Mangaluru: The re-launching of the logo of ‘Ashawadi Prakashan’ and a Poetic meet was held at Don Bosco Mini Hall here, on July 19.
Poet Geo Agrar welcomed the gathering. Founder of Ashawadi Prakashan (AP), Valley Quadras briefed on the activities of AP. He further said that Ashawadi Prakashan is a “dignified name for those who are very much involved and attached to Konkani literature.” Ashawadi is a part of life. “In the Konkani community, there is no unity, no encouragement, no support. We do not want to see others prosper. We think about ourselves and we do not want to encourage others, when they do good work. In our community, there are a number of Konkani poets, media personnel and talented individuals but we lack unity. If we take all the community members together and work for the growth of Konkani literature, it will have a better future.”
Recalling his youth, Quadras said, “When I was going to the school, I would get Rs 5 per day for my bus fare and lunch. I would spend Rs 2.4 and save the rest of the money without having lunch. I utilized the saved money to meet poets in far away places. I was very much crazy for literature and from the past 30 years, my thirst for Konkani literature has increased. In between, I was not in the literary scene due to some personal reasons but now I have come back with the hope of bringing all poets together. In the coming days, Ashawadi will bring all Konkani poets together under its banner.”
Poet Walter Dantis unveiled and re-launched the AP logo. Speaking on the occasion, Walter Dantis said that the founder of AP is a positive thinker. “In his 30 years of Konkani literature, he has seen many ups and downs, but he never gave up. Today, Ashawadi Prakashan completes 15 years, we hope that AP will bring all the Konkani Poets together to share their work and ideas which will help Konkani literature grow.”
Poet Andrew D’Cunha read out the achievements of AP. He also said that Ashawadi Prakashan has released 27 books and in the near future four more books are planned to be released.
Later, a Kavigosti was held. Henry Mendonca was the moderator. 12 poets presented their poems on the occasion. Geo Agrar delivered the vote of thanks.