Dalgado Konknni Akademi

The Dalgado Konknni Akademi is an organisation located in Panjim, Goa that works for the development and promotion of Konkani in the Roman script.

History

The academy was established in 1988 by Msgr. Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado.^[1] During the period 1988-1992, DKA was very active. Fr. Freddy J. da Costa was the President, Mr. Tomazinho Cardozo was the secretary and Mr. Prabhakar Tendulkar the treasurer. During this period, DKA published 'Konkani Orthography in Roman Script' with the intention of bringing about a desirable unity among the writers, so that the writers could understand the principles and rules of writing Konkani in Roman script.

Tomazinho Cardozo was the second president and Mr. Jose Salvador Fernandes and Mr. Prabhakar Tendulkar were the secretary and treasurer respectively. The current president is Premanand A. Lotlikar, while Mr. Jose Salvador Fernandes continues as the secretary. There have been calls for the government of Goa to stop discriminating against Romi Konkani and officially recognise the DKA.^[2]

Aims and Objectives

The Executive Board outlined the aims and objectives of the DKA in 2004 as follows:^[1]

"The first and foremost objective of DKA is to promote Konkani language in Roman script, which is neglected, side tracked and given step motherly treatment. Konkani written in Roman script goes back to 1560. Without its Roman script history, Konkani would not have got the recognition by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi in 1975. It has the rich cultural heritage and it has become integral and unavoidable part of Goan culture, specifically of Christians. The vast majority of Goan Christians read Konkani written in Roman script. Hence it has to be preserved fostered and developed.

DKA will make all efforts to provide support, financial and otherwise, for writers of Konkani in Roman script. It will work untiringly to obtain for them their just and lawful demands, dues and rights. DKA will recognize those institutions, which are working for the promotion and development of Konkani Language, literature and culture in Roman script. It will initiate various activities in literary, cultural and social field through all the modern means of social communication.

It will provide financial assistance, and scholarships to writers, dramatists, talented important people, scholars and students to carry out research and other undertakings in the field of Konkani. Holding and organizing seminars, conferences, workshops, exhibitions, lectures, competitions of different types; undertaking and editing Konkani folk songs, music, folk literature, stage performances and other expressions of Konkani culture; Library and documentation centre facilities to the students, writers, teachers, producers and actors/actresses of Konkani; collecting and preserving Konkani documents, records, books and objects scattered with individuals and families which are related to the cultural and literary development of Konkani are other objectives.

The Akademi will focus on promoting, assisting, and undertaking publications of children's literature in Konkani along with providing books or magazines in Konkani language to the libraries and institutions."

Activities

The main event organised by the Dalgado Konknni Akademi every year is the Konknni (Romi Lipi) Sahitya ani Sonvskrutik Sommelan (Konkani Literary and Cultural Conference) which has been held since the year 2008.^[3]

Apart from this, the academy bestows annual Konkani literary awards^[4] and organises poets' meets.^[5] The DKA also publishes a large number of Konkani books.^[6][7] The academy also organises contests such as novel writing and story reading in order to increase the readership and simultaneously to inculcate the habit of reading Konknni in Roman Script and to instill the love of the language among the youth.^[8][9] The DKA has ties with the Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr^[10] and coordinates several activities with it.

Publications and Brief Summaries

Kallzache Kholayek Thaun is a novel by Epifanio Valadares,a Gulf-based engineer, who took to writing because he had a lot of free time or leisure. Punching the keys on his laptop, Epifanio Valadares says that slowly the pages accumulated into a full-fledged novel. Kallzache Kholayek Thaun is conceived as a tale of a boy from humble origins who goes on to do many great things – some nothing short of a miracle. Kudov, the protagonist, is a person whose innovations and inventions take him across the Indian sub-continent as a fugitive on the run from the arms of law. Kudov is the pet name of the protagonist given by his villagers – as it happens in many Goan villages – after a bird which never stays in one place. Kudov has the immense ability to acquire knowledge and use it to invent technology that could possibly change the face of the world. He invents a cure for a very deadly disease that is poised to wipe out the whole population of his village. Next, he invents a thermo-dynamic engine which can run on water. When he elopes with his lover – who later becomes his wife – to Bombay and reaches the Taj hotel, it is that fateful day when this hotel is attacked by terrorists. Kudov and his wife were on a run from the police (and also on their honeymoon) and in the crossfire of the security forces and the terrorists, Anushka, his wife meets an untimely death. This moves Kudov to invent a device that would detect the locations of explosives that could potentially pose a threat to national security. Kudov anonymously tips-off the police about the whereabouts of terrorists. Since Kudov is unwilling to share the secrets of his innovations and because such innovations can be deadly in wrong hands, the security forces are constantly on the lookout for him. As a result, Kudov is on the run again and he lands up in Nepal. It is here in Nepal that he finally gets arrested and is brought down to Goa.^[11]

Sopon by James Fernandes is a collection of ten one-act plays. The author is a high-school teacher by profession.

Budd’tti or flood by Manuel Fernandes is a novel which takes its inspiration from the Biblical tale of Noah and the deluge that God had sent on the earth. Manuel Fernandes has tried to use the symbolism of the Flood and how it inundates everything, in trying to comment about the abysmal and egregious conditions of Goan political life and also (one suspects) the declining moral values of Catholic families. The novel opens with Ronald, a small-time cloth merchant and his wife Ravina who are very devoted to each other. But there is a sudden twist in the story: Ronald starts having an affair with a young widow, Sofia. Ravina is divorced by Ronald and he drives her out of the house – and into destitution. In another turn of events, Ronald is shown as leading an agitation against a pollution-causing factory. This agitation snowballs into a popular movement which propels him into politics. In due course of time he also becomes the Chief Minister of Goa. Agitation against big industries is an important theme in the book and I believe it is included in the narrative because in recent times Goa has gone through many such agitations. Ravina is shown as migrating to Bombay, only to make a dramatic and somewhat surreal entry in the end. Meanwhile, due to his power and influence Ronald starts indulging himself in corrupt practices. He starts smuggling arms and precious metals as well as making under-the-table deals to set up pollution-causing industries. Ronald chances upon a hidden vault when constructing his house and he converts it into an underground cave; a haven for his contraband. This hidden cave is accidentally discovered by Felicio, a journalist who puts his principles and the ethics of the profession first and follows them to the book. After a lot of rather bizarre twists and turns, Ronald receives punishment for his evil deeds. His criminal activities are exposed (though in a way that would never stand a chance in a court of law!) and he has to run away from the long arm of the law as well as the frenzied fury of his voters. Ronald escapes to the surrounding jungle and returns in a state of destitution and injury to a dilapidated house, where he breathes his last. During his funeral, suddenly, the sky becomes overcast and there is a torrent of rain. And since the novel is set on the banks of the Zuari (Cortalim to be precise), the banks of the river overflow and the resulting flood washes the coffin and with it the corpse of Ronald into the sea.^[12]

Location

Dalgado Konknni Akademi, AS-6, Second Floor, Campal Trade Center, Campal, Panaji Goa Contact:0832-2221688

References