Konkani Folklore Awareness Prog, Voviyo Competition Witness Keen Participation

By Dr Eugene D'Souza, Moodubelle

Udupi, May 16: The Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy and Konkani Sahitya, Kala and Sanskrutik Sanghatan, Udupi district in association with the Catholic Sabha of Udupi province organized a twin programme of Konkani folklore awareness and Voviyo competition on Sunday May 15 from 2.30 pm in the Don Bosco Hall, Udupi.

The event attracted enthusiastic participation from as many as 11 parishes and the participants were divided into 14 groups. The participating parishes included Shirva, Katapady, Thottam, Shankerpura (Pangala), Milagres (Kallianpura), Udyavara, Yermal, Pamboor, Belman, Moodubelle and Mount Rosary, Kallianpur.

The entire programme was divided into three parts. The first part comprised of the inauguration and folklore awareness lecture by Mrs Eugene Quadros of Barkur, the resource person of the day. The second part was the Voviyo competition and the third part was that of declaration of the winners and distribution of prizes.

The inaugural function was initiated by Dr Gerald Pinto, president of Konkani Sahitya, Kala and Sanskrutik Sanghatan, Udupi district by welcoming the dignitaries and the participants in the programme. The function was presided over by Kundapura Naryan Kharvi, president of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy. The programme was inaugurated by Kiran Kumar, president of the Udupi Municipal Council by formally lighting the lamp along with other dignitaries on the dais including S H Shivarudrappa, registrar of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, B Pundalika Marathe, member of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, Louis D’Almeida, president of the Catholic Sabha, Udupi province and Mrs Eugene Quadros.

In his inaugural address, Kiran Kumar said that India is a land of unity in diversity with many religions, languages and cultures. He highlighted the fact that many smaller communities are losing their identity as their languages and cultures are vanishing due to negligence. However, he pointed out that the Konkani community that has existed in the western coast of India since many centuries has maintained its identity by preserving its language and culture because of the efforts of certain individuals and organisations.

S H Shivarudrappa in his address said that the academy has been encouraging various programmes in Konkani in different districts of the Karnataka. So far such programmes have been held in 28 out of 30 districts of the state.

In his message, Kundapura Narayana Kharvi said that since the inception of the academy in 1994, it has been doing a lot of work in promoting Konkani language, art, culture, theatre and literature. He further said that though the people of the Konkan are divided into forty communities and religious groups, the Konkani language binds them together. He pointed out that the government of India, by including Konkani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution has elevated the status of the language and urged the parents to encourage their children to learn and speak their mother tongue - Konkani.

Mrs Eugene Quadros, the resource person of the day, in her presentation highlighted the importance of the cultural heritage of our forefathers such as the various customs associated with one of the important events in the family and in the life of individuals such as marriage ceremonies which are reflected in the Voviyos. She narrated the transformation of the marriage customs and the gradual westernization of the traditions which have practically left us hanging between our own identity and western culture. She emphasised on the importance of the present generation preserving the unique marriage tradition of the Konkani community as manifested in various Voviyos and Verses and passing it to the next generation. She urged the audience to form ‘Voviyo Groups’ in their own wards and take the centre stage during the various marriage programmes in their wards so that the tradition of the Voviyos and Verses will spread and continue.

Next, fourteen groups from different parishes vied with each other to top position by present some of the best Voviyos in their kitty. Though most of the groups comprised of women only, there were few groups which had few men as teammates. Most of the Voviyos were centred around the ‘roce’, blessing of the bride or the bridegroom before leaving to the church for nuptial and dressing the bride with the wedding saree (sado). Each group was given five minutes to present their Voviyos with an extension of two minutes.

The Voviyo presentation was scrutinized and evaluated by three judges: James D’Souza of Bondel, Mangalre, Elsie D’Souza of Karkala and Mrs. Eugene Quadros of Barkur.

After an enthusiastic and thrilling presentation by all the fourteen groups, three groups were chosen by the judges for the first three prizes carrying cash awards of Rs 5,000, Rs 3000 and Rs 2000 respectively. The first prize was bagged by Milagres Group, Kallianpur led by Sylvia Pasanna; second prize was awarded to the Shirva Group led by Leena Mathais; and the third prize was won by Pamboor Group led by Navin Quadros. The prizes were given away by Kundapur Narayan Kharvi, president of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy.

The vote of thanks was proposed by Louis D’Almeida, president of the Catholic Sabha, Udupi province. The inaugural programme was compered by Alphonse D’Souza of Brahmavar and the later two programmes were conducted by Alphonse D’Costa.