PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal honoured 83-year-old Goan Suman Kurade for her efforts in making Delhi a cohesive society.
Inaugurating the Freedom@75 event to celebrate the spirit of patriotism, Kejriwal felicitated the Kurade who settled in Delhi since 1969.
Suman runs the well-known organisation “Goenkarancho Ekvott” that organizes Goa festival in Delhi to celebrate the spirit of Goa in the national capital. She was recognised for her efforts in making Delhi a cohesive society.
Delhi is considered to be “mini India” where people from different cultures and geographies have been living together over the years.
Suman loves Goa and has also cultivated a love for Delhi where she has been living for long and is now spending all her energy and time to bridge the distance between her two home States.
After moving to Delhi 46 years ago, she has been running the organization ‘Goenkarancho Ekvott’ that organizes the Goa Festival which is a three-day extravaganza celebrating the spirit of Goa in the national Capital. Goa Festival was started in 2001 and has been organized successively for the last 14 years.
Suman hailed the efforts of Delhi government and Kejriwal for recognizing Goan diaspora in Delhi and setting up a Konkani Academy to promote Goan culture.
She asserted that Konkani is her mother tongue and she has strong Indian roots. It is a matter of joy for every Goan to receive such a prestigious recognition from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal she said.
The genesis of Goenkarancho Ekvott lies in Goans which in Konkani means Goenkar and that is exactly the point that Suman tries to make in all her endeavours.
She says, “Goa is unfortunately limited to clichés like the feni, beach shacks, westernised way of living but deep within every Konkani speaking Goan is a side of Goa that is waiting to be explored”.
Suman who is also a foodie is quite critical of the so called Goan food that is served nowadays specially in Delhi. ‘Konkani Academy’ will provide the right platform to propagate Goan culture to the next level.
She said the entire Goan community will support Delhi government’s initiative of Konkani Academy and everyone will work in full throttle to make it successful.
