Hejamady (Udupi): Defence Minister Manohar Prabhu Parrikar, on Sunday inaugurated a massive Goud Saraswath Brahmin Convention at Hejamady, on December 25. As a GSB himself, he was called by Udupi GSB Samaja Hitharakshana Vedike as the chief guest of the ceremony.
In his address to the gathering of several thousand Konkani speakers, he mentioned that the people of GSB community are known for their intelligence and it’s application in day to day development of the nation. Giving a call to the gathering about supporting the government he said, “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is steering our country to progress. We need to join hands with him and strengthen his leadership.”
A combined contribution of the organizers and well-wishers of the GSB convention of Rs 1 crore towards ‘Rashtra Nidhi’ was released by Parrikar on the occasion. The Rashtra Nidhi funds will go to the wounded soldiers as respect to the armed forces.
Recalling the contributions of the GSB people in fields of art, medicine, science, education among others, he said that Goud Saraswath Brahmins should be a model community for the society and help in building a great nation. Speaking about improving quality of education, he said, “Morals should be integrated with knowledge so that India can be a corruption-free nation from the grassroots-level. Quality of education should be focused upon in order to have a responsible future generation.”
Governor of Nagaland, Padmanabh Balakrishna Acharya was also present at the occasion along with accomplished GSB entrepreneurs, ministers and lawyers. P B Acharya addressed the gathering and said that the GSB people have great potential in them as they can go to any extent to help others in the society. “The GSB community is a strong pillar of society, without which the structure of society will crumble. It is time that all the GSBs must stand up by themselves, shed their inferiority complex and get motivated by icons of GSB community to achieve greatness in each others’ respective fields.”
Making an appeal to the younger generation of the gathering, P B Acharya said, “People of Goud Saraswath Brahmins have the blessing of Goddesses Saraswathi and Lakshmi as origins from Saraswathi River. The young generation of GSB community should be enthusiastic and zealous in their approach towards life so that they can build a better future for the nation.”
Chairman of Manipal Global Education T V Mohandas Pai, Joint Managind Director of Jyothi Laboratories Limited Ullas Kamath, Puzzolana Machinery Fabricators Limited Liability Partnership company of Hyderabad Ananth Pai, World Konkani Center President Basti Vaman Shenoy and Chairman of World GSB Convention Committee Dayananda Pai were also present at the occasion.
As many as six thousand people were present at the convention. Writer Sumathi Shenoy from Kundapur released her book ‘Saraswath Heritage’ written in English at the same event after the inaugural speeches. Several GSB achievers in the field of literature, science, computer knowledge and art were honoured by P B Acharya. Overcoats and shawls made in Nagaland were given to the dignitaries on stage by P B Acharya as a token of gratitude.
