20/02/2020
Know The Writer - 6
Smt. Meena Kakodkar is a Konkani writer who has authored two collections of short stories and a full-length play for children. She was presented with the Vatsalya Award (2011-12) by the Padma Binani Foundation. Her work has been very well received and she is the recipient of a number of literary awards. She is actively involved in promoting performing arts and culture along with being an active social activist. She is a trustee of the Goa Animal Welfare Trust. She retired recently from the Goa State Government. The Padma Binani Foundation has published a Hindi translation of her story titled, 'Kamal Niwasi Jadugar'.
We present a small interview with her below:
1. Your first essay came out of an extremely difficult experience, where you underwent the process of ‘Parkaya Pravesh’ for the first time. Can you tell us about it and how it spurred your writing?
A. It was not my first essay but of course it was my first experience of ‘Parkaya Pravesh’. As a writer one needs to get into the skin of his/her characters if he wants to do justice to his work. In my case this ‘Parkaya Pravesh’ occurred during my school days. One of my friends had a parrot called ‘Mithu’. I was just five years old at that time. Mithu squeaked and circled in the cage all the time. I enjoyed watching him doing that. As the years passed there came a stage when writing of essay became a part of our curriculum. One day our teacher told us to write a biography of a parrot in a cage. I, at once thought of ‘Mithu’ and felt that I would enjoy writing about his antics. But the moment I started writing the essay I became Mithu myself and literally felt his trauma and sufferings who yearned for the winds beneath its wings. It was an extremely difficult experience. Memory of Mithu still haunts me. I could not forgive myself for being oblivious to his sufferings. But Mithu also taught me to be aware of sufferings of the tiniest creatures in the world.
2. You have lent a new dimension to the art of short story writing in Konkani literature. Can you tell us more about that?
A. Growing up is a process where people, culture and nature play a vital role in the formation of ones personality. It is also a journey where one gathers incidents, experiences – happy, sad, frustrating, fulfilling which influences your mind with different emotions. Closeness to nature also gives you perception to see beauty in it and to respond to it.
Perhaps all these things were like blessings and helped me with the art of short story writing.
3. Palolem lends itself deeply in most of your work. How was your childhood there and how did it influence your writing?
A. My village Palolem unfolded before me with its varied moods and faces of mother nature and this lure of evergreen nature slowly seeped into my life and embedded itself in my stories.
Sometimes in the early hours of dawn I accompanied my father on his trips to the forest and saw the lush green forest slowly awakening from its deep slumber, golden rays finding their way through their leaves and branches and sprinkling gold glimmer on the cool dewy ground, heard the first notes of the chirping of half-awake birds. Then suddenly a monkey would jump from a tree top, a woodpecker would start knocking on the trunk, hidden in the leaves some unknown birds would sing sweetly and I would feel as if the entire forest watched me with myriad eyes. In that forest I learnt to respond to the notes of the birds, to assimilate the rainbow colours from the dewdrops and learnt to love and respect nature immensely.
The blue green sea and the silvery beach of Palolem have acquired a certain dimension in my life. At dusk when the cattle would return to their sheds with their jingling bells, and when the birds would return frolicking, to their nests, the twilight hours would seem to awaken for a moment and when the days chores were over, silence would descend with the onset of night spreading its dark wings, the sea nearby with the gentle roar of its waves would seem to be singing lullabies to the sleeping village.
On one side of the shore there were reefs, some of them penetrating deep into the sea. The waves would break against these reefs sending the foam high up in sky. I loved to sit there and get wet in that salty spray. I loved the gushing breeze which tried to dissolve the sea salt in my body and made me appear like a tiny drop of that turbulent sea. The setting sun would paint everything crimson red and touch the palm leaves with gold. I would sit there entranced with all this beauty and lost in the eternal expanse. There is a bond between this sea and me. The bond of salt. No wonder therefore sometimes the sea’s salty sprinkles find a place in my stories.
4. ‘Kamal Niwasi Jadugar’ is a magical world. What inspires you to write for children?
A. Though many of my stories are based on child psychology, I had not ventured into the avenue of Bal Sahitya. When I was a child myself, my mother used to tell me bed time stories. She introduced me to the magical world of golden haired princesses, blue eyed prince and wicked witches. It was indeed a magical journey to the land of glistening diamonds and pearls. Perhaps these stories were like seeds sown in my mind which later on blossomed into a strong desire in me to take up the world of magic and ‘Kamal Niwasi Jadugar’ was born. That was my first book for children.
5. What are your future plans?
A. I intend to write a novel for children and also publish a collection of short stories.
6. What are your feelings on winning the Vatsalya Award?
A. I was in the U.S.A. at that time. Padma Binani Foundation contacted me there. Naturally I was happy! ‘Kamal Niwasi Jadugar’ has a special place in my heart being my first book for children. Incidentally now I have 20 more books for children to my credit, including two one act plays. Both plays have been awarded the first prize by the Goa Kala Akademi, for the drama competition organised by them. Perhaps Vatsalya Award gave me boost to contribute more for children’s literature.
7. Would you like to share any message for our readers?
A. Cultivate the reading habit in a child! Let your child be a reader and one day he/she may become a writer too!
