Pics by: Alphonse Mendonca, Pangla
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (SB)
Mangaluru, Mar 9: The silver jubilee of ‘Divo’ Konkani Weekly was held at Don Bosco Hall, Mangaluru on Sunday, March 8.
Well known novelist, dramatist and journalist Dolphy Cascia, Konkani activist Paul Moras, writer and social worker Grace D'Cruz, film producer Janet Noronha were the chief guests for the day.
Francis Fernandes Cascia, Divo board adviser, Lawrence Coelho, editor Divo, Suzan Coelho, publisher Divo, and Naveen Kulshekar, manager Divo, Mangaluru were present on the dais.
In his introductory speech, Lawrence Coelho said, "Over 25 years ago the inauguration of Divo Konkani weekly was held at St Pius Church Hall, Mulund, Mumbai on April 2, 1995. It was attended by a large number of Konkani lovers. The birth of this Konkani weekly gave a new life to Konkani related activities in Mumbai. Social-cultural activities got an encouragement all over the city which brought together Konkanis, to display their talents on the stage. The special issues like Nativity fest, Women’s Day of Divo weekly became treasures of Konkani literature.
“Divo Konkani weekly gave a new dimension to Konkani journalism. Senior writers once again began writing, this encouraged new young writers to come up and the weekly welcomed them all. After 25 years now, many of the senior writers are no more, but even today, their writings are loved by all. Today, the emerging electronic media is a real threat and is a challenge to the print media which is showing signs of weakness. However, with the support of Konkani lovers, Divo is continuing its mission,” he said.
Congratulating the Divo team Dolphy Cascia said, “Completing 25 years Divo weekly has installed a milestone in the Konkani world. I was a regular reader of Divo since its inception. Publishing a weekly is not an easy job. But Lawrence and Suzan took this is as a challenge and got success. The 25 years reflects their hard work, dedication and commitment towards the Weekly. Now we have to strengthen their hands. They need support from writers and well-wishers as they have to continue their mission. It is the only Konkani weekly which is run by lay people. The Konkani world and its generation also need its existence."
In his speech, Francis Fernandes said, “Divo has received tremendous support in the past 25 years. It gave a stage to many budding writers and today they flourished as known writers in Konkani. We are generous on all our advertisers who supported us financially. As a media, we did our job without any compromise. We faced many challenges but we got success over that. Today, we are happy to say that we have completed our silver jubilee. We thank all who have been with us on our journey of 25 years."
The writers and Konkani activist felicitated during the event. Lawrence Coelho and Francis Fernandes distributed the cash prizes to the winners of Divo literary competition.
Naveen Kulshekar welcomed the gathering. Roshan Crasta compared the event.
After the stage programme, Remona Evette Periera enthralled the audience with her classical and semi-classical dance. As a part of the entertainment, Konkani movie ‘Kantaar’ was screened for the audience.