World Konkani Centre to organize mega Konkani event on Nov 10 – 11

World Konkani Centre to organize mega Konkani event on Nov 10 – 11

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Nov 9, 2011: The Mangalore-based World Konkani Centre will organize a number of events on the occasion of the inauguration of Sri. T. V. Raman Pai and Smt. T. Vimala V. Pai Hostel and the Vimala V. Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya award ceremony. A number of writers and Konkani activists are expected to participate in this event, which will be held on Nov 10 – 11. 

The hostel and the award have been funded by T. V. Mohandas Pai, the corporate leader, for the promotion of Konkani language and culture, in honor of his parents. 

Dialogue on Konkani Literature

A round table dialogue on Konkani literature will be held on Nov 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the T. V. Raman Pai Convention Centre in Kodialbail, during which eminent Konkani-speaking people who write in languages such as Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, and others will interact with Konkani writers hailing from Kerala, Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. 

Kannada writers such as Jayanth Kaikini, Sandhya S. Pai, and Gopalakrishna Pai and Marathi writers such as P. Shivaraj, R. Jayaprakash Kuloor, and V. Krishna Vadhyar will interact with eminent Konkani writers Damodar Mauzo, Pundalik N. Naik, Dr. Tanaji Halarnkar, Dr. Madhavi Sardesai, HM Pernal, Prof. Judy Pinto, Maximum Lobo, and others. 

The session will be chaired by Konkani writer Uday L. Bhembre, who will deliver the keynote address. The moderators will be Melwyn Rodrigues and Gokuldas Prabhu.  

Conferring the Award on Damodar Mauzo

The World Konkani Centre launched the Vimala V. Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Puraskar in 2010 to promote quality literature in Konkani. It comprises a memento, a citation, and a Rs. 1 lakh and will be awarded to the best Konkani book of the year. 

The book is selected as per the procedures followed by the Sahitya Academy. This year, Damodar Mauzo’s Sunami Simon has been selected for the award.

Dr. Pradhan Gurudath, the chairman of Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikar in Bangalore, will confer the award at an awards ceremony held at 5:30 p.m. on Nov 10 on Damodar Mauzo in the presence of T. V. Mohandas Pai and Smt. Vimala V. Pai.
 

Book Fair 

World Konkani Centre is organizing a Konkani Pusthak Jatra, a book fair, on Nov 10, enabling Konkani readers to purchase Konkani books and also books on Konkani language and culture. 

 
Publishers hailing from Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, and other places have been invited to set up stalls at T. V. Raman Pai Convention Centre inMangalore. The book fair will be inaugurated by Smt. Sandhya S. Pai, the editor of Taranga at 9:45 a.m. on Nov 10.
Along with Konkani writers, Mrs. Sandhya Pai will also release a number of books on the occasion.
Around 21 illustrated children’s books and a book containing translated short stories of Rabindranath Tagore will be released on the occasion. A book titled “History of Konkani Speaking People” built entirely on Wikipedia pages, the first book of its kind in Konkani, will also be released. Besides, a flyer on the initiatives taken by the World Konkani Centre to promote Konkani language and culture online will be released. 

 
Cultural Festival 

The World Konkani Centre will organize a number of cultural events. Konkani Triveni Kala Sangam, a drama troupe that has found a place in the Limca Records, will present a drama titled “Runanubandh” at 7:45 p.m. on Nov 10 at T. V. Raman Pai Convention Centre in Kodialbail, Mangalore. 

Pundit Upendra Bhat, the eminent Hindusthani classical vocalist and disciple of Pundit Bhimsen Joshi, will perform at 5:30 p.m. on Nov 11 at the same venue. Pundit Upendra Bhat will present the Konkani Bhava Sangeetha on this occasion.  

Patholi Rookh, a children’s play directed by Jagan Pawar and enacted by the children’s drama troupe at World Konkani Centre, will be shown at 6:45 p.m. on Nov 11.