Two years of association with the Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation here has turned 34-year-old cartoonist Ibrahim Badusha from Kerala as an ardent lover of Konkani now. “I have developed a taste for Konkani food now. I love eating patrode (a local snack),” says Mr. Badusha, who hails from Ernakulam.
Mr. Badusha, who is popular for spot caricature, has illustrated 17 bilingual (English and Konkani) Konkani folk stories that were released by the Foundation on the inaugural day of the two-day Vishwa Konkani Literary Festival here on Sunday.
Mr. Badusha says that the two year’s association with the folk tale project has been an enriching one. The challenge for him was to understand the Konkani culture that largely revolves on the food they prepare.
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“The food becomes the central part of Konkani folk stories.” The understanding took some time as he belonged to a different community.
Mr. Badusha lauds support from Gurudath Bantwalkar, who conceptualised the series, for providing him the right references.
Apart from knowing the cuisine, Mr. Badusha now has gained knowledge of Konkani dressing style and also use of old cooking tools including “Chakki” (the old grinding stone).
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Among the 17 Konkani Folktale books released on Sunday include “Daryanche Udak Kharen Kiytyak (Why is the sea water salty?) and Kolo Ani Koli (The Fox and the Vixen). Of the 17 stories, three folktales are related to the Konkani-speaking people from Goa. Mr. Badusha says he was working on 20 more stories that will be out shortly.
Applauding Mr. Badusha’s work, Payyanur Ramesh Pai from the foundation says the artist worked for Kundya Kurkool, a Konkani folktale in the comic format, that was released recently. “This comic is received in our community,” he says.
While Kiran Budkuley is the chief editor for the Konkani Folktales series, Veera D’Costa has provided the Konkani script and English translation.
Mr. Balachandra, another illustrator, has guided Mr. Badusha in creating the illustrations. Nafisa Oliveira and Palia Gaonkar have done the editing.
The Foundation has made availalbe few of the Konkani Folktales in the e-book form on the website www.vishwakonkani.org/konkani-ebooks.