Media Release
Panaji, Jun 3: "Goa is no longer the same. Gone are the days when one could sleep with their doors open. We learn from our mistakes" said chief guest, Bhikaji Ghanekar at the ‘Gõy Mogacho Kovita Utsav (poetry convention) organised by Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) marking Goa Statehood Day on May 30. "It is interesting to note that Goa and Portugal have a lot in common. Both the places, Goa and Portugal, have 11 rivers and 11 talukas which is interesting.” He took the audience on a figurative ride across Goa with his humorous poem titled 'Kadamba'.
At the event poets from across the state, presented their poems on the common theme 'Goa'. Also present were president of DKA, Tomazinho Cardozo, secretary, Vincy Quadros and treasurer of DKA, Celso Fernandes.
Cardozo in his address said that Goa has changed over the last 30 years. He questioned whether this change is good or bad. All the poems are based on Goa which will bring forth poets' opinions and views. Some people have seen Goa change, others have adjusted with the change while the rest feel that Goa should be governed in certain ways." He spoke about how people are hesitant to buy or spend on Konkani literature and DKA’s initiative to increase Konkani readership. "To encourage sales and readership of Konkani content, the travel allowance that poets used to get to attend the convention will now be given in the form of a ‘Gulab’ magazine copy. The idea behind doing so is to enable Konkani literature to reach a larger section of the population."
The poets who presented their poems included Silvestrina Pereira, Rena D’Souza, Sabdhya Fernandes, Ana Tereza Rodrigues, Behinda Fernandes, Liby Mendonca, Saraswati Naik, Vinda Naik, Mathew De Souza, Menino Almeida, Anthony Miranda, Annie Fernandes, J P Fernandes, Pio Esteves, Nutan Dabholkar, Kavita Pereira, Jerome Succor Alphonso, Rackson Fernandes, Cipriano Fernandes, Michelle Coutinho, Sonia Gomes, Subhash Shah, Soniya Shah, Shobha Fulkar, Alvaro Gomes, Narayan Khorjuvenkar, Prasad Sawant, Daniel De Souza, Joseph Pinto and Edwin Fernandes.
The poets expressed their views on Goa after its 30 years and dedicated their poems to statehood. Others spoke about how Goa has changed with regard to development and destruction of ecology in the name of improvement. Some articulated their views on Goa as a beautiful state with plenty of bounty and blessed with rivers, streams, forests, wildlife and more. Through their poems they highlighted that these resources need to be protected and if the human race continues to use these resources at such an alarming rate, nothing will be left for the future generation. On a lighter note, Pio Esteves enthralled the audience with soothing music to the accompaniment of the guitar and mouth organ.
Vincy Quadros compered the function and Celso Fernandes proposed the vote of thanks.