Konkani Poetry
POETRY - There must have been Konkani poetry before the advent of Portuguese as is evident from the Konkani song written by Namdeo(1th century). There is a mention of a poem on the passion by Gaspar de Miguel (16th century). Hindu devotional poetry flourished among the Konkanis of Kerala during the last decades of the seventeenth century with Sant Appayya, Raghavdas, Jogavva and Avadi. The tradition is kept to this day by Smt. Kamalamal, Narahari Prabhu and Suhas Dalal. Bayabhau alias Kashinath Sridhar Naik started the revival of poetry.
Bakibab Borkar alias Balkrishna Bhagwant Borkar is seen primarily as lyric poet dealing with the great themes of love and destiny. Manoharrai Sardesai brought picturesqueness and simplicity to Konkani poetry. R V Pandit experimented with free verse and depicted the plight of the downtrodden. Pandurang Bhangui gave chiseled and introspective verses. Nagesh Karmali wages a relentless war against social injustice, inequality, ignorance and hypocrisy.
Shankar Ramani's poetry is melodious. Madhav Borkar is terse, abstract but appealing. Ramesh Veluskar has originality while picturing sensuous nature. Prakash Padgaokar is highly lyrical. Shivanand Tendulkar is deliberately non-conformist and uses bold imagery. CP F D'costa has wealth of images and ideas. Punalik Naik brings unusual thoughts and vigour.
Moridas(Anthony D'souza), J B Morais, Yeshwant Kelekar, Uday Bhembro, Hardatt Khandeparkar, Sanjeev Verekar, Nayana Adarkar, Maya Kharangate, Prakash Dattaram Naik Jess Fernandes, Suresh Borkar, Bharat Naik, R Ramanath, Paresh Kamat, Bhicaji Ghanekar, Fr Moreno de souza, Shankar Bhandari, Vijaya Sarmalkar , Nutan Sakhardande are other promising poets.