the goan I network
PANAJI
A huge lack of participation from the Goan student community and general public for Day 1 of the 13th edition of the DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas at Kala Academy on Monday left the government red-faced.
The four-day festival was set to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, alongside Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude at 5 pm, however, most of the seats at the 800-seater auditorium were vacant.
A reporter from “The Goan” overheard embarrassed officials part of the organising team discuss in lowered voices how come the seats weren’t filled, and asking who was to blame for the lackluster response from the Goan public, who for the past 12 editions of the festival have been coming out in large numbers to listen to the prestigious speakers at the Festival.
A good twenty minutes later when the event started, the auditorium continued to remain vastly-empty, with both the side wings of the auditorium hardly holding a handful of people each. Even the main middle section was not filled to capacity. A glance at the audience saw just a handful of students in uniform present.
An embarrassed Gaude, who, when called upon to speak at the inaugural, made an appeal to students to come for the remaining three lectures. “I appeal to students especially those from professional colleges to come and experience the ideas of the
speakers who have come up from the grassroot levels and have achieved name and fame in India,” Gaude said in his short address to the audience. The CM spoke as well.
Monday’s lecture saw Padma Shree Karnam Malleshwari speak on the future of Weightlifting Sports. Tuesday’s speaker is Padma Shree Dr Deepa Malik, who represented India at the Paralympics, speaking on “My Soul is not Paralysed.” Wednesday’s speaker is Dr Kshama Fernandes on “Empowering rockstars at the Rock Bottom” and Thursday’s speaker is Dr Chhavi Rajawat on “When Women Rule.”
Noted TV journalist Faye D’Souza formerly with Mirror Now, and vocal against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, was dropped from the list of speakers as Gaude said the government did not want “chaos” and “confusion” at the Festival.
