From the editor's desk :-
Dear Do..Re..Me..Fa.. browzers,
In my marathon mission which started a year ago, I always feel proud and joyful to present to you, month after month, various melodious chords of Konkanni music in this unique Do..Re..Me..Fa.. column. But today's chord is a bit different. Although I'm presenting to you the profile of one the greatest legends of Konkanni music, in place of gladness, tears rolled down my cheeks 'cause I'm here to present to you a lamp which shone brightly in the Konkan world but has blown out by the wind on 17th December last year.
Prof. Bennett Pinto, a name proudly spelled out by the twinkling stars of Konkann skies will remain in each and every heart of Konkan sons and daughters, until the sun and the moon fade away. Bennett was a proud son to his parents, an adorable husband to his wife, most loving father to his children, a great personality who dedicated his entire life to the Liturgical and Konkanni music to the perfection! He was a wonderful teacher, and a great model to thousands of his students. He lived an edifying Christian life and now has joined the Choirs of Angels in heaven and to sing praises to God for eternity.
As I travel down the memory lane, I recall to my mind his great music talents exhibited on the stage of Don Bosco Hall, Mangalore. Bennett, with his vibrant personality and with a guitar, gave a great life to the Diocesan level singing competitions. How can I forget that great duet number "betlyavn poroth vorsan amim, khushal korun monam thumchim" sung by Bennett and Mick-Max, which bagged the 1st place in that year, which is still echoing in my ears. What a great loss to Konkann Mathaa due to Bennett's sudden and untimely demise? Can any one fill this vacuum? No, never!
Bennett was looking forward to that great day when he could present to the Konkanni world his great research work namely "Konkanni Bards and Musicians of Kanara". He struggled 8 long years to bring it to perfection. And when it was all set for publication God took him away. Now a great state-of-art literary book will be released on 14th December 2003 to commemorate his first Death Anniversary. The renowned journalist Shri Richie Lasrado will shortly present his review of the book on this prestigious Konkanni portal.
As we commemorate Bennett's first death anniversary next month, let us emulate his example and make use of our God given talents for the greater glory of God and to enrich Konkanni music and language.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank Rev.Fr.Prashant Madtha S.J., Shri J.B. Moraes, Dr.Austin D'Souza Prabhu and Mrs.Sabrina Pinto for their great support in sending their heartfelt 'Tributes', which are published in this column. A special thanks to Dr.Ivan Pinto, Professor in St.Aloysius College, Mangalore and to Mr.Praveen of Prasad Printers for assisting me to gather necessary informations to prepare this unique article. Nevertheless, thank you dear Do..Re..Me..Fa.. browzers for taking your precious time out to browse this Konkanni music column. See you next month for the enjoyment of another sweet musical chord. Until then, bye!
Yours in Do..Re..Me..Fa..
Gerry D'Mello
A Tribute to Prof. Bennett Pinto