Mangalore: Archbishop Dr Moras presents Sandesha Awards to 10 achievers

Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MD)

Mangalore, Jan 15: The prestigious Sandesha Awards 2014 were presented to 10 achievers at a glittering ceremony held at Town Hall here on Wednesday January 15, in recognition of their valuable contributions to society in their respective fields.

The ceremony was presided over by Archbishop of Bangalore Dr Bernard Moras. Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza, Bishop of Mangalore was the chief guest and noted poet and lyricist Dr Jayanth Kaikini was the guest of honour. Fr Victor Vijay Lobo, Sandesha director, graced the occasion.

Dr Na D'Souza, chairman of the selection committee introduced all the awardees.

The Awards were conferred on Vaidehi (Sandesha Kannada Literature Award), Cyril G Sequeira (C G S Taccode) (Sandesha Konkani Literature Award), Lalitha Rai (Sandesha Tulu Literature Award), Sr Irene Mascarenhas (Sandesha Best Teacher Award), P Sheshadri (Sandesha Cinema/TV Award), Abdul Rasheed (Sandesha Journalism Award), B K S Varma (Sandesha Art Award), B V Rajaram (Sandesha Media Education Award), Lawrence Saldanha (Konkani Kogull Wilfy Rebimbus Memorial Sandesha Konkani Music Award) and Corrine Rasquinha, White Doves trust, Mangalore (Sandesha Special Recognition Award).

Each Award carried a cash prize, a trophy, a citation and a certificate of recognition.

The presentation ceremony began with welcoming the guests and awardees who were escorted to the dais in a ceremonial procession. True to the Sandesha tradition, the programme began with a welcome dance by the students of Sandesha College.

Dr Jayanth Kaikini addressing the awardees on the dias, said, "None of these awardees ever expected any kind of award for their work. No person should work to win awards. Award comes on its own in recognition of your work. Let no one think that you are working only to win an award. Awarding ceremonies are becoming a part of our culture." He conveyed his best wishes to the awardees in their future endeavours.

In his presidential address Archbishop Dr Bernard Moras termed the awardees as the 'Navaratnas' and congratulated them for their value based service to society. "Those without love for art in any form are nothing in this world. If you practise the various kinds of art forms you will know everything you need to know. The Bible, the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita are filled with knowledge. The artists can describe a thousand words in various forms like music, dance, paintings and more. Music, dance and painting have the power to change the world. We can see various art forms in all the religions. These art forms reflect a person's lifestyle."

Bishop Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza congratulated the awardees and said, "Sandesha has been honouring those people who have strived for the betterment of society from many years. These personalities deserve the Sandesha Awards as they have been rendering service to their respective fields without expecting anything in return.

"They were selected for their work. Our society is filled with violence, hatred, and bad people. Despite all these things they never gave up. It is heartwarming to see them and I wish many more people would follow their example, their work and be inspired from them."

Dr Na D'Souza was felicitated during the award ceremony for his immense contribution to literature.

Fr Henry D Souza, Bishop of Bellary and chairman of Sandesha Foundation, Fr Jayaprakash D'Souza, principal of Sandesha College, Dr Charles Vas, president of Sandesha selection committee, P M Castelino, Galdin D'Souza, Roy Castelino, Fr S Jayanathan were also present at the ceremony.