Mangalore: Damodar Mauzo Conferred Vimala V Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Award

Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Nov 11: Celebrated Konkani novelist and short story writer from Goa, Damodar Mauzo was presented with the Vimala V Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Puraskar 2011 at a glittering ceremony held at T V Raman Pai Convention Centre in the city on Thursday November 10.

Pradhan Gurudutt, Chairman of Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikar, Bangalore, presented the award to Damodar Mauzo, who won the award for his novel “Tsunami Simon”. Damodar Mauzo was presented with a shawl, flowers, a citation, a memento and the award money of Rs. 1 lakh. The cheque was presented to the writer by Vimala V Pai, in whose name the award is instituted. “Tsunami Simon” that has Tsunami as its main theme is overlapped with the lives of the Kharvi community and their struggle to choose between tradition and modernity. The awardee was selected for the award by a jury of 5 members headed by eminent Konkani litterateur from Goa Uday Bhembre.

Speaking after the presentation of the award to Damodar Mauzo, Pradhan Gurudutt said “I strongly believe awards help the growth of literature. That is why at Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikar we have instituted 10 awards, which is our way of recognizing writers and encouraging good literature”. He further emphasized the need to translate more and more from other languages to Konkani so that more and more people get exposure to good literature. “Exposure to diverse literature leads to growth of our own literature. Today English language has become popular because the literature is available in English. When Konkani reaches that stage we can proudly say we have done it”, he stated.

While commending World Konkani Centre (WKC) for its efforts to preserve and promote Konkani literature and language he also suggested instituting more awards in diverse categories of Konkani literature to provide fillip to Konkani literature in a big way. He promised whatever help he could from Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikar in this regard.

Pradhan Gurudutt applauded the Konkanis for their success in diverse fields and their contribution to the country. Citing names and giving examples of Konkanis who have made it big in business, education, literature, art, culture, music and many other fields, Pradhan Gurudutt said “if I go on continuing the list of their diverse fields of success, I am sure the contribution of the minority community would become majority and that of the majority Kannadigas would become minority”.

Pradhan commended the efforts of Damodar Mauzo for taking up a contemporary theme in his novel. He also said that he has not come across any book on Tsunami, which had hit South Indian coast in 2004, in any Indian language.

Literateur Uday Bhembre, who was also the Chairman of the 5 member jury that selected Damodar Mauzo for the award, pointed out that the jury unanimously selected Damodar Mauzo’s novel “Tsunami Simon” for its contemporary content, characterization, language, the struggle it portrayed and the novel in its entirety. “The novel deals not only with the theme of Tsunami but also depicts friction between the community’s constant struggle between tradition and modernity. It is a matter of pride for Konkani literature that its writers are looking at contemporary subjects for writing”. He wished that there should be a Tsunami in Konkani writing and Konkani literature.

A visibly happy Damodar Mauzo who spoke after receiving the award pointed out that it is the greatest award he ever got as compared to any other awards he has received. “I am not saying it because of the large prize money. I am saying it because this award is symbol of unceasing efforts, it represents the service mind of the people involved and the commitment of the people who are in this award”, he declared.

He said that after he was chosen for the award he was a bit apprehensive as his novel was of only 150 pages. But he took heart from the fact that Julian Barnes who won this year’s Man Booker award for his book “The sense of an Ending” contained only 150 pages.

Stating that Konkanis have enriched the field of literature by their humungous contribution, he expressed happiness about many writers in other languages in Goa slowly taking to Konkani literature which he termed as a good development. He expressed hope that Konkani literature would reach summit of glory in the years to come.

Mauzo pointed out that as a shopkeeper he was hard pressed for time. “Many a time I used to keep awake to give vent to my creative writing. It was my dear Shaila (wife) who gave me that space to divert my creative energy to writing”, he said giving credit to his wife for his achievement.

T V Mohandas Pai, who instituted the award in the name of his mother, also reiterated the importance of safeguarding our language and culture. “It is essential to preserve our culture because in the last 20-30 years, our roots, our culture, our identity is on the verge of disappearing. In the deluge of globalization and modernity, our culture having a history of more than 1000 years is being lost. So we need to come together as a community and preserve our culture”, he declared. He further added “We Indians have multiple identities. We are an amalgamation of this multiple identities. The multiple identities come from diverse culture and this diversity enriches our life and experience. We need to keep this diversity alive”.

He also cautioned that Konkanis should not close their doors to the idea of globalization. But “in the process we should not forget what we are”, he remarked.

P Dayananda Pai, Charman of Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation stated that Konkanis have been successful in all walks of life because they have taken severe beating from colonial barbarism and have been tested time and again. It is the enterprising quality of the people of this area which makes them successful. Dayananda Pai stated that Konkani is the most secular language in the entire world as it is spoken by all the major communities of Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other castes and religion.

P Dayananda Pai also stressed the importance and the need of giving back to the society from which one has benefitted.

The award presentation programme was given a rousing start with a song “Veer Konkani Santaan” sung by Vasanthi Nayak and group. This was followed by a prayer song sung by students of Canara High School.

Basti Vaman Shenoy, President of World Konkani Centre welcomed the gathering and honoured the guests with flowers. Damodar Mauzo was escorted to the dais by Konkani poet Melvyn Rodrigues and Dr Kasturi Mohan Pai to the tune of music, thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the assembled gathering. Gopaldas Prabhu introduced the guest Pradhan Gurudatt to the audience.

T V Ramachandra Pai, Vimala V Raman Pai and Venkatesh Baliga were also on the dais.

Titus Noronha compered the programme. Venkatesh Baliga proposed the vote of thanks.

The stage programme was followed by programme of lights songs by Raghavendra Rao. This was followed by the play “Runanubandha” presented by the members of Triveni Kala, Sangama, Mumbai.

Earlier in the day, Sadhya Pai, Editor of Taranga, Kannada Weekly inaugurated the Book release ceremony and the Konkani Book Fair. This was followed by a round table dialogue on Konkani literature under the chairmanship of Uday Bhembre, who was also the keynote speaker. Eminent Konkani literateurs Melvyn Rodrigues and Gokuldas Prabhu were Rapporteurs at the Round Table Discussion.

Konkani writers and writers who write in languages other than their mother tongue Konkani participated in the dialogue. They include Jayant Kaikini, P Sivaraj, Prof Sudhir Tadkodkar, P Jayaprakash Kulur, Sandhya S Pai, Sudesh Lotlikar, V Krishna Vadhyar, Dr Geetha Shenoy, A G Gopalakrishnan, Gopalakrishna Pai, Damodar Mauzo, Punadalik Naik, Dr C N Shenoy, Dr L Sunita Bai, H M Pernal, Wilson Kateel, Maxim Lobo, Judy Pinto, Kudla Anandu Shanbhag, Payyannur Ramesh Pai, R S Bhaskar, Dilip Borkar and Fr Francis Rodrigues.