Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SB)

Mangaluru, Apr 1: Dr Frank Fernandes, an NRI entrepreneur, philanthropist and film producer, was conferred with 'Vishwa Taulava Chakravarthi' award at 'Taulava Uchchaaya', an international conference of Tulu language organised by Tulunada Rakshana Vedike at Town Hall here on March 30.

Shri Manila Mohanadasa Swamiji, spiritual head of Manila Math, attended as the chief guest of the programme. Yogish Shetty, founder of Tulunada Rakshana Vedike, presided over the ceremony.

In his congratulatory address, Mahanadasa Swamiji said, "Taulava Uchchaya is a unique programme which brings Tulu-speaking people who reside in different parts of the world together. I appreciate Yogish Shetty who has been single-handedly handling the event with the support of Tulu lovers. It is a well-known fact that Tulu is not religious oriented language. People of every religion who live in Tulunadu speak this language. It has its own heritage and history. But regrettably, we have not been able to achieve the objective of including this language in the eighth schedule of our constitution. Collective efforts alone can bring success to our efforts. So it is my humble request to all Tuluvas to join hands and work for the betterment of our language."

Accepting the honour, Frank Fernandes said, "I was born and bought up in Tulunadu. It is my responsibility to repay to my motherland where I got the perfect base for all my achievements. If a person forgets his past and the way which he grew up, it is tantamount to him having turned into a negative personality. You all are aware that my mother tongue is Konkani. But I have equal respect for Tulu which is a language of my soil. As an entrepreneur, it is easy for me extend financial support for the promotion of a language. But only events and promotions would not be enough to achieve our objective. We need to teach our language to our next generation who are more comfortable with English language. We should pass on our rich culture and heritage to our children. I thank Tulunada Rakshana Vedike for this felicitation. 

Yogish Shetty and his team have been doing very good job and by their efforts definitely one day Tulu will be able to earn a place in the eighth schedule of our constitution.”

At the same event, Praveen Shetty Pune, Divakar Kadri, Mahammad Ibrahim, Naveed, Muniyalu and Uday Shetty were conferred with 'Vishwa Taulava Ratna' awards. Moodambail Ravi Shetty, Jayakara Shetty Indrali, Ravindra Shetty Bajagoli, William Dantis, Mohammad Kukkuvalli, Leeladhar Shetty Kapu, Poornima Surathkal, Saumya Sudheendra Rao and Keshava Suvarna, were conferred with 'Vishwa Taulava Siri' award.

Bhaskar Rai Kukkvalli, Kadri Navneeth Shetty, DIvakar Shetty Sangli, Praveen Shetty, and Raj Kumar were present.

Dayanand Kattalsar compered the event.