Udupi, Nov 23: Earlier, information on buffalo races (Kambala) was included in school text books. The knowledge gained through reading in childhood was remembered for many years, said Dr V S Acharya, state home minister.

He was recalling childhood rhymes after inaugurating the Tonse Padumane Kambala, and recited part of the poem ‘Ambalapady Kambala Mangalavara Barpundu’ on Saturday November 22 .

The tradition of celebrating Kambala is continued even in the modern age. The government is supporting such Kambalas and this will further evoke mutual love and brotherhood, he said.

Tonse Jayakrishna Shetty, businessman, Mumbai, presided over the function.

MLA Raghupathy Bhat, Vijay Kumar Shetty, Kala Jagattu, Mumbai, Janardhana Tonse, president, zilla panchayat stand-by committee, Venkatesh G, president, gram panchayat, S S Tonse, Bykady Suprasad Shetty, Satish Shetty, Ganapati, Service Co-operative Bank, Franky Fernandes, Mumbai, Felix D’Souza, Dayanand Hegde, president, Kambala committee, Raghuram Hegde, and Dinesh Shetty, office-bearers, were present on the occasion.

Vasanti Shetty welcomed the gathering while Shekar Gujjarabettu proposed the vote of thanks. Jayaprakash Shetty compered the programme.

Mumbai, Nov 22: In recognition of his dedicated service to the Church and society in the Aurangabad diocese, the Catholic Priests’ Conference of India (CPCI) has selected Fr Valerian Fernandes, a native of Kundapur along with other 15 priests from all over India for the prestigious CPCI National Award for Excellence for the year 2008. The award will be presented by Archbishop Bosco Penha of Mumbai Archdiocese on December 4, 2008 at St Pius X College-Seminary, Goregaon, Mumbai.

The honour conferred on Fr Valerian is indeed a matter of great pride to the Fernandes family and people of Kundapur and an occasion to celebrate for the people of the Aurangabad diocese to whom he has been rendering pastoral service  for the last  30 years. Though Fr Valerian has received a number of other awards, the CPCI National Award for Excellence is quite significant as it is in recognition of his exemplary service in diverse fields such as pastoral work, academics, education, health, alternative ministry, socio-economic developmental work, etc.

The journey of pastoral mission and achievement of Fr Valerian Fernandes from Kundapur to Aurangabad has been quite challenging and interesting. Fr Valerian was born on August 10, 1950 in the distinguished Fernandes family in the parish of St Pius X of Hanglur (Piusnagar) near Kundapur. His parents were the late Julian Fernandez, a well-known school-teacher affectionately referred as ‘Jillu Master’ and Pauline Fernandes. He was 6th in the large family of 14 children, five brothers and nine sisters.

The Fernandes family was the nursery of religious vocations. Besides Fr Valerian, three of his sisters have dedicated themselves to the service of the Church and society. Sr Millicent and Sr Noreen have joined the Apostolic Carmel (AC) Congregation. Sr Millicent who is proficient in music is presently in the Apostolic Carmel Convent, Nagpur. Sr Noreen has been serving as the Principal of KUV Inter College, Ashok Nagar in Kanpur, UP. She was the proud recipient of the National Award for Best Teacher in the year 2006. Another sister of Fr Valerian, Sr Caroline is the member of the Holy Cross Congregation and is presently in charge of the formation of the sisters of the congregation at the head quarters based at Geneva, Switzerland.

One of Fr Valerian’s brothers, the late William Fernandes was quite active in promoting the cause of the Konkani language and culture in Mumbai.

As a young boy, Valerian had his lower primary and higher primary education in St Joseph’s Convent School, Kundapur and St Mary’s Parish School, Hanglur respectively.  Thereafter he completed high school studies from the Government High School, Koteshwar.

According to his elder sister, Sr. Noreen, Valerian being a pious boy was very fond of Church activities and rendered service in the Church as an altar boy and a member of the choir.

Valerian manifested his hidden desire to enter the priestly vocation right from his childhood. Sr Noreen says that on Sundays the main entertainment of the siblings was to prepare ‘communion’ and offer ‘mass’, young Valerian invariably being the main celebrant.

Being born and brought up in pious surroundings, young Valerian fulfilled his dream of dedicating himself to the service of the Church and society by joining the seminary at Lucknow after completing SSC. He chose Aurangabad diocese for his pastoral work and was ordained a priest on December 4, 1979 by Bishop Dominic Abreo, the first Bishop of the Aurangabad diocese.

Fr Valerian’s first appointment was as an Assistant Parish Priest at St Francis De Sales Cathedral, Aurangabad. Meanwhile, he was also assigned the additional responsibility of supervising the administration of the Little Flower School at Aurangabad.

Realizing his ability to mobilize people and galvanize them in faith, a couple of years later, Fr Valerian was sent to the mission center at Bidkin. Besides reviving the spiritual life among the faithful he took up measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of the people in general through education and social service.

Appreciating Fr Valerian’s dedication to mission work, innovative practices and leadership qualities, the diocesan authorities assigned to him the mission center of Paithan, a place of historical importance around 56 kilometers from Aurangabad.

Paithan, situated on the bank of Godavari River was the capital of the ancient Satavahana Kingdom. It was the home of the great Maharashtrian saint Eknath, whose ‘samadhi’ is situated there. Paithan had been also famous for its 6-yard silk brocade sarees known as ‘Paithanis’. The Jayakwadi dam and the Sant Dnyneshwar Udyan developed on the model of the famous Mysore Udyan have been important tourist attractions of Paithan.

Paithan became the chief center of Fr Valerian’s pastoral mission work for over two decades. During this period he not only revived the dwindling faith of the Catholics but also started an English medium school named after St Paul which gradually developed into a full-fledged secondary school imparting quality and value-based education with consistently good results and grades at the SSC.

In order to enable children from distant regions to attend the school, Fr Valerian constructed two separate hostels for boys and girls attached to the school. St Paul’s High School at Paithan is the living testimony of Fr Valerian’s dedication to the promotion of education among backward communities with a view of improving their socio-economic conditions.

Besides catering to the spiritual and educational needs of the people of Paithan, Fr Valerian implemented a number of developmental projects with the help of NGOs such as Caritas India and Rotary Clubs. These developmental projects include Percolation Tanks which provided the villagers with employment opportunities, eased drinking water scarcity and created awareness among the people for the protection of the environment. Fr Valerian also helped a number of farmers to deepen their wells and constructed low-cost houses for the poor.

In order to enable the Catholics to attend regular church services, Fr Valerian took initiative in setting up mission centers in different villages of the Paithan taluka. These include: St Paul’s Mission Center and St Anne’s Church at Paithan, A church and presbytery at Dorkin, church in honour of Our Lady of Fatima at Kharaj Kheda, Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel and presbytery at Padoli and St Pius X Church and presbytery at Gavrai-Basi.

Fr Valerian was convinced of the dictum: ‘Healthy mind in a healthy body’. Realizing the need for the improvement of the health of the people he established two primary health centers in the Paithan taluka with the help of the nuns. Because of his efforts a 25-bed Mission Hospital was set up at Dorkin which was inaugurated by the union labour minister Oscar Fernandes. As the president of the local Rotary Club, Fr Valerian conducted a number of free medical check-up and blood donation camps. Presently, Fr Valerian is the Assistant Governor of Rotary District 3132 for the region of Aurangabad.

In spite of his busy schedule in pastoral service and other socio-economic and cultural activities, Fr Valerian strived to achieve excellence in learning and knowledge. While being immersed in pastoral mission work, he acquired M.A., B.Ed., and Ph. D. degrees from the Aurangabad University. His Ph.D. thesis “A Study of Catholic Missionary Institutions in Vidharbha and Marathwada: 1846-1996” is an in-depth and meticulous research work that enabled him to formulate and implement a number of measures for the improvement of Catholic missionary institutions in the Marathwada region.

Fr Valerian’s dedicated mission work in pastoral, educational and socio-economic spheres was recognized and appreciated by the Church and civil authorities. Various organizations and Government bodies honoured him with a number of awards such as Ideal teacher Award, Eminent Educationist Award, Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani Award, etc.

Realizing the ability and managerial capacity of Fr Valerian, the Bishop Edwin Colaco of Aurangabad diocese appointed him as the Vicar General, Chancellor and Procurator of the Aurangabad diocese in 2007. With vast experience and knowledge in various spheres of mission work, Fr Valerian earned the trust and confidence of the Bishop by streamlining and improving the overall activities of the Aurangabad diocese. Within a short period he revitalized the Basic Christian Communities (BCC) in each parish of the diocese, improved the functioning of the educational institutions and strengthened the finances of the diocese.

Fr Valerian was instrumental in organizing a massive peace rally and ‘dharna’ in front of the District Collector’s office, Aurangabad against the attacks on the Christians in Orissa and other parts of India. He also organized a huge Youth Convention recently in order to bring together youth from various Christian denominations on a common platform.

By conferring the CPCI National Award for Excellence, the Catholic Priests’ Conference of India has recognized the pastoral and other humanitarian services rendered by Fr Valerian Fernandez to the Church and society in the Aurangabad diocese.

Kundapur, Nov 16:  It was recently decided to hold all India Konkani Sahitya Sammelan on February 7 and 8 the next Year. Informing the decision to the gathering of Konkani speaking was conveyed by the Principal Fr. Prakash Kutino St Mary’s Pre-university college and the chair person Mrs. Dora Lobo, Catholic Council of Kundapur Church. Rev. Fr. Alban D’Souza, Kundapur ward released the propaganda materials on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion Rev. Fr. Alban D’Souza said the proposed conference of all India Konkani Sahitya Parishad would awaken the Konkani in the Youths of the community.

Among those present were  Sham Karanje working President of the Parishad, Umanath Gangolli Joint Convener, Bernard J D’Costa Konkani littérateur, Damodar Pai and  Trivikram Pai Managers of Propaganda Committee and Purushottam Shet organizing Secretary. SK. Ramananda Kamath Chief Secretary monitored the program.

The propaganda hoarding by Archibald Quardes of Priya printing services was also unveiled.

Kuwait, Nov 15: Kundapur Varado Welfare Association Kuwait (KVWA) celebrated Children`s day on 14th November 2008 at the Indian English Academy School (Don Bosco), auditorium Salmiya.

Program commenced at 11.30 am with warm up light music provided by Pearl Beat group. Mervin the compere of the program gave a brief introduction and explained that  KVWA came into existence with the Motto “United We Stand, United We Serve” with the main purpose of supporting the education needs of children back in India.

President Nancy Menezes along with General Secretary Roshan and Treasurer Rainer were welcomed to the stage for lighting of the lamp. Sunitha led the opening prayer invoking blessings from the almighty. The President of KVWA Nancy Menezes welcomed the guests and the members of KVWA and thanked every member for their support while also thanking the sponsors, co-sponsors, advertisers, donors, benefactors and also the child sponsor for their kind contribution.

Chief Guest of the program Charles D’Sa, Program sponsors John Fernandes, Juzar Ai and Archie Menezes were welcomed to the stage and were honored with bouquets. Rina Pereira of 10th standard and Crystal D`souza, Melroy D`souza and Dan Martis of 12th were honored with mementoes for academic excellence.  John Fernandes Managing Director of Power Control and Electronics was honored with Manpatr for his support to KVWA. Archie Menezes and Pascal Pinto were honored with Mementoes for their effort in making the dream of direct flights to Mangalore come true. Nancy Menezes who has served the association as President for the past 6 years and who has contributed her efforts and endless service to the association was also honored by the Vice President.

KVWA little Prince and Princess Competition was held in which Floyd D`Souza and Susan Saldanha were crowned as Prince and Princess. Games were held for children as well as adults. All the people who attended the program were seen carrying with them a lot of goodies and take away.  Galore of prizes were distributed in the form of spot prizes, raffle draw, entry coupon draw, Child sponsorship draw, KVWA members draw and Early Bird. Roshan led the grace before meals. Delicious food was served by Royal Plaza Catering Company.

A small skit was acted by KVWA members who delivered an astonishing message on how parents need to be cautious of their children and keep them away from drugs. The program was wonderfully compered by Merwin. Sound, Illuminations was provided by Anand D`souza and stage visual display was done by Adrian Pais.  Music for the entire program was rendered by Pearl Beat Group

On this occasion Vinay Lewis – Gulf Voice of Mangalore was also honored with memento. It’s Christmas time – Santa Claus made the first entry in Kuwait at the KVWA and ensured that all the kids received a lot of goodies to their hearts content. Vote of thanks was proposed by Naveen and the program came to an end at 5.15 pm with Masala dance and Lavdaate.

Mumbai, Nov 13: This year’s Prestigious ‘Divo Sahitya Puraskar 2008’, a Rs. 50,000 Cash Award Goes to two Konkani eminent figures one each from Kundapur, Mangalore Wilson Olivera, Padukone and from Mumbai Leo Fernandes, Jerimeri. The award has been shared equally, each one getting Rs. 25,000, a ‘Mann Potr’ and Memento; Wilson Olivera (42) is a singer and Musician and has staged his musical shows in India and abroad. Mr. Leo Fernandes (47) a Konkani activist in Mumbai for over 15 years. They have been selected from the several entries received earlier, by a specially appointed selection panel comprising Francis Fernandes Cascia (Dramatist), Walter Lasrado (Konkani Writer), Navin Kulshekar, (Konkani Writer), S. Lobo (Konkani Writer), Johnson D’Almeida, (Social Activist). The Selection of candidates for the award is made on the basis of those who have made excellent contribution towards Konkani.

The cash amount of Rs. 50,000 is raised by reserving a portion of advertisement amount in the ‘Divo Mt. Mary special issue’ published during 1

st week of September 2008. The award will be presented to the winners at a grand function which will be held sometimes in Janurary 2009.

The earlier recipients of ‘Divo Sahitya Puraskar’ are Ronald Pereira, Mumbai; Molly Lobo, Mumbai; P. D'Souza, Mumbai; Edde Netto, Mangalore; Late Amiyar Bombay, Mumbai; Rev. Fr. Norbert Fernandes, Mangalore; Fr. Pratap Naik, S.J., Goa; Valley Quadras, Ajekar (Kuwait); Concepta Alva, Mangalore; Cyprian Albuquerque, Mumbai; Fr. V. J. Menezes OFM CAP Bangalore; Wilfred Fernandes, Mumbai; Dr. Gerald Pinto, Udupi and Rons Bantwal, Mumbai.

DIVO, a popular Illustrated Konkani Weekly, edited by Lawrence Coelho having large readership is published from Mumbai since Fourteen years. It is in Kannada script and is widely read in Karnataka, Mumbai and in Gulf countries as well. The award of this nature is being given successively for the Eighth year in continuity. Divo is a sister publication of The Secular Citizen.

‘Divo Jinye Sadhan Puraskar 2008’

‘Divo Jinye Sadhan Puraskar 2008’ (Life-time Achievement Award 2008) is declared by DIVO for the first time this year is awarded to V. D’Silva for 2008.

V. D'Silva (71) is a Poet, Writer and has been promoter of Konkani traditions such as Vovyos, Verse, etc., and participated in 'Konkani Nirantari' programme organised by 'Mand Soban' in Mangalore which is recognised as a world record by Guinness Book of World Records. He has published several books including one on traditional weddings entitled 'Amchim Adlim Kazaram' of which 2nd reprint is also sold out. He is mostly seen in Konkani programmes in traditional Konkani dress which includes 'Kutanv', 'Thodop' and 'Urmal'. His service to Konkani spans over 28 years.