Centenary celebrations of Jnanpith awardee Ravindra Kelekar held

Mangaluru: The centenary celebrations of Ravindra Kelekar, the first Konkani writer to receive the Jnanpith Award and a Padma Vibhushan awardee, was held in Mangaluru to honour his contributions to the growth of the Konkani language. "These celebrations reflect his national stature," said Prashant Shirodkar, language director of Goa. Shirodkar was speaking after inaugurating the Ravindra Kelekar National Level Centenary Celebration at Vishwa Konkani Kendra on Saturday. He appreciated the event aimed at promoting the thoughts of Kelekar, a thinker in the Gandhian-Lohia tradition and a freedom fighter.The chief guest, Konkani writer Sheela Kolambkar from Mumbai, reminisced about how Kelekar inspired writers. Kelekar's son, Girish Kelekar, and Manohar Sardesai's son, Sunil Sardesai, participated as special invitees. Prominent Konkani leader from Goa, Uday Bhembre, elaborated on various aspects of Kelekar's personality in his keynote address.The president of the Kendra, Nandagopal Shenoy, presided In the daylong events, a session titled ‘Ravindra Kelekar: Inspiration and Creativity' was held under the chairmanship of Sheela Kolambkar, with Dr Jayanti Nayak, Chetan Acharya, HM Pernal, and Venkatesh Nayak participating as resource persons. The discussion primarily focused on how Kelekar attracted youth towards literature and language.In the next session, titled ‘Ravindra Kelekar's Commitment to Land, Language, and Society', was conducted under the chairmanship of senior writer Gokuldas Prabhu. Participants included Prakash Nayak, Dr B Devadas Pai, Saleema Kothare, and Chandrika Mallya. Discussions covered Kelekar's broad perspective on language, equal status for all languages, the state of the Konkani language and society, and the reluctance of native speakers to learn Konkani in schools, as well as indifference shown in different states.In the post-noon session, Dr Kiran Budkule led a meaningful dialogue on ‘Ravindra Kelekar: Struggle and Achievement' with renowned Goan journalist Dilip Borkar, Girish Kelekar, and Poonam Burye.Later, in the ‘Kelekar Literature Reading' programme, led by Venkatesh N. Baliga, MA Konkani students read selected excerpts from Kelekar's various books. Two documentaries related to Kelekar's life and contributions, produced by Dilip Borkar and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi, were screened.