Dandeli: Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy confers Awards to distinguished personalities
Bellevision Media Network
Dandeli, 22 Feb 2018: Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy has conferred its annual honorary awards for the year 2017 on Herolpius (Gratian Pius D’Silva), Om Ganesh Navunda, Madeva Budo Velipa and book awards on Valley Quadras and Vishwanath Shet.
The awards were presented during a function as a part of the silver jubilee function of the Dandakaranya Konkani Manyatotsava at Sri Ranganatha Auditorium in Dandeli at 5 pm on February 11.
Uttara Kannada District In-charge Minister R V Deshpande and Academy chairman R P Naik presided the ceremony.
Honorary awards
Gratian Pius D’Silva, a native from Kudupu, Mangaluru, started writing stories from his teenage, under the pen name ’Herolpius’. His first novel ’Don Thembe Dukhan’ was published when he was 18. He has several other novels ’Ragat Ani Udak’, ’Ek Aduren Pinthur’, ’Majya Sapnachi Rani’, ’Sister Shobha’ to his credit. He has written about 245 short stories and satirical pieces in Konkani and Kannada.
Gratian Pius D’Silva (Herolpius)
Madeva Budo Velipa, an octogenarian from Kunabi community, Joida, is a folk artiste well-versed in ’Suggi Pada’, ’Songo’, ’Tulasi Habbada Hadu’, ’Kunabi Ramayana’, ’Kunabi Mahabharata’, ’Songs of Vithoba of Pandharapur’, ’Naumi Hadu’ and so on. He is known as a treasure house of folk songs. He has performed the folk arts of the Kunabi community on various stages including the state-level ’Gadi Utsava’ in Castle Rock, ’Karavali Utsava’, ’Sahayana Utsava’, ’Kavyabodhi’ and ’Dandeli Utsava’. The Karnataka Janapada Parishat has conferred the state-level award ’Janapada Loka’ on Madeva Budo Velipa.
Om Ganesh is a theatre person with a rural background. He has established the ’Ranga Taranga’, to popularise Konkani theatre. The organisation has been staging various theatre fests every year. Om Ganesh is also a resource person, columnist, actor, song writer and magician. He has been a member of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy in the year 2015. In the past 45 years, he has staged 3,000 theatre performances in 45 countries.
Book awards
Valley Quadras
Valley Quadras was conferred with the book award for his work ’Bandh’, 5th collection of short stories in Konkani. Valley is an MBA graduate and involved in Konkani literature for the past three decades. He has been the editor of a few Konkani web journals. He was awarded the ’Divo Sahitik Puraskar’ and the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy Special Book Award (2005) for Kavithapaatt (Poetry Analysis), Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy Book Award (2006) for Darbharantli Pinrgonn (Anthology of Poems) and Mathais Family Kavita Trust Award 2017.
Vishwanath Shet was awarded the book award for ’Sri Ramacharita’, the first epic in Konkani in Bhamini Shatpadi. Apart from being a writer in Konkani and Kannada, he is also a Yakshagana and Talamaddale artiste, a sculptor and a make-up artiste. He has been awarded by Karnataka Janapada Academy.
During the valedictory of the ’Konkani Manyata - 25’ on February 12, the ’Konkani Kirita’ honour were presented to Dr Vasanta Bandekar, Arun Abhayankar and Koodlu Ananda Shanubhogue. Also, the Konkani Manyata Silver Jubilee Puraskar were conferred on 25 achievers from various fields on the occasion.