Karkala: Konkani Sahitya Academy Awards Conferred
Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala
Pics: Vinup D'Souza, Karkala
Karkala, Nov 14: "With knowledge life is complete. In this regard, the people of Konkani community have made several contributions to various fields including educational, medical, religious, social, political and various others. The Konkani community is culturally and linguistically rich," said state legislative assembly deputy speaker N Yogish Bhat.
He spoke after inaugurating the award ceremony organized by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy at Shree B Manjunath Pai Auditorium here on Monday November 11. The Academy's Honorary Awards, Book Awards and Youth Award were presented on the occasion.
Honorary Awards were presented to writer S M Krishna Rao (Konkani language and literature), Harry D’Souza (Harryboy Mumbai) (Konkani art) and Baabi Nayak (Konkani folk).
The Book Award was conferred on writer Maxi G Pinto for 'Satham Khatham', a compilation of essays; Ronald Vaz for 'Awaaz’, a poetry collection and Ron Michael for 'Vodthanthle Gulob’, a Konkani short story.
Youth Award was presented to Mahadevi Kulal for pottery art, Vilas Nayak for painting and Mahalaxmi Shenoy for classical singing.
Fellowships to Vidya J Nayak, Marcel M D’Souza, Victor D’Silva, Saver Santan Siddi and Kevin Misquith were also presented.
MLA H Gopal Bhandary presided over the programme. He said that language is a medium to express one's feelings. "Language introduces one's culture to others. Let Konkani Academy work to preserve art, culture, heritage of Konkani," he said.
MLC Capt Ganesh Karnik introduced the awardees and handed over the Book Awards. He said that in order to preserve language and culture among the next generation, government will establish various language academies. "These academies will be complete only when they work to teach language and culture to the children," he added.
Former MLA V Sunil Kumar distributed the fellowships. “Language shapes one's personality and also reflects culture. Language enriches culture and literature," he said.
Konkani litterateur Valerian D’Souza (Valli Vagga) presented the Youth Award. Winner of National Award Gopalkrishna Pai released ‘Konkani Ujwadu’, a special issue brought out by the Academy.
Kasargod Chinna, Academy president welcomed. Registrar Dr B Devdas Pai proposed the vote of thanks. Members Subhash Kamath, Mahesh R Nayak , Chidananda Bhandary, T A P Shenoy, Roy Castelino and Om Ganesh were present.
Florine Roche and Kumble Narasimha Prabhu compered.
Prior to the awards ceremony, a colourful 'Janapad Yatra’ was held in Karkala on the previous day.