Wiping off the misconception of fans and well-wishers that the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award has come a bit late in his literary career, this year’s Sahitya Academy Award winner Konkani writer, Adv Uday Bhembre speaks with optimism about the future of Konkani literature with young, budding writers embracing different forms to express themselves. THE GOAN meets this veteran Konkani activist and writer for an exclusive interview
BHARATI PAWASKAR
There is belief among some of my well-wishers that this award came too late. It may be true considering my age, but Sahitya Academy cannot be blamed on this account. They consider a published book and not any other kind of writing which is published in another form. And I didn’t publish a book for many years. So if it’s late it’s because of me, and not Sahitya Academy.
Karnaparva was written in 1960s when I was a student in Mumbai. In 1962 it was telecast by AIR Mumbai. Then the play was performed in Goa at Kala Academy’s Konkani drama competition and had won first prize for the writer. But for various reasons I could not get it published as a book. It was published only in 2013. Sahitya Academy award is an honour. You don’t apply for it. There is an elaborate system which is absolutely confidential and secrete, through which the book is selected for the award. This process goes on for almost a year. The process of selection of my book for the Sahitya Academy Award began in January 2015 and the announcement of the award came on 17 December 2015.
In this play I have tried to interpret the episode regarding Karna historically, keeping aside the mythology. I have tried to rationalise the characters and the events as if they are historical events and the characters are men and women of flesh and bone. In Mahabharata, we read that Kunti received five mantras from Rishi Durvas and before her marriage she tried to test the mantra and it is said that Sun God appeared as a human being and from this she conceived a child who later became Karna. In this century, knowing the evolution of man, I find it difficult to accept this kind of mythology. And I also believe that although Mahabharata is not pure history as such it is based on historical events. I consider Krishna not a God but a person like us who became a Mahapurush because of his good work. That mythology about mantra I have tried to rationalise in a way different from the rationalisation made by other scholars or writers.
Normally writers choose themes from the social environment they live. There is a tendency to overlook that our epics are also mines for ideas that can be developed into great literature. This is happening in many Indian languages, but in Konkani there are very few books on ideas which are taken from these epics or for that matter, history. I would appeal to the budding writers not to ignore these mines of ideas from epics as well as history.
This is because plays are written by fewer writers. The writers overlook this form, probably because a play is to be performed and seen on stage and not to read. The Konkani writers began with poetry, then short stories. There are limited writers in novels which needs a wider canvas and maturity. That’s the reason for proportionally lesser awards for plays and novels than other forms like poetry, short stories, etc.
New generation of writers have come forward with output now after the great stalwarts like Shankar Ramani, Manoharrai Sardesai, Ravindra Kelekar, Chandrakant Keni, Damodar Mauzo, Mahabaleshwar Sail, Devidas Kadam, Pundalik Naik, N Shivdas, etc. As the number of writers went on increasing, the output increased as a whole lot of different forms were cultivated.
The sale is gradually increasing. The figures say that the number is increasing. Last year over 3 lakh Konkani books were sold as per the Goa Konkani Akademy figures.
Yes, some of them do match, especially those writers who are beyond 35.
This is a misconception. When Shenoi Goembab wrote he never wrote in ‘Antruzi’ dialect as he came from Bhatagram. People from different talukas began to write, so Antruzi dialect never dominated Konkani. Different strata of society began writing from different areas and all dialects have mixed up to form the standard language which is not of a colour of a particular dialect. One has to follow the grammatical rules by Goa Konkani Akademy and rules of orthography. The standardisation does not apply to words. The writers use terminology of words from their own area. The language is standardised. The allegation is incorrect. Each writer writes in his own style, but using the rules of grammar and orthography which leads to variety and richness which is not a drawback of the language.
I am very optimistic about the progress of Konkani literature. The first reason – people from all strata of society have begun to write. The language is being enriched with the use of different styles and terminology. Konkani literature is growing and books are being published on various subjects. Most writers are young. They find it easy to express in their own language. It may not be great literature, but with time increasing maturity will reflect in their writings.
For the last 6 years, I have been researching the subject of inquisition of Goa, which according to me is an extremely important event in Goa's history resulting into tragedies of different kind and creating various problems some of which continue even today. It would have been easier for me to write it as history but history is read by fewer people therefore I thought of converting it into fiction without distorting the history in any manner. I am on the threshold of beginning to write a novel on inquisition showing how a family suffered as a Hindu family than converted to Christianity and suffered as a Christian family and ultimately met with a tragedy. In the process I am painting a picture of 16th century Goa – social, political, economic and spiritual. And this subject has not been reflected in the creative literature of any Indian language so far.
