July 5, 2014
The late Victor Rodrigues, a powerhouse of Konkani Literature, husband of Celine bai, father of Lolita, Veena, Santhosh; my wife Flavia’s close relative and my uncle too. July 5, 2014 will be his 4th death anniversary. On his first death anniversary, family of Victor Rodrigues had installed a Memorial Fund with an intention of rewarding one deserving individual involved in contributing towards Konkani literature on annual basis. On July 20, 2014, the 4th memorial award ceremony will be held; surely to be bestowed upon any popular, well-known ardent Konkani poet, writer or novelist.
From the past human history, one thing I have noticed earnestly is that any humble person intermingled with brilliance and hard work can be remembered easily. My point of discussion here is the late Victor Rodrigues. He was a household name among Catholic Konkanis, known for his kindness, generosity, soft spoken, for his humanitarian works and above all his make-believe stories for all age groups. Even after his demise, his stories were still appearing in Konkani weekly “Kutaam”, and monthly magazine “Amcho Sandesh”.
From the onset of his literary venture Sri Victor was not an ordinary writer but he was baptized a "kranthikariborpi" for his revolutionary thinking and pure innovative, radical writings against the social evils and degrading. Carmelite Fr Alwyn Sequiera in his homily said that Rodrigues was not only a Konkani litterateur but a crusader of justice. On the day of his demise, Dr Edward Nazareth had paid the rich tributes to the late Victor Rodrigues, I have reference for those tributes.
Vitorbaab was a Konkani novelist and a short story writer too. He was among the most prominent novelists in the field of Konkani literature. Rodrigues specialized in writing serialized novels of extraordinary length running into more than 150 chapters. His novel, 'Pratikar' was serialised in the Konkani weekly 'Poinnari', for almost 198 weeks, while 'Paap ani Shiraap' ran for 219 weeks. Apart from his novels, he wrote six plays and two biographies of Catholic priests, Fr Sylvester Menezes and Fr Marian Fernandes. Rodrigues also wrote a book on traditional medicines, entitled 'Bholaike Daiz' (Treasure of Health).
The famous Konkani serial story titled 'Paap ani Shiraap (sin and curse) written by the renowned Konkani writer Mr. Victor Rodrigues, Angelore and published in the 'Poinnari' Konkani weekly from 1991-1995 with 220 episodes, was selected by 'Mangalore Tele Films' as the first Konkani TV mega serial. The film shooting ceremony was inaugurated at "Lan Max" Villa, Bajjodi on June 10, 2005.
Victor wrote his first novel "Vibhadlelen Gharane" in 1967 and he approached Shri Jo Sa Alvares, the then editor of 'Mithr' and 'Jhelo'. Since, this was the first novel by Victor, Jo Sa suggested him to start writing short stories and articles in Konkani periodicals. He wrote his first health related article about breast cancer which was published on 'Jhelo'. From then onwards there was no looking back for Victor and he wrote another serial story with 6 episodes "Bonglyanthli Khun". With this story Victor won the hearts of Konkani readers and he got the inspiration to start writing more novels.
His second story "Mayakachenbhunyar" was first published by Shri Andrew Mendonca, the then editor of 'Kannik' Konkani monthly periodical. This story was admired by the readers and during this time Kannik received maximum number of readers. His literary works have been published in 21 papers and magazines.
Usually a person is found selfish while sharing his knowledge and wisdom with others. In the Konkani book – 'Kanoon Daiz', authored by city lawyer Stanley R D’Costa Victor Rodrigues had written a foreword where he says ‘anyone who keeps his wealth of knowledge to himself is like a servant who has hidden a coin given by his master in the soil, which is of no use for anyone. There is genuine dearth of generous people who lack the thinking that the god-given free gift of knowledge should be shared freely as it would bring about enlightenment of the people at large’. Victor Rodrigues made the best of his talents for the welfare of the community by authoring several Konkani novels which have immortalized him in our midst. He is dead and no more with us but his literature will remain forever. His novel “Paap ani Shiraap” which is once again being published by “Kutam”, a Konkani weekly published from Mumbai, in series form, stands testimony to his popularity.
It is not easy to sum up the literary achievements of Victor Rodrigues, a writer of repute in Konkani in this form by this small article. He had authored 23 novels most of which were published by several Konkani periodicals for many years. He also authored two biographies, 4 plays and thousands of articles on a variety of subjects. Veteran of Konkani literature, the late MickMax had lauded his literary expertise as he gave Konkani literature unparalleled masterpieces. Many Konkani readers offered to subscribe for Konkani periodicals only because they carried his suspense filled thrilling novels in serial form. It should be noted here that “Poinnari” weekly published from Mumbai created a record of sorts by publishing only his novels in series for 31 long years. There are instances of his novels being published simultaneously by 5 Konkani periodicals while some of the periodicals published his novels in serials 2 or 3 times. It cannot be denied that 'Poinnari' weekly survived longer by publishing the series of his novels. However, it must be borne in mind here that Victor Rodrigues did not get much benefit, financial or otherwise from these publications. But that did not deter him from writing. He used to author his novels or stories with the sole intention of reaching out to his committed readers without expecting any monetary returns.
Highlighting this trait of Victor Rodrigues, the late Konkani legendary musician Wilfy Rebimbus in his foreword on the book authored by Victor Rodrigues “BangarachiIstri”, says: ‘Although Victor Rodrigues was an accomplished Konkani litterateur, he was humble, honest, soft-spoken and never craved for publicity. He penned his novels or stories only for his satisfaction and because of his ardent love for Konkani language, without expecting any monetary returns.’
He was a humble, friendly and honest man. He would forthright in condemning any wrong-doings that came to his notice through his writings. He could not tolerate injustice from any one, not even from the religious groups or top officials of the community. He was not afraid of the consequences of his acts.
He had the gift of writing and he made the optimum use of it till his death. He was helpful to those who were good and sincere or those who deserved help. He helped a few publishers of Konkani periodicals and secured contributions for them. He was always there to render a helping hand to those who were in financial difficulties. A large number of people who benefitted from his largess would vouch for the financial help they received from him. A poor Catholic family in Karkala received his generous help for many years and he used to personally handover it to the family despite not keeping good health. He also used to visit and offer financial help to poor families admitted to hospitals. But he never craved for any publicity for the help he rendered and always preferred to keep a low profile.
Since those years I was residing in Qatar, I had met my uncle Victor only on three occasions. The memories are so sweet and lasting. He would walk any amount of extra miles, if it was required to help any needy, near or far. His soft voice was so deep and heart-touching, I remember him very fondly. Three days prior to his demise, I had called him from Qatar. His last words to me were ‘suffering is a bit of concern Cony but I am not afraid of death for I have completed well the work assigned to me by my Lord. Please uphold my family with your prayers to strengthen them. The loss would come soon”.
Manest Rodrigues was honored by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Akademi for his contribution to literature, in the year 2000. He also received the Daiji Dubai Award in 2006, and Francis Danthy Literary Award the same year. Inspired, dedicated Konkani readers gave him various titles, such as “King of Novels, “Samrat of Konkani literature”, “Konkani Hero” , “Vi Ro” and Century Writer Bestowed with a number of titles including `Konkani SahityaSamrat', `Century Writer', `KadambariSamrat', `SankallKanianchoRaai' etc., Victor Rodrigues Angelore - the chieftain of Konkani novels.
Victor Rodrigues was born on February 8, 1944 in Guardian Angel parish, Angelore, Mangalore, as the eldest son of the late Anthony John Rodrigues and Carmine Rodrigues. Due to the poor economic condition of the family he was not able to pursue further studies after completing his SSLC despite his earnest interest to do so. He was a voracious reader of Kannada detective stories which gave him an insight to write novels in Konkani and also fictional stories. Needless to say his unique style of narration in the novels inspired many budding writers to start writing literature.
Literary accomplishments: Any article attributed to baabVitor would be unjustified if his Literary accomplishments are not highlighted.
1968 "Bonglyanthli Khun" published by Jhelo
1968 Maayakache Bhunyar published by Kannik
1971 Vidhicha Davlenth - a story with 62 episodes published by Mithr
1972 Phudarachi Deswat which he completed within 24 hours, published by Poinnari
1972 - Madthir Sunn published on Poinnari
1973 - Andhkaracha Khandkanth(81 episodes) published on Poinnari
1975 - Shirapachi Bali (127 episodes) was among the one of his best stories which was again published in 2000 on Poinnari
1980 - Ragtachi Bobaat (124 espisodes) published on Poinnari
1982 - Don Max (64 episodes) published on Poinnari
1984 - Dev Boren Karun (33 episodes) published on Kannik
1986 - Prathikar which was published on poinnari for almost 4 years in 198 episodes
1986 - Charles Shobhraj (18 episodes) was published on Poinnari
1991 - Paap ani Shiraap created the record of longest every story in Konkani literature with 129 episodes.
1992 - BhangarachiIstri (25 episodes) published on Ummalo
1996 - Haun Parikpon Ghetelin (64 episodes) published by Poinnari
1998 - Farikpon (24 episodes) published on Raknno
1998 - Dev Poleta (24 episodes) published on Raknno
2000 - Sukon Gellyo Shelio (32 episodes) published on Poinnari
1998 - Jaathi Bailen Kazar published by Poinnari
2001 - Jivatachi Desvat (40 episodes) published on AmchiMaai
2002 - Ravan Rajyanthlo Veerappan published on Poinnari
In the year 2010, Victor Rodrigues left us for heavenly abode. He was a complete family man and a 'Person in Service' without any strings attached to it . Those who knew him from close range will surely agree with me. It is my humble hope and belief, let us continue to pray so that our Heavenly Father may give him the ever lasting peace and honors that he hoped for while living among our midst by leading a simple and honest life with unwavering love and faith in the Lord Jesus, for he was a totally God loving and fearing man. May his soul rest in peace.