On the occasion of the release of ‘Bhat Kanti’ (L to R) Prashanti Talpankar, Dinesh Manerkar, Adv Uday Bhembre, Prof L Shridhar Bhat, Anwesha Singbal, Dr Bhushan Bhave and Urvee Bhat.
By GO Team
THE foundation of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was laid down in Karnataka and Kerala by Goans who migrated during Portuguese rule due to religious conversions, revealed Principal Dr Bhushan Bhave. He was speaking about a newly released book Bhatkanti’ written by Prof L Shridhar Bhat at a function held on Sunday, August 22, 2021, in Madgao. The book was released by veteran writer and thinker from Goa Advocate Uday Bhembre.
Bhatkanti’ is an autobiography written by Prof L Shridhar Bhat. The 95 years old author narrated his life’s journey through life from Goa to Karnataka at the age of 15 years. It was a time of social and personal struggle for him as he sought education and imbibed values in association with Mahatma Gandhi’s Hindi Prachar Sabha as well as the RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
His struggles and life and times are recounted in his book which makes it clear that it was neither in Malayali in Kerala nor Kannadiga in Karnataka which set the pace for work carried out by the Sangh Parivar. Instead, it was a Konkani-speaking native who had migrated from Goa hundreds of years ago, who led the movement. Prof Bhat made special mention of Ranga Hari, one of the founders of the RSS in Kerala, who hails from the GSB Konkani community and headed the RSS as “boudhik pramuk” at national level.
Similarly, many Konkani people in Karnataka have also worked tirelessly to strengthen the movement of Hindutva in its true sense. Speaking as a chief guest, Adv Bhembre also lauded the contribution of Goans who had migrated to Karnataka, may it be in the field of Kannada language and literature, industry, banking sector and even today’s information technology.
Adv Bhembre observed, “They got themselves assimilated with the local culture there while remaining true to their own Konkani language and culture. That is the uniqueness of around 40 lakh Konkani community settled all across India.”
He also made a special mention of Konkani personalities from Kannada poet Manjeshwar Govind Pai and Kannada linguist Panje Mangesh Rao to equally renowned Kannada writers like Girish Karnad, Jayant Kaikini and Vivek Shanbhag. Others who spoke on the occasion included guest of honour and Konkani Bhasha Mandal’s Anwesha Singbal, and also author L Shridhar Bhat who hails from Loliem in Canacona and Zambauli.
Reactions on the book by way of video messages were also played and those featuring in this were Dr Kasturi Mohan Pai and Gurudath Baliga (Mangalore), Gokuldas Prabhu (Kerala) as well as Devidas Kadam, Shridhar Kamat Bambolkar and Naman Sawant Dhavaskar (all from Goa).
Dinesh Manerkar on behalf of Sanjana Publications welcomed the gathering. Laxmi Pai, the author’s second daughter, offered prayers live from Australia, while his elder daughter Dr Asha Rao proposed a vote of thanks live from Coimbatore. The function was jointly compered by Prashanti Talpankar and Urvee Bhat.
To verify statements made by Dr Bhushan Bhave, kindly log in to https://www.facebook.com/palashagnistudios his speech at 1.06.36