Pics: Meryick D'Silva
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP)
Mangaluru, Feb 19: Eminent academicians and professors in English literature and language from different parts of the country assembled at St Aloysius College (autonomous) here on Thursday February 19, as the national seminar on 'Revisiting Shakespeare: 450 Years', organized by the College's postgraduate department of English began on a splendid note in the Eric Mathias Hall.
It is worth noting that this is the tenth successive year that the College is organizing national seminar on English literature, and all the 10 seminars have been held the baton of Dr A Lourdusamy, the convener of the postgraduate department of English and vice-principal of SAC.
The programme began with an invocation by the students of St Aloysius College.
Dr A Lourdusamy welcomed the guests and the gathering.
The portrait of Shakespeare, one of the world's most read and researched playright and poet, was unveiled by Dr Leo D'Souza, director, lab of applied biology, St Aloysius College along with other guests on the dais.
In his presidential address, Fr Swebert D'Silva, principal, St Aloysius College said, "Shakespeare was a man of great practical ideas. There are three kinds of people in the world - dreamers, dodgers and doers, and Shakespeare was a doer. Even the scriputure hails the people who are doers. Shakespeare was a poet, playwright and a dramatist, I have always admired him."
He further said, "St Aloysius College has a history of 140 years. The college began with 146 students and two teachers and currently we have above 14,000 students in the institution, which indeed is a remarkable achievement. I request all the students to visit the chapel which was built by Italian Jesuits of St Aloysius College in 1880."
The third annual Late Shri S C Frank Memorial Endowment Lecture was delivered by Dr Leo D’Souza, director, lab of applied biology, who spoke on 'Shakespeare as a scientist'.
He said, "It is a privilege to pay homage to my guru S C Frank, and I thank his family members for organizing the Memorial Endowment Lecture every year. From the past 450 years everything about Shakespeare has already been spoken, and there is nothing left to speak for anyone on this earth on Shakespeare.
"I will speak on Shakespeare's relationship with science. He had a strong connection with science, and many books have been written on Shakespeare on this aspect.
"Shakespeare observed nature, just as astronomers studied the phenomenon of night and day. There is a huge differnce between the poetry of Wordsworth and Shakespeare; Wordsworth burst out in emotion on seeing the beauty of the nature, whereas Shakespeare observed, compared and presented his poems scientifically to the masses."
During the inaugural, second year MA student Nikita Carol Ferrao's debut novel, 'Falling for my Crazy Stalker' was released.
Speaking after the release, Nikita Carol Ferrao said, "It took about one year to write and publish the book. I was not alone in this journey, many played vital role and contributed for the release of the novel. I first of all want to thank Jesus for giving me the strength when I needed it the most. I thank my parents, sister and all who helped in publishing the book. I also thank Prof Maria D'Costa, Dr A Lourdusamy and Fr Swebert D'Silva for their support throughout the years. I thank all who helped me make this dream a reality."
On behalf of the management of St Aloysius College, Fr Swebert announced a sum of Rs 3,000 to Nikita to cover the expenses she incurred in publishing the book.
Some of the other lead paper presentations were by Dr P P Raveendran, professor emeritus, School of Letters, MG University, Kerala, and Dr S Ganeshan of Rajah's College, Tamil Nadu.
Prof Ronald Pinto, vice-principal, St Aloysius College (Autonomous) and faculty of the department of English of St Aloysius College were also present.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Melissa Goveas. Carlos and Akhila compered the programme.
Several participants, including students, research scholars and academicians, from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa have registered for the seminar.
Around 39 research papers will be presented by the participants.