Eric Ozario in the centre is flanked by Ronald Mendonca (left), Founder of Indian Cultural Centre, Doha (ex-employee of QAFCO), Stany Alvares, President of Mandd Sobann (a premier centre for Konkani cultural activities in Mangalore, India) and Antony Thimothy D’ Souza, Projects Manager (QA/QC Inspection), QTPC (Qatar Technical Petroleum Center), who is also actively involved in the Konkani community activities in Doha.
By Diana Vincent
Leading social activist Eric Alexander Ozario has embarked on a mission to infuse new life into the Konkani culture, which he believes is fast disappearing as members of his native community migrated to distant lands looking for greener pastures and adopted new ways of life.
“Our identity is our culture. And if identity is lost, everything is lost,” Ozario, a native of Mangalore, India, told Gulf Times during his recent visit to Qatar, his unwavering determination to revive the Konkani culture reflecting in his words. The Konkani community originates from the people settled in the western coastal region of India, popularly known as the Konkan coast. Most of them lived in Goa until the Portuguese invasion in the 15th century forced them to migrate to neighbouring areas like Mangalore in Karnataka and some parts of Kerala.
A musician and social activist, Ozario contributes extensively to breathe life into the extinction-threatened Konkani language, music, art, literature, traditions, festivals and lifestyle. For this very cause, he aims to set up a world-class Konkani anthropological museum in Mangalore.
Ozario, who was recently here in Doha, is hoping that this museum could play a substantial role in retaining the swiftly diminishing Konkani culture. As he speaks of his contribution to the Konkani society, it is with passion that he reminisces his endeavours back home.
He co-founded Mandd Shobhann in 1986, which today is recognised as a premier Konkani cultural organisation world-wide.
Ozario wanted to discover authentic Konkani music as he felt the music then was mostly influenced by Western and other Indian cultures. He started this as an experiment with music with the mission of searching for ‘Konkani identity in Konkani music’. Ozario founded this organisation with famous poets in the field namely Chafra B’Costa, an award-winning poet and Melwyn Rodrigues.
Through this organisation he has hosted several national and international events that were mainly focused on showcasing Konkani musical talent. Apart from this, the organisation also conducted several camps, workshops, seminars and training programmes that propagated Konkani culture in different ways. One of the many interesting activities this group is noted for is their entry into Guinness World Records in 2008.
Under the name of Konkani Nirantari, they conducted the world’s longest singing marathon by multiple singers. A marathon singing by 1,711 singers for 40 hours, easily broke the then existing Brazilian record of 36 hours. This event made its mark for Konkani to be recognised at an international level.
The popularity of the Guinness World Record, along with Mandd Shobhann’s success with its audience helped Ozario’s long-cherished dream of launching Kalaangann, a Konkani heritage centre.
It was inaugurated by the acclaimed film director Shyam Benegal. This establishment stands to prove that dreams propelled with hard work will sure to come true.
Ozario describes the centre as “a collection of cultural artefacts,” which is now buzzing with learning and training activities. It has already set its benchmark in activities like drama, street plays and related folk arts. He hopes Mandd Shobhann and Kalaangann’s programmes accomplish his goal of positively influencing his community to actively be a part of their rich cultural heritage.
“This is like a salvage operation for me,” says Ozario about trying to refurbish a fading culture. “Through all these activities I aim to give some lease of life to the Konkani culture,” he adds.
The language is the mother tongue to over 43 communities across diverse castes and religions. However, this creates a number of different dialects in the language and has thus not fostered any growth in its film industry. Ozario himself has written a complete movie script that is based on his society but the colossal capital required for its production, prevents the message in his script from reaching out to a larger audience.
Talking about Konkani wedding rituals, Ozario observes that it has become very similar to Western customs and has overtaken the traditional ceremonies and attires. The groom wears a suit, the bride wears a gown and there is the ‘bridal march’ which is in no way related to their community.
Through the many programmes conducted by his organisation, the musician has succeeded in not only educating his people of their deep-rooted traditions, but also putting them into practice.
Weddings now witness the bride and the groom in their traditional apparels with customary rituals followed. Conventional Konkani songs dedicated to the occasion, are learnt and sung by the people themselves.
In order to guide the Konkani community back to their roots, Ozario has formulated a set of ‘Ten Commandments’. While it is not imposed on the people, he says that it is just one more attempt as a part of his “salvage operation” to invigorate the language. Of the ten, the key commandment is to accept that Konkani is their native language and speak it. He believes that use of Konkani should begin at home.
Parents should encourage their children to learn and use their native language. Unfortunately, the language-lover says with disappointment that parents these days try to “protect their kids by keeping them away from their mother tongue.” They pay more attention to them excelling in English and even go to the extent of speaking it at home.
“Most families target USA, UK and Canada as the next destination for their children, to go for higher studies and eventually settle down. And these parents themselves, in many cases are from migrated families,” says Ozario. As people get further and further away from their native land, they lose touch with their mother tongue.
“Generation by generation, the Konkani culture is thus fading slowly,” he said with despair. The thinker compares children to trees. Both of them have to be nurtured and nourished. And he believes that their roots should be their culture. Only if a child is firmly rooted in his culture, can he develop his own identity. Otherwise, they would grow up to face identity crisis when they don’t know where they come from, what their native language is, and what a rich cultural background they descended from.
The Konkani Committee is therefore actively involving their community through the many programmes they conduct. Soudh is one such show that has become so popular that it is soon starting its Season Four. This is a platform for singers in Konkani to flaunt their talent while competing before international viewers.
The finale of Soudh 4 is to be held in Doha by next May. The Global Konkani Music Awards also recognises Konkani musical talent with awards handed under categories such as Best Singer, Best Music Composer, Best Music Album, Best Lyricist etc.
Eric Ozario’s latest visit to Doha is mainly to promote his dream project of opening the Konkani Anthropological Museum in Mangalore. He is grateful for the support he has received so far and hopes it continues.
With enough helping hands, he targets to lay its foundation this November and inaugurate the massive building within three years. The museum will stand as a physical representation of the rich Konkani culture, which is in dire need of attention today.
