Thursday, February 14, 2008

Officer to be deputed to look into dilapidated Kosambi samadhi: CM

PANJIM, FEB 4 – Paying rich tributes to a Goan intellect and Marxist historian, Dr Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said an officer would be deputed to Wardha in Maharashtra soon to look into the dilapidated ‘samadhi’ (memorial) of the great son of the soil.

Kamat, who was speaking at the inauguration of the first D D Kosambi Festival of Ideas (Birth centenary memorial lecture series) on Monday, said, “We will see to it that the ‘samadhi’ is, henceforth, renovated and well maintained.”

The CM, who was addressing a gathering at Dinanath Mangueshkar Hall of Kala Academy in the presence of the Vice President of India Hamid Ansari, further said that he had doubts the younger generation in Goa were even aware of this great scholar and intellect.

“It is important that they know about this great personality and his contribution to society. We will introduce the life of Kosambi in Goa’s school curriculum,” he revealed.

Kamat said the contribution of Goan greats could be seen in so many spheres and to name a few he cited examples of Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, Dr Anil Kakodkar (scientists), Lata Mangeshkar (playback singer) and Kishori Amonkar (vocalist).

Dr Kosambi’s daughter, the eminent Indian sociologist, Dr Meera Kosambi, in her speech ‘D D Kosambi the Scholar and the Man’ confessed that as a third-generation Kosambi she had found it difficult to match with the legacy of her father and grandfather Acharya Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi, who was a Buddhist scholar of repute.

Recalling her father’s life, she went on to describe his fascination for Harvard and spoke about the intellectual’s works and his books.

She also recalled how Dr Kosambi travelled from Pune to Mumbai everyday on the Deccan Queen train carrying his books and other paraphernalia. He was one of the few during those days to travel so far everyday, so much so that the Deccan Queen came to be known as his official address, she narrated much to the amusement of the gathering.

Chairperson of the D D Kosambi Birth Centenary Celebration Committee, Dr Maria Aurora Couto, referring to Damodar’s father Dharmananda, said, “It is an honour as we are celebrating two great Goan minds today. The lecture series will serve as a platform for an intellectual treat, Couto assured.

Governor S C Jamir also spoke on the occasion. Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly Pratapsing Rane also made his presence felt and was seen sitting in the front row of the hall.

Source: Goa Herald

1 comment:

Unknown said...

As an admirer of DDK, I have been following this blog with great interest, especially since I could not participate in the Festival of Ideas.

I was stunned to see this item on his samadhi in Wardha. I wonder if DDK would have endorsed such an idea. And he died in Pune, so how come his samadhi is in Wardha? Unless it is of his father, Acharya Dharmananda?