WE MUST EVOLVE A POSITIVE APPROACH DISCARDING HISTORY OF HATE: AMONKAR

PANJIM: Padmashree Suresh Gundu Amonkar said that we must forget the history of hate, and evolve a positive approach for reconciliation, because all of us are Goans first.  Padmashree Amonkar was delivering a key note address at the 2-day seminar on ‘Christpuranna’ at the Goa University.

Elaborating further, he stressed on the need for comprehending the nature of ‘Christpuranna’, which underlines the environment in which it was written, and elaborated the nature of his translation of ‘Christpuranna’ into Konkani.

The seminar, on ‘Christpuranna’ by Fr Thomas Stephens and its translation into modern Marathi by Fr Nelson Falcao, was organised by the Department of Instruction and Research in Marathi at the Goa University.

Dr S M Tadkodkar, the head of the department, while presenting his research paper, said that Fr Falcao has done an amazingly painstaking work by translating into the modern Marathi, the ‘Christpuranna’, which should help the present generation to comprehend its crux.

Dr Tadkodkar attempted to compare Fr Falcao’s translation with that of the Konkani translation of ‘Christpuranna’ by Padmashree Amonkar.  Dr Kalyan Kale, the former head of Marathi Department at the University of Pune too congratulated Fr Falcao for his work.

Fr Falcao narrated the need of translating ‘Christpuranna’ into the modern Marathi and attempted to reply to the extent of satisfaction certain critical queries raised by Dr Tadkodkar.  Ms Sunita S Umraskar, an assistant professor of Goa University, presented a critical account of the Christian Marathi literary tradition and research studies in Goa.

Dr Ramadas Karhad, Dr Vedashree Thingale, and Dr Essadas Bhadke presented comparative analysis of Stephen’s ‘Christpuranna’ to that of Fr Falcao, while Dr AK Joshi, former dean of faculty of languages and literature at the Goa University, who chaired the session analysed the Marxist viewpoint required for critical analysis of such writing.

Sister Antoinette read out a paper written by Fr Francis de Britto based on the comparative analysis of the Bible and ‘Christpuranna’.  Earlier, Dr K Shripad Bhat inaugurated the seminar and Dr V D Sawant welcomed the gathering and Ms Umraskar proposed the vote of thanks.