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

Mangaluru, Dec 20: 'Konkani Sahitya Sammelan-2014', organized by the state Konkani Sahitya Academy, began at Scouts and Guides Auditorium at Lalbagh here on Saturday December 20.

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the event, veteran writer and 'Nrupatunga' awardee Kum Veerabhadrappa said, "If you go to Kerala or Tamil Nadu, people do not speak any language other than Malayalam and Tamil, respectively. They do not allow other languages to grow. But our Kannada Nadu Karnataka is not like them. We enable other languages to put a strong foundation in our state."

Veerabhadrappa said that during the time of Cholas and Pallavas, there were Konkani and Tulu speaking people in the state. "Konkani is a colourful and musical language. More 70 lac people across the world speak Konkani. Karnataka government should try to save the languages which are in danger. In a currency note, out of 15 languages, Konkani is in the 6th position, which is a matter of pride for everyone. It is a previlege for any person to know more than 4-5 languages," he added.

Regretting the Legislative Council chairman’s move to stop MLC Ivan D’Souza from addressing the Council in Konkani recently, Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy president Roy Castelino said that the Academy has written a letter to Council chairman D H Shankaramurthy seeking justification.

Castelino said that Ivan should have been allowed to speak in Konkani as it is one of the constitutionally recognized languages of the country.

Calling on Konkani speaking people to strengthen Konkani’s base in the movie industry, he said that as many as 40 Tulu movies are in the pipeline for release in the coming days. "However, the contribution of Konkani to the film industry is almost negligible. Our love towards Konkani has reduced, we require more writers," he added.

Briefing about a Konkani certificate course started by the Academy, Castelino opined that senior citizens especially women should enroll in it, so that they could teach Konkani to their grandchildren and ensure the preservation of the language in posterity.

'Unya Bhavadtache', a novel by Edwin J F D’Souza and ‘Ayeraso Book’, a collection of poems by Andrew D’Cunha were released on the occasion.

The cultural programme is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.

Fr Denis Moras Prabhu, C G S Taccode, Dr Shobha Neelavar, A D Netto and Dr Devdas Pai among others were present.