SANDESHA- a Foundation for Culture & Education Adds ‘Sandesha Radio’ to Promote Their Activities Worldwide, thereby connecting to the Outer World and introducing Sandesha to Everyone in the Universe, which has been lacking since the inception of the Foundation.
Mangaluru: SANDESHA- a Foundation for Culture and Education was born on 26 November 1991 with the main goal of fostering a value-based society by promoting universal values of love and harmony among people of different faiths, customs, and traditions. This temple of arts believes that at a deeper level there is true unity in all arts and they inspire communion of all people. The specific thrust of SANDESHA has been the application of wisdom, values, insights, and experience of all faiths to the issues of human dignity, human rights, the environment, and the total development of the human person.
SANDESHA through its wings ‘Sandesha Lalithakala Mahavidyalaya’ and ‘Karnataka Kala Kendra’ offers BA degree courses and several part-time and full-time courses. Annual Kalotsava of Sandesha, a festival of arts and communication skills strives to identify, appreciate, and promote the rich cultural heritage of India for greater interaction and integration of people. It involves the participation of around 3000 students from over 600 schools from 8 – 10 districts of the state. The Kalotsava is a veritable canvas of colours…a unique pageant of talent, art, culture, and folklore.
In association with the Dakshina Kannada working journalists union, Sandesha conducts a month-long workshop in journalism every year under the guidance of seasoned journalists from the state. Hundreds of aspiring journalists have keenly participated in these workshops. With an aim to foster a more meaningful Inter-lingual and Inter-cultural dialogue and amity, Sandesha has been conducting a fellowship workshop for Kannada, Tulu, and Konkani writers, very appropriately called ‘Triveni Sangama’. It is a joint collaboration of the Sandesha Foundation, District Kannada Sahitya Parishad, Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, and Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy.
Fr Francis Assisi D’Almeida- Director of Sandesha
The annual SANDESHA Awards honour those who have excelled in arts, literature, television, journalism, etc… and those who have rendered meritorious service in building up a value-based society. Sandesha has sponsored and presented several in-house productions of Indian classical ballets like ‘Nisarga Vijaya’, ‘Navodaya’, ‘Jyothirgamya’, ‘Shantala’, ‘Legacy of the Legend’, and others.. Sandesha also produces, in its own full-fledged studio, audio-visual teaching aids, and publications to promote media literacy and media education in order to make media consumers appreciative and discerning users. Sandesha has also produced numerous audio cassettes on Kannada/English Awareness songs. Students who have completed their junior and senior grades in Bharatanatyam at Sandesha, later go to schools in the districts and beyond to teach the children Bharatanatyam. With a view to helping the students spend their holiday time gainfully, Sandesha organizes annual Dasara Courses and Summer Courses.
Mrs Savitha D’Souza- Manager of Sandesha & Overall In-Charge of Sandesha Radio
SANDESHA RADIO :
Added to all the above activities/programmes conducted by Sandesha, the Foundation added yet another feather to its cap by adding “SANDESHA RADIO”, and the FIRST broadcast was aired on 18 May 2020. And the main man behind this initiative of launching a Radio as part of the Foundation activities/programmes was Fr Francis Assisi D’Almeida, the new Director of Sandesha, who took over from Fr Nelson D’Almeida, the former Director. Speaking to Team Mangalorean on his initiative of launching “SANDESHA RADIO”, Fr Francis D’Almeida said, “All these years since its inception, the exposure of Sandesha was lacking, and none of our activities/awareness programmes/cultural/music events, etc was never exposed nationally or internationally. There was totally no relationship between us and our people living around the world”.
Ronald Fernandes- Studio Engineer
Simon Coelho- Assistant Studio Engineer
Miss Riya Apoorva Bangera (Editing )
Fr Francis D’Almeida further said, “With an aim to connect the outer world and introduce Sandesha to everyone in the universe, I came up with an idea to launch a radio station, so that highlights of our activities are spread worldwide. Sandesha is the regional center for 14 dioceses of Karnataka, and our aim was to reach out to various dioceses. This institution is also a communication Centre for all the 14 dioceses of the state. Me being the Director, is also the Secretary of Social Communication Commission of Karnataka Region. Sandesha Radio is itself a communication source to disseminate information to various dioceses in the state. We also introduce new talents to the society, for the pro and budding artists, irrespective of caste or creed. And through this Radio, we would bring lots of awareness programmes on education, Health, Art, Hobbies, among many other issues/topics. Through our radio, our aim is to promote art and culture around the world, thereby bridge a gap between us and our people around the world,” added Fr Francis D’Almeida.
Also speaking on SANDESHA A Foundation for Culture and Education, Fr D ‘Almeida said, “SANDESHA, is a Temple of Art and Culture, a renovated world of Fine Arts, of discovery and creativity. Long ago dance and music was a part of every human’s life until a wave of acute materialism, consumerism and commercialism rose and took us for a ride.. away from the feel of the earth under our feet and nature’s sweet music..and took us further away, from the ancient man’s interpretation of nature through music and dance. I believe that it is so very important to keep in touch with the elementary in each of us, revoke the deep respect for life that lies buried under layers that selfish wants…where not long ago it found expression in music and dance. To recreate such contact with our inner selves, to bring out the vibrancy latent in all of us through ancient practices of Indian classical dance forms and music, SANDESHA was created”.
“A contentment so very lacking in today’s man is what SANDESHA can gift to you by sharing the wisdom and knowledge passed on to its teachers through generations of Artistes. SANDESHA shares this treasure with all those who are interested in its Classes, Seminars, Symposiums, Exhibitions, and in-house productions of Ballet, Kalotsava, and other annual cultural activities. Would you like to join us in our effort to preserve and spread the rich cultural heritage of India?
Maybe that niggling feeling of a lack in your life could be eliminated by expression through dance or music or painting. Do you want to feel that ecstasy that thousands of Artistes have felt in pursuance of these art forms? Then I welcome you to the peaceful environs of SANDESHA… a seat of learning, of discovery, of discipline and above all of the joy. You will feel the vibrations of thousands of Saints who have walked into Sandesha, which is a registered public trust, functioning under the auspices of the Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops’ Council”, added Fr Francis D’Almeida.
Giving further details about the programmes of Sandesha Radio, Mrs Savitha D’Souza, the Manager of Sandesha, and Overall In-Charge of Sandesha Radio said, “Sandesha Radio is an App that the listeners have to download on their Mobile Smart Phones, and the timings of the programmes are from 9 am till 9 pm seven days a week. A variety of Cultural, Arts, and Education Awareness programmes will be aired. You need to download the Sandesha Radio App ( sandesha radio app download )- and when you click the link, it leads to Google Play store. While downloading the App, we request the listeners to kindly review the App by selecting stars and writing a review. Due to your reviews, the App will be shown in the search list of Google Play Store at the top. Kindly do this needful for our institution”.
“Sandesha Radio will broadcast a variety of programmes and will also transmit important information on different facets of our daily life. From 9 am-10 am and 7 pm to 8 pm, there will be a special Song session, with songs in Konkani, Kannada, Tulu, Marathi, Hindi etc. In between 11 am and 7 pm, we will air the clippings of Sandesha Awards, from 2003 until 2020, for a duration of four hours. There will also be a special Konkani programme every night from 7-7.30 pm, but from August month, an extra Konkani programme will be added from 9 pm-10 pm. The weekly Special programmes include-on Monday on Health issues; Tuesday- on Art; On Wednesday-on Success Stories; on Thursday-on Hobbies; On Friday- Education Related issues; On Saturday-on Competitive Exams like IAS, KAS etc; on Sunday- Life Influencing Issues”, added Mrs Savitha.
Among the renowned artists, entrepreneurs, educationists and many other professionals who have featured on our weekly special programmes, to name a few are- Comedian Dolla, Mrs Violet Pereira, Vincent Carlo, Mrs Corinne Rasquinha, Renny Peter, Dr Edward Nazareth, Rony Crasta, Prof Vinitha Rai, Br Jeevan, Dr Henry Lasrado, V J Dixon, Sridhar RFO, Dr Supreeth, Prof Steevan Quadros, Nandagopal, and many others. The team of Sandesha Radio comprises of Fr Francis D’Almeida (Director), Mrs Savitha D’Souza (Overall In-Charge), Ronald Fernandes ( Studio Engineer), Simon Coelho ( Assistant Studio Engineer) and Miss Riya Apoorva Bangera (Editing)
