Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai
Dubai, Dec 23: "Konkani is our mother tongue not because our mothers spoke Konkani, but due to the fact that we were born in a place and community that spoke Konkani. It is the duty, right and privilege of every Konkani speaking person to preserve the language. That gives us the identity of existence. Though we use different script for our expression that cannot divide us. We belong to one language and we have to bridge the gaps. This is the way we can enrich our language and literature,” said national fame author from Goa, Damodar Mauzo addressed the gathering that was organized by Daiji Dubai, the well-known forum of Konkani writers in UAE.
An evening with Damodar Mauzo was held at Winney’s Restaurant in Karama on Friday December 19 at 5:30 pm.
Daiji Dubai convener Rony Byndoor welcomed the guests and Konkani enthusiasts. Ex-convener and founder member Dayan D’Souza went down the memory lane of 15 years of illustrious history of Daiji Dubai. "Daiji Dubai had begun the awareness of Konkani in UAE in 2000. Now it has spread all over in this region and 40 plus Konkani organizations are working in preserving our Konkani identity all across the Gulf. We set the trend," Dayan D’Souza proudly declared.
Award winning author Stan Ageira introduced Damodar Mauzo with briefing on his literature profile and achievements. "Goa is close to our heart as it is like beloved mother’s house for Konkani," he stated.
Promoter of Merit Freight, Konkani singer eminent Joseph Mathais honoured Damodar Mauzo with memento on behalf of Daiji Dubai.
Promising young writer Stany Bela compered and poet Arthur Pereira thanked one and all.
In the interactive session, Damodar Mauzo answered the questions raised on story writing, layout, plot selection and techniques of writing. A gist was given by him on his award winning novel ‘Karmelin’ that has been translated into more than 10 languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, English, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tamil, Oriya and several others.
Born in Goa in 1944,Damodar Mauzo is a novelist and short fiction writer. He has three novels, five collections of short stories and five other books to his credit. He is also a scriptwriter who has written the screen play for the award-winning film 'Aleesha' and dialogues for two more films. A film was also made on his novella, 'Sood', for which he has written the script himself.
For nearly ten years he wrote a column in the local daily, Sunaparant, where he wrote critical appreciation of the stories appearing in its Sunday magazine. Mauzo has bagged many state and national level awards for his works. His Sahitya Academy award winning novel, 'Karmelin' has been translated into over a dozen languages. Tsunami Simon, another award winning novel for young adults has been translated into English by Ponytale Books, India. Katha Publication has published an English translation of a collection of his stories, 'These Are My Children', while Rupa Publications has recently launched another one, 'Teresa’s Man' and other stories from Goa. National TV channel, Doordarshan has telecast two of his most acclaimed stories. He was awarded Senior Fellowship of the ministry of culture, government of India for 2011-2012.
Mauzo has travelled widely as writer in several countries of the Middle East and the Republic of China. He is the co-founder and curator of the Goa Art and Literature Festival held annually in Goa and is presently serving as a jury member for the premier award of India, Saraswati Samman. He was the Advisor to the Samanvay Festival organized by India Heritage Centre, New Delhi, held in November 2014. Mauzo is recognized for his integrity, social activism and commitment to literature.
As a fitting tribute to Damodar Mauzo, poet Robert Udyavar moderated a poetry session in his inimitable style that paved way to light moments of laughter. Poets Rupali Mauzo Kirtani, Siddhi Shet Raikar, Dinesh Correa Pernal, Arthur Pereira Omzoor, Stany Bela, Pius James Barkur and Robert Fernandes Udyavar presented their poetic creations.