Pics: Stanley Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (SB)
Mangaluru, Feb 25: ‘Bhasha Sangam-2018’, a day-long multilingual national conference on language, literature and culture was inaugurated at Milagres College on Saturday, February 24.
Dr Vincent Alva, principal, Milagres College, Kallianpur, Udupi inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp along with Fr Valerian D’Souza, correspondent, Milagres Educational Institutions, Prof Stephan Quadras, Government Women’s College, Puttur, Fr Michael L Santhumayor, principal, Dr Lourdusamy, PG department of English, St Agnes College, Cecilia Fernandes, vice-president, parish council, Milagres Church, Nayana K, conference convener, and Dr Mamatha N R, organizing secretary.
In his keynote address Dr Vincent said, “After creation of the universe, God wished to create his representative. That is why he created human in the end. When he created human being, he gave him the freedom to live. When the lone human being got a partner, he started to communicate with her using sounds. The variety of sounds which the human used to communicate with each other got converted into ‘Languages’. Without sound, language cannot exist. I do not know who named these sounds as languages. But these sounds have a beauty. Every language is interrelated. But there are differences in pronunciation.
"Now, we are living in a time where English is given prominence. Our parents want us to learn English. There is a mentality that without English, life is impossible. But I want to say that every language has its own importance in the society. Learning many languages makes our living easy. At the same time, forgetting mother tongue is a loss of identity," he said.
In his presidential address, Fr Valerian said, "Languages bring us together without discrimination of caste and creed. It leads towards unity. In our society, we can see people speaking various languages. It makes them easier to mingle with each other. The programme ‘Bhasha Sangam’ is a unique step towards the togetherness of languages. Definitely, this programme will give you a special experience with additional knowledge on languages."
After the inaugural ceremony, seminars were held. Students presented papers on various topics related to languages in Kannada, Hindi, English and Konkani.
Dr Manjula KT, Dr Nagappa Gowda R, Prof Stevan Quadras, Dr Pramod Kovaprath were the resource persons.
Professors Dr Lourdusamy, Dr Nagarathna N, Dr Madhav, and poet Melvyn Rodrigues were the moderators at the seminars.