3rd October, 2008 Shantatayeche Fantodd heralds imparting secular values in education
Poets from different walks of life and different parts of Goa today expressed through poetry their anguish about growing communalism in Goa and the need to herald peace, at Shantateyeche Fatodd (The Dawn of Peace) organized by Citizens' Initiatives for Communal Harmony on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti at Gomantak Sahitya Sewak Mandal Hall at Panaji. The multilingual and multicultural context of Goan society came alive in the poets meet. Poets Pandarinath Lotlikar, Ramesh Veluskar, Ashok Chodancar, Gulab Vernenkar, John Aguiar, Pravin Sabnis recited their poems "Umedichi Fantodd", Diki dhaim, "Niswarthi Deshmogi Ami", "Sukhshantikhatir", "Tumkam zalam tari kitem", "Ram on Our Side" and nameless poems, questioning the discrimination prevalent in society on various communal lines and putting forth a vision of peace for which seeds need to be sown. Cartoonist Alexyz recited a few couplets illustrated by his cartoons in his recently published book "Goa…Goaing…Gone" particularly challenging caste-based communalism. School children Malaika Kamat and Gayle Pinto recited poems proclaiming peace and challenging communalization of society titled "Peace" and "I Need to Look into Your Eyes Again". Collegians Siddhi Pai and Neville Rodrigues recited a poem titled "Atankvad" and "Love and Peace" in Hindi and English respectively. College lecturer Ms. Alice Barneto read and interpreted a poem from an anthology of Indian English poets titled "from: The Lord's prayer", saying that the Gods must come to us and witness their presence in the search for peace rather than people hankering for God. A lively discussion followed on what are the ways to peace. All participants unanimously felt strongly about the need for consciously fostering secular values through the education system. Discussing about communalization of Goan society, some of the issues that came to the fore were identity-superiority- based politics, the fear factor, terrorism by the custodians of power, power brokers thriving on divisive politics. It was concluded that these dialogues must continue in the efforts towards engaging with each other and fostering secularism in society. (Ramesh Gauns) (Albertina Almeida) Convenors, Citizens' Initiatives for Communal Harmony -- (M) 9326137682 "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." - Anatole France
