Sweet Seventeen! Mangalorean.com celebrates 17 Years of Success Fighting Ignorance & Being Non-Bias Portal

Sweet Seventeen ! Mangalorean.com celebrates 17 Years of Success fighting Ignorance & Being a Non-Bias Portal, since 2003

Mangaluru: 10 May 2020- Mangalorean.com celebrates its “SWEET 17th” Birthday, and on this happy occasion, wishing the entire Team Mangalorean crew a Happy 17th Birthday/Anniversary and many Happy Returns of the Day. Today marks a point in time 17 years ago when a flood of new identities were created in Mangalorean.com and a handful of intrepid journos/reporters/artists/photographers took charge to create a new website, which would reach to millions of readers worldwide. And today, after 17 years this website has been transformed by players here locally, in the state, nationwide and across the globe, to make it one of the most read and loved website.

The actions, reactions, hopes, aspirations, dreams, success and failure of Team Mangalorean both individually and as a collective group over the last 17 years has shaped an immense, sprawling back story that has become one of the grandest success stories ever to occur, and the best part of the story is that it still evolves as we enjoyed 17 years and step into 18th year of Mangalorean.com’s legacy. As as we are celebrating our greatest moments during the past 17 years, it’s time to raise the toast and cut the cake– because it’s Mangalorean.com’s 17th birthday! Cheers!

But while most 17-year-old’s have a lot of growing up to do, Mangalorean.com has already matured into a sophisticated website with an enviable swag of compliments, applauds, good wishes from well-wishers and readers. And while we are stepping into yet another successful year, I on behalf of the management and Team Mangalorean would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our donors and well-wishers, and especially our ardent readers , for their unstinted support and encouragement- And we look forward for the same in the years to come.

Only website building one time is not going to work around for years and bring results. website maintenance and up-gradation is needed over a period of time. As the Internet evolves, global quality standards for websites has increased tremendously. A good website needs strategic thinking, appropriate designing, quality process implementation, Internet marketing and regular maintenance. Keeping that in mind, we thought of giving an extreme-makeover to our old web design, by upgrading it with a brand new look – a revamped, innovative and restructured website of Mangalorean.com was launched on the occasion of 50th birthday of editor-in-chief and proprietor of Mangalorean.com, Violet Pereira, on 12 March 2016. One of our team members said, “Why don’t we include Kannada news in our portal?”. We all thought that it was a very good idea, so without thinking further, we even added a Kannada news section in 2015 in our website. Changes always make a difference! – we anticipated more readers after our web up-gradation and also by incorporating Kannada News Section- and our initiative did create miracles, which saw a tremendous increase in our readership.

Seventeen years might not seem like a long time for some people, but for me my association with Mangalorean.com for the last 12 years, it feels like almost a lifetime. Ever since I started contributing articles/poems/ short stories and other reading stuff while I was in Chicago-USA, since then I never looked back instead involved myself more into this prestigious website- and when I came down to Mangaluru for good, few years ago, I decided to be on the editorial board, being at the helm at various duties. I think I made a very good decision by joining Mangalorean.com team, where I could unleash my hidden writing talents and share it with my fellow readers. It feels great to be with Mangalorean.com and the bevy of management duo, staff, reporters, photographers and others.

Over the past 17 years, Mangalorean.com has changed more than its name and focus. This website has transitioned and transformed how journalism should be. Our goal is to help our readers thrive in this era of innovation, transformation and the new trend of journalism. I know that our website has reached such a stage, where it has been a kind of “addiction” to our readers who browse through our website portals in the morning, mid-day, evening and night- to get the latest news and views that they crave for. And it feels great for Team Mangalorean to know that!

30 August 2016 was a unique day in the history of Mangaluru that a ‘unique Trust’ benefiting a ‘unique community of Transgenders’, where the birth of ‘Parivarthan Charitable Trust (R) took place, aiming to bring “changes” in the lives of Transgenders, and trying to bring them to the mainstream- MP Nalin Kumar Kateel launched the Trust, along with other dignitaries on the dais namely- then DK Police Commissioner Chandra Shekar IPS; Dr Sanjeev Patil- then DCP Crime and Traffic; Khader Shah-Information Officer; and Violet Pereira-Managing Trustee of the Trust. Making a history across the world was the launch of the FIRST “Transgender’s Day” at Roshni Nilaya on 22 March 2017, by then MCC Mayor Ms Kavitha Sanil, among others. Yet another milestone in the history of Mangaluru was that PCT along with Mangalorean.com hosted the FIRST Beauty Pageant for the transgender people on 14 October 2018- and it was a hit, making headline news in array of media.

Truth is, God helps all of those who ask…even if it isn’t in quite the way we are expecting help. Whatever we do to serve others around us – even through small acts of kindness – may not impact the world as a whole, yet it can make a positive impact on one more person. On their world. In their life. Isn’t that important? It is also doing The Lord’s work when we serve others. To help other people in whatever way we can is the calling of every one of us. Reaching out and serving other people is the greatest act of kindness and love. It’s the greatest example that Jesus Christ gave to us through His ministry on Earth. So, while it may be true that The Lord helps those who help themselves, He truly and abundantly blesses those who help others. And therefore, during all these years, Team Mangalorean had involved in various community projects and contributed generously towards social service projects.

Throughout the years, Mangalorean.com has tried to publish news without any bias and has promoted an open, passionate debate expressing different views. We have been the voice of the poor, oppressed, common man, marginalized and weaker section, rich etc- and have revealed the hidden truths in all fields irrespective of caste, creed, religion, politics, and so on. Our website is the voice of the people, and we always strive hard to publish the news immediately! Being in a website business is not an easy task. There is something to be said about not only surviving in an industry as volatile as the website business but thriving amongst the numerous channel magazines, newsletters and websites. We are still ready to accept the gauntlet and face the odds and challenges to make mangalorean.com the best Website in coastal district, nation and worldwide – and for that, we solicit your fullest support and patronage.

I think that we are all as one in agreement that news is more interesting than frivolity, and that actually with the world as it is, and the way it has been for the last 17 years, it’s madness to turn away from current affairs. I think there’s a much-needed role for us as a digital media not bogged down in decades of bureaucracy and can actually speak and interact with young and older people in an honest and interested manner. At Mangalorean.com we don’t make news, we spread the news !

Mangalorean.com wouldn’t have accomplished all these things or the website company it is today without a lot of luck and the hard work and dedication of the many men and women who have worked over the past 17 years. As we traverse, we intend to scale greater heights and touch the lives of innumerable common people in the society, thereby also trying our best to accomplish many more milestones in the years to come.

HISTORY OF MANGALOREAN.COM IN A NUT-SHELL:

According to Roshan D’Souza, the founder of Mangalorean.com, it started with a burning desire in him “to give something to his community”. Utilizing his expertise in computer technology and armed with the unstinting support of a loyal friend, Ms Queenie Mendonca, he set about designing and developing a website for Mangaloreans around the globe. The project started from scratch and took almost five months to complete. When it finally settled in web-space, it had just 8 columns – Marriages, Kitchen, Subhashai, Mangalorean Voices, Mangalorean Star, News, Calendar and Chat. Because of unavoidable circumstances, the real-time chat was discontinued, and EYT (Express Your Thoughts) was introduced.

There has been no looking back since then. More and more members joined Mangalorean.com – articles and reports were contributed and new columns were introduced. The launching of ‘Messenger’, a tool that allowed members to protect their identity while they communicated, brought about a significant transformation. Konkani Zone was then launched and it remains to this day the pride of M.Com and one of its most popular zones. Kannada section Katha Sangama was introduced in 2007, in response to a demand from voracious readers and writers of Kannada. By then, Inner circle, Classifieds, Captured Moments, Youth Corner, Travelogue, In my opinion, and Mangy Humour have all been added and our members have contributed beneficial articles regarding Health Beat, Science Vision etc.

In December 2009, almost six and half years after starting the website, its founder Roshan D’Souza had to pursue higher education in the USA, and he decided to pass on the ownership to any of the interested Team Members who had stood by him over the years in making Mangalorean.com the best Mangalorean web portal. Besides, the time zone difference made it difficult for Roshan and Queenie to update news from Mangaluru and Udupi on time, the then-team member Ms Violet Pereira along with her husband Joseph Pereira came forward and took the challenge. Violet Pereira took over hundred percent ownership of www.mangalorean.com, and she opened the first office in Mangaluru on January 21, 2010 which is registered under Mangalore Media Company, and last year it was changed to Mangalorean Media. On September 15, 2011, Mangalorean.com opened its branch in Udupi.

Ever since Violet and Joseph have made steady progress and worked day and night to cover events and update news and features promptly. Our Team worldwide includes members from various places like Mangaluru, Udupi, Bhatkal, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and of course, the USA. All our dedicated Team Members have stood firm with Mangalorean.com all these years to update news and features from the places they are stationed in.

Mangalorean.com has, without doubt, achieved what it initially aimed to do. It has not only brought Mangaloreans closer to each other but has also made a sincere effort to preserve Mangalorean ethos, culture, language and tradition. We feel that, even though the journey so far has not been easy, it has been entirely worthwhile, bringing with it a complete sense of satisfaction and pride. What has been appreciated by our readers far and wide is that the portal has not shown any leanings towards any faith or community in particular nor any preference to or bias against any political ideology. It has desisted from becoming a mouthpiece for anyone but is only trying to be a voice for those who need to be heard.