Konkan Kogul Comes Alive at Wilfy Rebimbus Day in Qatar
Report: Gladson D’Almeida
Pics: Shafiq
Daijiworld News Network – Doha (GA)

Doha, Apr 4: It was sort of an informal gathering with no chief guests, no one to preside over the function, not any organization hosting the event and not even one delivering lengthy speech. But it was a well-planned and perfectly executed tribute to Konkani‘s Man of the Millennium, the late Konkan Kogul Wilfy Rebimbus. The tiny oil-rich country with sizable Konkani-speaking population paid a fitting respect to Wilfy Rebimbus on Friday April 1 at the Ashoka Hall of the Indian Cultural Centre, on the eve of the birthday of the legend.

The programme began with compere of the evening Eddie Sequeira, a longtime associate of Wilfy Rebimbus extending warm welcome to the gathering after the keynote address. The programme was the brainchild of Eddie himself and he was ably supported by like-minded individuals and fans of Wilfy Rebimbus. Wilfy’s life partner, Konkann Myna Meena Rebimbus along with her daughter Veena Pais and son-in-law Arthur was present to witness a unique programme organized in honour of the greatest son of Konkani.

Talented singers from Doha Launa, Sunita, Anisha, Preethi, Namita, Sony, Jovita, Neena and Veena with Rupert, Patrick, Vincent, Peter, Wilson, Remy, Naveen, Arthur, Joslyn and Kirthan then gave a rousing start to the programme by symbolically holding lighted candles and rendering ‘Konknni Amchi Bhaas, Konkann Amcho Ganv’, a song that was ever close to Wilfy’s heart and which he made his dear ones sing again and again while on his deathbed.  Fr Anand Castelino, the spiritual director of Qatar Konkani-speaking community conveyed his wishes for the occasion and exhorted the gathering to instill love for one’s mother tongue and culture among their children.

The evening was an effort to shed light on various facets of Wilfy’s unmatched talents. Wilfy was not only a composer but a playwright, poet as well as writer. It was Wilfy, the master composer who was brought forth first on the stage with GVOM finalist Sunil Rupert Lobo presenting ‘Parvo’ song, one of the earliest compositions of Wilfy. This was followed by heart-touching ‘Amma’, a Tulu song composed by Wilfy. The song originally sung by Meena Rebimbus was sung melodiously by Qatar’s singing queen Milaan Arun amidst the loud applauds from the gathering.

The evening then moved on to a novel turn with Stephanie Lobo reading one of Wilfy’s earliest stories ‘Pithram’. This was perhaps for the first time that a story was read during a Konkani programme, thus scripting sort of a new beginning in Konkani. It was such a perfectly planned evening that each of the item flowed smoothly without any confusion or delay, with the audience firmly glued to their seats in sheer appreciation and amazement.

While Veena Pais’ rendering of one of Wilfy’s greatest compositions ‘Jibek Tankana’ was nothing short of spectacular, the fast emerging and popular singing couple of GVOM fame Naveen and Prima’s ‘Mog Na Mog Na’ song received a thunderous applause from the audience. The evening also provided platform for talented Goan singer Paul Fernandes who presented Konkani’s all time favourite song ‘Mog Tuzo Kitlo Axelom’, much to the appreciation of the jam-packed audience. Noted musicians of Qatar Joslyn D'Mello, Kirthan Rodrigues and Remy D'Souza scored background music for the evening.

The much-awaited evening had some more surprises to the gathering as Sandeep & Jyoti mesmerized the audience with the presentation of a ‘nritya roopak’ set to the tunes of ‘Herodichem Pharmann’, a part of Wilfy’s devotional composition ‘Ankvaar Moriechi Katha’.

Eddie Sequeira, the veteran actor along with equally talented Alfred Crasta enacted a scene from Wilfy’s renowned play ‘K D Bona B A’. The programme came to a perfect conclusion with the poetry session wherein a few young and budding poets from Qatar recited their poems, as a tribute to Wilfy, the poet. While Veena Pais read two poems penned by Wilfy, including the masterpiece ‘Geet ani Jivit’, Gladson D’Almeida, RemyD'Souza, Glany Fernandes, Glen Carlo, Prabha Rego, Vivek Monteiro, Benjamin Rebeiro and Eddie Sequeira himself read their own compositions. It was for the first time that a poetry session was held in Qatar and even though it was held almost at the end of the programme, audience extended their full support with hardly anyone leaving their seats. Two of Wilfy’s longtime associates Felix Lobo and Wilfred Fernandes shared their personal experience of their association with Wilfy.

The evening also marked the release of Doha-based Konkani musician Norbert Pereira’s new music album ‘Do Re Me Fa’. Meena Rebimbus in the company of Fr Anand Castelino, Felix Lobo, Norbert and Nancy Pereira released the music album. Norbert also presented two songs, including a tribute song composed in honour of Wilfy Rebimbus, from his new album on the occasion. 

It was a programme staged with minimum of expences, maximum efforts and meticulous planning. However, financial contribution was made by Wilfy’s fans generously and voluntarily. It is noteworthy that an amount of Indian Rupees One Hundred Thousand (1 lac) , which was collected during the event will be sent to the Rector of St Joseph's Seminary, Mangalore in remembrance of Wilfy Rebimbus Day.

All in all, it was not only a unique evening, but it was also an evening that proved it is possible to hold Konkani programmes in a different manner, if the organizers wish to do so. In many ways, the evening scripted many ‘firsts’ in Konkani and one would earnestly hope that more and more such programmes would be organized all around. The evening also has given new dimension in continuing Wilfy’s legacy to the next level and as it is often said ‘the show must go on and the legend must live on’.

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