released by Rosario College principal Fr Alvin Serrao.
In his address, Hemacharya said that he had written the story of Sumathi 28 years ago and added that he was dedicating the book to his mother-in-law Eliza Crasto.
"The introduction for the book is by Melvyn Rodrigues, director (operations), Daijiworld, who is one of the best poets I have ever worked with," he added.
The second book 'Bhangrachi Goddadi' written by the late Kudpi Vasudev Shenoy was released by Kudpi Rajanikanth Shenoy along with Janardhan Pai P, director of Canara Pre-University College, Mangalore.
After releasing the book, Janardhan Pai said that Konkani culture, food and people are truly great. "It is very hard to write a book. You have to think harder to pen it down, then you have to edit the story and then give it for printing and get it published. Releasing a book is very easy, but the effort put in by the author is priceless," he said
Roy Castelino, president of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy in his presidential address, he said, "Konkani Club will give a lot of information and knowledge about the Konkani language. In this generation, English language has become the first choice for everyone. Though Konkani is our mother tongue, we prefer speaking English. When I look at the students gathered here, I feel that they will make cent percent use of the Club. I am sure the project will be successful."
"There are lots of writers, but the problem is that they do not have the time or financial backup to publish books. In our next project, we are going to publish books for them free of cost. This project will help us in getting more writers. In five months two books will be published." he said.
Roy Castelino also said that the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy is planning to start a Konkani Research Centre at University College and the proposal has been submitted to the assistant director of pre-university education department K R Timmayya for approval.
Registrar of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, Dr Devadas Pai introduced the guests and Roy Castelino welcomed the guests on to the dias. Smitha Shenoy compered the ceremony and Dr Varija Nirebail proposed the vote of thanks.
Lullus Cutinha, Dr Chethan Nayak, Kamalaksh Shet, Vitori Karkol, Stany Alvares, Lawrence and others were also present.