Pics: Joshwa D'souza
Daijiworld Media Network-Mangaluru (JD)
Mangaluru, Aug 21: Famous Konkani lyricist, poet and writer Wilson Roshan Sequeira, who writes under the pen name Wilson Kateel, was awarded the Leo Rodrigues Family Kittall Yuva Puraskar 2016 in a ceremony held at Orchid gallery in city on Saturday August 20.
The youth award has the motto of recognising young writers with potential, and carries a purse of Rs 25,000 and a citation.
After receiving the award Wilson Kateel said "My grandmother’s Konkani lessons inspired me to become a writer. We used to sell beetle leaves in the market and I felt many stories were hidden in the leaves on which we depended for our livelihood. Now I earn my bread from my poems,"
"I was very influenced by HM Pernal, Melvyn Rodrigues and Andrew L D’Cunha and Wilfy Rebimbus. I actually wanted to write like Wilfy Rebimbus and after I started writing he told me that I write well. And I was touched by these compliments. I thank Kittall jury for this award which will always be special to me." Wilson added.
Speaking on the occasion entrepreneur Leo Rodrigues said "I salute the jury for making the best selection. This award is just a small help from me. If Kittall and HM Pernal decide to honour two writers from next year then I will help till I am alive."
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the programme, entrepreneur Rohan Monteiro said, "I cannot contribute anything to Konkani language in terms of literature, but I can support them, which I am doing. There are very few organizations like Kittall which honour the deserving and provide the platform for their writings."
Urologist Dr G G Lakshman Prabhu while giving the Kittall annual lecture on 'My experience and vision in Konkani literary work' said "When I was a boy, eminent writers like Baliga Maam, VJP Saldanha and KV Pai struggled hard for Konkani language and they also had the challenge to keep up their writings. And it is because of their efforts; today Konkani has achieved such heights."
"We write Konkani in various scripts and speak in different dialects. Hence there is a confusion to understand each other when the Konkani speaking people from different communities speak. Hence to solve this we need to standardize the language and its literature." he added.
President of Kittall jury Titus Noronha introduced Wilson to the gathering.
Member of Kittall advisory board William Pais welcomed.HM Pernal rendered vote of thanks and also compered the programme.
About Wilson Kateel
Wilson Kateel has written more than 400 poems, ten short stories and a number of essays and established himself as a Konkani writer of repute. Having written more than 100 lyrics for Konkani albums, movies, drama and serials, he has won three consecutive Global Konkani Music Awards.
He has four published works to his credit - 'Pavle' (Kavita Publications, 2011) 'Peek ani Deek' (Pragati Press, 2014) 'Tasveenth' (poems to artist Wilson Kayyar's photography, Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy Publication, 2015) and 'Paklyo' (published by Dhyanavana Prakashana, 2015). He has participated in a number of poetry reciting sessions, All India Radio, Doordarshan, Sahitya Academy and Mysore Dasara Poetry reciting being notable among them.
The Youth Award is instituted by Kittall.com, a premier Konkani literary web portal with H M Pernal, being its editor. The award is sponsored by NRI businessman Leo Rodrigues and his family.
Prior to this, Fr Jo Cy Siddakatte (2012) Wilma, Bantwal (2013), Stany, Bela (2014) and Melwyn Kolalgiri (2015) have received the award.