Mangaluru: “The main intention of the ‘World Konkani Kendra’ is to connect the youth to the roots of Konkani culture,” said Padma Shri awardee and chairman of Manipal Global Education T V Mohandas Pai.
Addressing the gathering at the decennial ceremony of the “Vishwa Konkani Awards – 2019” on Saturday, November 23, he said, “About 10 years ago we had decided to connect the students to Konkani culture. For this, we began giving away scholarships to over 20,000 students. Our dream is to send 5000 students to foreign countries for higher education and in turn, contribute to our community and the nation on the whole.”
“We are proud that recently, three youngsters have joined the Indian Administration Service (IAS). This is indeed an achievement of the youth of our community,” he added.
Lamenting the English language’s domination over several other regional languages like Konkani, Mohandas Pai said, “It is very important to nurture our culture and traditions. But, unfortunately, we have long forgotten our mother tongue. English has dominated over Konkani and other regional languages. Adding to this, parents who are responsible for preserving the culture, tradition and language and passing it on to their children, are themselves neglecting Konkani. English rhymes have dominated over those in the Konkani language, which were sung and taught by our parents. In airports, shopping malls etc., you will find English being used widely. Children should learn different languages at a tender age.”
Meanwhile, he opined that Mangaluru shall one day become a “global headquarters for Konkani” and a “pilgrimage” spot for the Konkani language.
Achievers of the Konkani world feted
A set of awards were handed over to achievers from different fields. The awards were named after Mohandas Pai’s mother, Vimala V Pai, and as a new inclusion this year, the ‘Seva Puraskar’ was given in the name of Basti Vaman Shenoy, president of the Vishwa Konkani Kendra.
In the field of art and literature, novelist Devidas Kadam was awarded the ‘Vimala V Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Puraskar’ for his Konkani novel “Jaanavai” and Shakuntala R Kini was awarded the ‘Vimala V Pai Vishwa Konkani Poetry Award’ for her anthology of poems “Thode Yekantha.”
For his contribution towards the Konkani language and research, Rocky V Miranda was awarded the ‘Vimala V Pai Vishwa Konkani Lifetime Achievement Award’.
The ‘Vimala V Pai Vishwa Konkani Special Award’ was awarded to Suhas Yashwanth Dalal for his exemplary contribution to the Konkani movement and Vasanthi R Nayak for her exemplary contribution to the field of music.
For the first time, the ‘Basti Vaman Shenoy Vishwa Konkani Seva Puraskar’ awards were conferred on K Raghavendra Pai for his exemplary service in the field of Yoga and Meera S Shanbhag for her exemplary service in the field of elderly care.
During the award ceremony, Basti Vaman Shenoy introduced the awardees and gave a brief about the procedure of selecting the achievers.
The awards were presented by Dr Ramakant Krishnaji Deshpande, Padmi Shri Awardee and director of Asian Institute of Oncology, Mumbai.
Smitha Shenoy from the Department of Journalism, Besant Women’s College, Mangaluru compered the programme.
Dr Austin D’Souza Prabhu, P Sabitha Sathish Pai and other dignitaries were also present.
