Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Jan 18: Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy has announced its annual awards for the year 2016. The awards have been announced in three categories, Honorary Awards, Book Award and Yuva Puraskar which will be conferred during the three-day Konkani Lokotsav from February 10 to 12 at Town Hall, informed president of Konkani Sahitya Acedamy Roy Castelino here on Wednesday January 18.
Cyril G Sequeira (CGS Taccode) (Konkani literature), Vasudev Shanbagh (art) and Clara Siddi (Folk) have been chosen for the Honorary Awards.
From top left: CGS Taccode, Kasargod Chinna, Clara Siddi, Agnesia Frank, Umesh Nayak, Vasudev Shanbhag
Kasargod Chinna (for the translation of 'Kannadachyo Theesa Kaaniyo'), Agnesia Frank (for the research study book 'Amruth Thujya Hathim') and Umesh Nayak (for the book of Konkani epic titled 'Shri Srinivas Kalyan') have been selected for Book Awards.
The Yuva Puraskar will be conferred on 40 achievers in various fields. Their names are yet to be announced.
"Konkani Lokotsav will be inaugurated on February 10 by district in-charge minister Ramanath Rai, and presided over by MLA J R Lobo. minister for food and civil supplies U T Khader, chief whip of Legislative Council Ivan D'Souza, MLC Capt Ganesh Karnik, MLA Shakuntala Shetty, MLA Mohiuddin Bava and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel will grace the occasion," said Roy Castelino.
"The Honorary Award comprises cash prize of Rs 50,000, a shawl and a citation while the Book Award carries a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a citation," he added.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah will confer the annual Honorary Awards on Febraury 12 at Town Hall, while minister for Kannada and culture Umashree will confer the Book Award. Bishop of Mangaluru diocese Aloysius Paul D'Souza, Nagaland governor P B Acharya, Rajya Sabha MP Oscar Fernandes and former chief minister of Goa Digambara Kamath will grace the occasion.
"On Febrauary 11, Youth Day will be celebrated, in which minister for large and medium scale industries R V Deshpande will be the guest of honour. Zilla panchayat president Meenakshi Shantigodu, president of Coastal Development Authority Sharada Mohan Shetty, and MUDA chairman Suresh Ballal will grace the occasion. Prior to the programme, a cultural procession will be taken out from Mission Compound to Town Hall, which will be inaugurated by actress Ester Noronha in the presence of Ramagowda Mijar, Vilas Nayak and actor Elton Mascarenhas".
Basti Vaman Shenoy, registrar of Konkani Sahitya Academy Devdas Pai, Geetha Kini, Vithori Karkal and others were present.
About the Awardees
Cyril G Sequeira: Sequeira, who started to write when he was 12, has been involved with Konkani literary field since the last over 50 years. He is known in literary field with the pen name, CGS Taccode. 'Pattedarachem Sahas', 'Khunyegarachi Khun', and 'Sister Shobha' were the novels written by him. He also has brought out collection of short stories, collection of poems, collection of humorous articles, plays, translated works, religious works, edited works etc. He also has done editing work in Konkani publications besides appearing in comic roles in Konkani plays.
Kasargod Chinna: The work, 'Kannadachyo Tees Kaniyo' written by Chinna contains short stories by about 30 well-known Kannada writers. Kasargod Chinna has carved out a niche for himself in the theatre and has translated about nine works to Konkani from Kannada, Malayalam, and Bengali languages. He has also worked in the fields of Konkani theatre and movies and earned fame there. He has bagged Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Academy, Kerala Rajyotsava award, Karnataka Nataka Academy and Konkani Sahjitya Academy award etc.
Vasudev Balakrishna Shanbhag: Shanbhag has published various works including lyrics, plays, humorous articles, Konkani theatre, translated work, and other works. He has brought out an audio CD of 20 Konkani songs. Hundreds of his articles have been published in various Konkani publications. He also has acted in two Konkani movies, Ujwadu and Jeevancho Khelu.
Clara Anthon Siddi: Clara Siddi belonging to scheduled tribe, has been an expert in singing various folk songs of her community besides holding dance programmes. She actively participates in tribal project of the Academy. She has performed Siddi folk dance at programmes of various organizations and institutions. She has overlooked her physical disability in inspiring the youngsters to conserve rich folk art for the next generation.
C Agnesia Frank: Frank belongs to Bethany institutions. She has served the society without differentiating between the religious and caste affiliations of the people for three decades. She also has trained a number of social workers in different districts. During the period she was serving the field of health, considering the financial problems faced by poor people, she had published several articles to educate people to use shrubs and medicinal plants to regain health. She also held several camps, and the said book happens to be her second.
Umesh Gautam Nayak: Gautam Nayak has organized 101 Avadhanas in Kannada,Hindi, and Konkani languages, a feat that deserves to be appreciated. He has worked in various fields like epic poems, short stories, novels, articles, singing, music teaching, Gamaka singing, Harikatha, Yakshagana, dance, acting, authoring of drama, direction etc. He has also performed complete recital and commentary of most of the epic poetry in Kannada. The current work belongs to the class of traditional epic poetry. By making use of ancient Priyakkara parody, he has cemented the relationship between Kannada and Konkani.