Dr. Manohar Rai Sardesai (18 January 1925 – 22 June 2006) was a Konkani poet,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and French

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

from

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, India. He received his ''Doctorat ès lettres françaises'' for his thesis "L'image de l'Inde en France" from the

University of Sorbonne , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. He has been credited for an upsurge of modern Konkani poetry. Sardesai died in 2006.

Early life

Manohar Rai Sardesai was born on 18 January 1925. He passed his matriculation examination in 1942 from the Bhatikar Model High School in

Margao Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population aft ...

. He obtained a First Class First in Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

in 1947. He successfully completed his Master of Arts, also with the First Class First in French and in Marathi from the same university in 1949. He obtained his ''Doctorat ès lettres françaises'' in 1958 from the

, Paris and taught French in Bombay at the University of Bombay and the University of Goa. He was the son of the eminent short story writer Lakshmanrao Sardesai. Being surrounded by books, he started writing at an early age and was known for his very direct and penetrating Konkani poetry. Sardesai broadcast songs, poems, talks, plays and features on

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Panaji Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

, Goa and

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and

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. He travelled all over Europe and India and wrote in Konkani, English, French, Portuguese and Marathi.

Poems

Sardesai was a member of the executive board,

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, representing Konkani, and also wrote for the

National Book Trust National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian publishing house, which was founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, ...

of India. Notable collections of his poems are ''Ayj re dholar podli bodi'' (1961), ''Goema tujya mogakhatir'' (1964), ''Jayat jage'' (1964), ''Jay punnyabhui, jai Bharat'' (1965), ''Bebyachem kazar'' (1965), ''Jayo juyo'' (1970) and ''Pisollim'' (1979). He also edited an anthology of poems for the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and published several works of prose, drama and children's literature.

Translations

He translated many works from French into Konkani. The translations of "La Vie de Vivekananda" by

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

in 1994 (Vivekananda) and "Les Mots" by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

in 2000 ("Utram"), comprise some of his works. He also produced the ''Konkani-English Dictionary'' in 2004 and was Chief Editor for the four-volume ''Konkani Encyclopedia'', published by

Goa University Goa University is a public state research university headquartered in the city of Panaji, in the Indian state of Goa. In addition to Panaji ( Taleigão Plateau Campus), it has a campus in Margao, Mapusa, Ponda, Old Goa and Vasco da Gama. ...

in 1999.

Awards and honours

The French Government conferred him with the title " Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques" in 1988, in recognition of his services to the French language and culture. Dr. Sardesai also won many awards for his literary contributions and in the teaching profession. Most notable among the awards was the

, Delhi for ''Pisollim''. He chaired the 8th Session of the All India Konkani Parishad which was held at

, Goa on 26 and 27 May 1962 — the first of its kind after

was liberated from

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

rule on 19 December 1961,Souvenir of 28th Session of the All India Konkani Parishad, Goa, 2012 and later became president of Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Goa. He was also a life member of "Alliance Française de Goa" and Founder President of the University Teachers' Association, Goa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sardesai, Manohar Rai 1925 births 2006 deaths Indian male poets Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Konkani Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Konkani-language poets Poets from Goa 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian male writers