Ravindra Kelekar: A Cultural Institution Published on: July 25, 2010 - 22:58
BY NANDKUMAR KAMAT (Courtesy, The Navhind Times, Monday 26 July 2010) (http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinion/ravindra-kelekar-cultural-institution) ON July 31, the prestigious Dnyanpeeth Award would be conferred by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Ms Meira Kumar on veteran Konkani writer, scholar and philosopher, Ravindra Kelekar, affectionately called ‘Ravindrabab’. This is also an honour to Goa and the Konkani language which figures in the world’s top 125 living languages. The ceremony would take place at Kala Akademy, Goa. Goan identity, Konkani and Ravindrabab have become synonymous. No writer in the post-liberation era of Goa had been as influential as him in exerting and asserting moral and ideological influence on younger generations. The Dnyanpeeth Award crowns his stellar service of more than 60 years to culture and literature. At the age of 85, Ravindrabab towers in the contemporary Goan society as a guiding light of knowledge and wisdom. He has been a cultural institution himself. He has influenced and moulded at least 3 generations of Konkani writers and set out a clear political, social and cultural agenda for Konkani language and literature. By participating actively in politics and being a torch-bearer of the movement to oppose Goa’s merger with Maharashtra, Ravindrabab carved a separate and exclusive niche for himself distinguishing him from the puritans who considered literature as merely a single-minded apolitical creative activity. His pointed and hard hitting editorials in the literary magazine which he had founded–the ‘Jag’ Konkani monthly made Goans sit up and think. Jag continues to be the only exclusively literary and oldest Konkani monthly in the world today. Ravindrabab offered this literary platform to young writers who then blazed their own trails on Konkani’s literary horizon. Goa’s own Kakasaheb Kalelkar As a great bibliophile and voracious reader of world literature, Ravindrabab set high standards for writers and contemporary Goan thinkers. Four decades ago he said that Konkani would need to promote new subjects like ecology and cosmology. He may be one of the few writers in India possessing an astronomical telescope and spending hours watching the night sky from his courtyard at Priol. Considering the need to present astronomical knowledge scientifically before the Konkani speakers, Ravindrabab came out with a Konkani book on Astronomy–‘Brahmandatale tandav’. He was one of the first writers in India to recognise the need for books on ecology and environment in Indian languages. Exposed to contemporary trends and currents in global and national literature, Ravindrabab’s life was enriched by the great Gandhian scholar, Kakasaheb Kalelkar. Today for the five million strong Konkani speakers scattered in more than 100 nations, Ravindrabab is Goa’s Kakasaheb Kalelkar. His simplicity, non-assuming and affectionate personality, deep humility before the literary greats and above all his almost fanatic single-minded faith in the future of Konkani society, culture, language and literature made him a hero of the Goans during and after the Opinion Poll. Ravindrabab recognised the 3 aspirations of Goans–recognition for Konkani as the official language of Goa, statehood and inclusion of Konkani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Between 1984-1992, these dreams were realised after a lot of action, advocacy and struggle. Forseer of Problems facing Goa When he appeared on Konkani’s literary horizon, there were only a handful of Konkani books published every year. Since then Konkani has come a long way thanks to all-round efforts of publishers, writers and scholars. Konkani publications are flourishing. Very soon the state of Goa alone would publish more than 100 Konkani books per year. One of largest dictionaries in any Indian language–a 2029-page Konkani illustrated dictionary published by Panaji’s Rajhauns shows the power and potential of the modern Konkani language and its’ linguistic, lexicographic scholarship. Such an effort would not have been possible without Ravindrabab’s moral and intellectual support and creative inspiration at critical times. A nationalist to the core, he had foreseen the problems which the collapse of Goa’s traditional occupational structure, rise of parallel economy and uncontrolled migration would cause. His writings reflect a practical approach to Goa’s sustainable development. Most of the ecological problems in Goa today-urbanisation, pollution, illegal mining, death of agriculture have arisen because Ravindrabab’s timely advice through his numerous articles and speeches was not heeded. He appealed the young Konkani writers to become fighters-activists who would be able to make a difference. That’s how writers like Udaybab Bhembre, Pundalik Naik, Dilip Borkar and N Shivadas came forward from time to time to lead public movements. Ravindrabab constantly spoke on better deal for women. The women writers in Konkani today are a force to reckon with. They owe a lot to the path shown by Ravindrabab who himself was inspired by Gandhiji, Lohia, Jaiprakash Narain and Sarvodaya leaders. He did not chase any award, post or position. These followed him automatically. His Sahitya academy award winning book–‘Himalayat’ is a modern literary classic. His travelogue on Japan is another tome to be cherished. His transcreation of Mahabharat in Konkani was revisiting Konkani’s mythological heritage. There is hardly any field left untouched by Ravindrabab in the past 60 years of active and profuse writing. His views on religion and ethics, philosophical and spiritual traditions of India, beauty of classical languages, importance of education in mother tongue-offer rich insights in his own philosophy of life. His dedication and devotion to cause of Konkani endeared him to the stalwarts of Indian literature. As young students we had witnessed this when they had visited Goa in the early 80s for a Sahitya academy award ceremony. In Ravindrabab’s company we saw Malayalam novelist Pottekat and Hindi poet Shivamangal Singh Suman. It was a cultural feast for us. Brand Ambassador for Konkani Ravindrabab appointed himself as Konkani’s global and national brand ambassador. UNESCO is increasingly concerned about the status and future of small languages like Konkani. Without any recognition and support from UNESCO, Ravindrabab single-handedly championed the cause of Konkani and triumphed in this mission. It has been a fulfilled life for him. He stands for self-respect of Konkani people. He ignored vicious criticism which unfortunately continued even after the Dnyanpeeth Award for 2006 was declared. No writer, artist, scholar or scientist in the world is perfect. Ravindrabab did not spare religious fanaticism and fundamentalism. He knows that it is not in India’s bloodstream. He doesn’t believe in any ritual. He is not religious. But his house in Priol may be the only house of a writer in Goa which begins and ends the day with a prayer influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. To our generation, he is like a great banyan tree, a cultural institution which constantly inspires you in the noble tradition of India’s great civilisational ethos. On July 31, Goans should flood KA to witness the historic occasion of the conferment of the Dnyanpeeth Award upon him. -- Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, GOA * * * IS YOURS one of the stories of Goans on board the S.S. Dwarka, or at the Strait of Hormuz, Basra or Bahrain, Dubai, Swindon, Mombasa, Poona or Rangoon? 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