KOCHI: For RS Bhaskar, memories of his uncle rhythmically chanting the epic Ramayana influenced his creativity. “I don’t remember when I started writing poems,” said the 74-year-old Konkani poet who lives in Amaravathi, Fort Kochi.
“The way my uncle recited the Ramayana was very mesmerising. I started taking up writing seriously in 1968 in Konkani, which is my mother tongue,” he said. Bhaskar was recently honoured by the Kendra Sahitya Akademy.
Bhaskar began creative writing in 1970. In 1976, he started translating famous Malayalam works into Konkani. “I expected the honour a long time ago. Even missed out two or three times. But now, at 74, I consider the Akademy award an acknowledgement for my dedicated service to Konkani,” said Bhaskar.
Like many others who settle in a different state, Bhaskar too had a passive knowledge of his mother tongue. “I could only speak Konkani and found it difficult to write. But I wanted to change it, and hence did a PG diploma in Konkani language,” said the poet who brought out 10 poetry books in Konkani, apart from translating five Malayalam works by eminent writers into Konkani.
His award-winning work ‘Yugaparivarthanacho yatri’ (traveller of the transforming times) is his sixth collection of poems and was published in 2013. It has 56 poems including the eponymous title poem.“The title poem narrates the hurdles that a traveller has to overcome for the transformation of the society. He longs to reach his dreamland where he would not have to hear the sounds of guns and rivers of blood,”
said Bhaskar.