The Hyderabad Literary Festival Featured Konkani Author Damodar Mauzo as the Chief Guest

The primary guest, eminent Konkani author and Jnanpith awardee Damodar Mauzo, spoke about the effects of colonialism on the Konkani language, where it is now, and where it is going.

on Jan 30, 2023

Literary festivals unite individuals of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, representing variety and harmony.

Following a two-year hiatus, the thirteenth iteration of the three-day Hyderabad Literary Festival kicked underway on Friday, with thousands of people flooding the site at the Vidyaranya High School in Saifabad.

Germany is the guest nation this year, while Konkani is the Indian language under focus. Award-winning authors and artists present Konkani and German literature, culture, and art through talks, panel discussions, films, lecture demonstrations, performances, and installations.

The primary guest, eminent Konkani author and Jnanpith awardee Damodar Mauzo, spoke about the effects of colonialism on the Konkani language, where it is now, and where it is going.

"Five scripts are still used today: Kannada, Malayalam, Devanagari, Romi, and Perso-Arabic. The result of colonization was this. Many Goans fled the land during the Portuguese era in the 1500s because of fear of conversion, primarily to Karnataka and Kerala.

However, the migrants tried to preserve the language by translating Konkani into Malayalam and Kannada Scripts, "Mauzo stated.

Mauzo emphasized that nobody can be forced to follow a standard script. "Nobody should be coerced into following a specific script. To ensure that everyone can appreciate the beauty of the language, I hope one day we can all adhere to the same script." According to the most recent Census, fewer people speak Konkani; however, Mauzo believed this was untrue.

He said he first experimented with writing when still a child in Goa, where he also used to run a small family company. He claimed that the talks at his parents' Goa business inspired his novels and characters.

The German author Helene Bukowski gave talks on her book "Milk Teeth" that day, while actor and director Deepti Naval spoke about her book "A Country Called Childhood: A Memoir."

Aside from the literature sessions, HLF featured a vibrant array of art exhibitions, a wide range of workshops, folk and contemporary dance performances, classical and fusion music concerts, and demonstrations of many types of lectures.

Dr. Stephen Grabherr, the German Embassy's deputy head of mission, Amita Desai, and Sathya Saran were among the speakers that day. Over 200 performers were present at the festival.