Pics: Alphonse Mendonca
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (SB)
Mangaluru, Feb 6: The kick off ceremony of decennial year of kittall.com, online newspaper of well-known poet, story-writer, critic and editor-in-chief H M Pernal was held at Sandesha Foundation for Culture and Education Hall on Wednesday, February 5.
Basti Vaman Shenoy, founder of World Konkani Center, advocate Fr Fransis Assisi, director, Sandesha Foundation, Prof Dr Zita Lobo, well-known Konkani and English story-writer and Titus Noronha, president of Kittall Youth Award committee were present on the dais.
Unveiling the logo of decennial year Basti Vaman Shenoy said, “Kitall.com, under the leadership of H M Pernal, has done a tremendous job in the field of Konkani literature. From day one, I am following the website and I am quite happy that many new writers emerged through this experiment. As a publication it is not easy to complete 10 years. Now Kittall steps into the 10th year with a chain of literary programmes. I can say Kittall.com has achieved its goals and objectives. The literature published in Kittall is always a treasure for Konkani students and readers.”
After the inaugural ceremony, a discussion was held on ‘Kamra Bandh’, a short story collection, by Prof Dr Zita Lobo.
Explaining how she turned into a writer, Dr Zita Lobo said, “I was born in Honnavar, which is known to be a Konkani speaking region. My neighbours used to speak different dialects. So I could understand the richness of my mother tongue by way of its usage. Books and magazines attracted me towards literature world and I started writing with feelings of humanity.
“I never want to be known as a feminist. My feminism is based on humanism. I tried to reflect this in my stories,” she said.
In his welcome speech H M Pernal said, “Kittall was started with an intention of creating progressive literature in Konkani. With all respect to senior writers, it acted as a platform for new budding writers. In our mission, we achieved success and today we can see number of young progressive writers in Konkani. It is true that we had a party which always reflects truth. We never compromised on that. I am happy to say that a new wave created by Kittall online magazine is still visible in Konkani literature. I am thankful to all writers, my mentors and supporters who always supported Kittall. During the decennial year, we have planned a few exclusive literary events.”
Titues Noronha rendered the vote of thanks.