Taking
the off beaten path is not as easy as it sounds. It involves a lot of struggling, hard
work, dedication and patience. But if you know what your goal is and have the
passion for it, it can be worthwhile.
No one can tell this story better than
Anwesha Singbal, the young Margao writer, who has become a role model with her
admirable choices and successful ventures.
The winner of the prestigious Sahitya
Akademi Yuva Sahitya Puraskar 2016 for the book of poetry collection titled
‘Sulus’, however doesn’t call herself a writer – trait of her non conformist
nature. She had earlier bagged Yuva Chaitanya Puraskar of Goa Konkani Academy
in 2014.
“I consider myself a worker of Konkani
before being a writer. Konkani is not just a language; it is an identity after
all,” said Anwesha who had dedicated the award to her late father Arun Singbal,
who in her words is her biggest inspiration.
“My father has been part of the Konkani
language movement and a passionate writer whom I have always seen as my hero. I
lost my father when I was young and that was a turning point in my life. I
emerged out of my shell and all of a sudden saw myself paving my own path,
“said Anwesha.
Soon, Anwesha found herself immersed in
journalism and student movements where she discovered her zeal for helping make
the society a better place and has been making great contributions ever since.
“Today I am sure of the path I have
chosen. Abhinav Creationz, my business allows me to do what I like the most. It
allows me to be amongst books, amongst children and amongst my passion of
reading and writing, “added Anwesha. Abhinav Creationz is a venture by Anwesha
and Amol Kamat. “It actually started with an intention to market regional
language books since we realized that these books do not have a proper
marketing system. So we began with Konkani books and started moving from school
to school with the bag of books and meeting the headmasters and showing them
the books. Almost all the schools we visited welcomed us and bought the books.
We covered almost 100 schools last academic year. It was during these visits
that the teachers suggested we organise book exhibitions in schools. We grabbed
the idea and started that expedition from this year” said Amol.
While they have covered more than 30 schools this academic year
in terms or organizing book exhibitions, they have now begun to keep all
language books in schools. They have books from several Goan publishers such as
Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Sanjana Publications, Goa 1556, Dambab Prakashan,
Damodar Prakashan, Nakshatra Creation as well as reputed national publishers in
children’s literature such as Jyotsana Prakashan, Pratham Books, Mehta
Publications etc. “Talks with reputed publishers such as Rupa Books, Sahitya
Akademi, Children’s book trust, Tulika publishers have been fruitful and we
will market their books in Goa,” said Anwesha.
Apart from the exhibitions they conduct special vacation camps
for the children. Titled as ‘Majja’, it is a festival where young children are
drawn into various activities like drawing, theatre, music and craft. “Children
are engaged through the mediums of stories and music in their mother tongue
taking them closer to the environment they are born in,” quipped Anwesha.
“We also introduce the otherwise seemingly boring subjects like
science and astronomy in an enjoyable manner so that children can develop a
liking for them. We engage a host of experts to guide the children in this
journey,” added Amol.
A conversation with Anwesha about her journey led to a
discussion on the perceived role of women in our society.
“A word for the wonderful women out there: Live your dreams and
run after them. World cannot change till the time you yourself feel it will and
you will have to make several sacrifices to do that but unless we start we will
not be able to create a better environment for the generations to come. If
Savitribai Phule didn’t face criticism and stones, none of us would have ever
been able to get educated. There is nothing like only women can cook well, or
the best chefs in the world would not have been men,” said Anwesha.
“For long we have been told of our roles as home makers. We have
been praised by tagging us as multi-taskers. I find these traps and women fall
for it. But it’s time we realize sharing of duties is a necessity in the time
of our generation where both man and woman are working and putting in similar
efforts to run the house. So it is also the duty of the husband to share in the
duties in the house. And I think I am glad that I live in such an environment
where my social and friend circle believes in it. My husband does not find it
difficult to share in the duties at home,” added Anwesha.
Many of these strong opinions of Anwesha’s about what makes her
happy, sad, angry or frustrated are reflected in her poems including her debut
and award winning poetry book ‘Sulus’.
“The
book is a collection of poems. I have often felt that a poem has always been my
friend. It has poems on love, friendship, social issues, relationships etc,”
said Anwesha. It’s been a long journey from that book and she admits that she
has lot to learn and there’s a lot more that she plans on doing. For the
immediate future, another book on poems, a book on the lives of cancer
survivors and a book on her career related experiences is on the cards.
