GULF-GOANS e-NEWSLETTER (since 1994) A CHRISTIAN COMIC BOOK IN ROMI KONKNNI
By: Walter Menezes Book review of: Devachim Vortim Vismitam (Dhormdutancho Itihas) Konknni Translation of Rev. Fr. Salvatore Putzu, sdb, and his collaborators' comic book, Acts of the Apostles KonknniTranslation: Fr. Manuel P. Gomes Publisher: Diocesan Centre for Biblical Apostolate, Old Goa. Price: Rs. 110/- [Cover Page] It was the fourth of June, 2009. The function to felicitate Prabhakar Tendulkar, the doyen of the Konknni Movement, was over. The photographer was busy arranging the mez-karbhari of Dalgado Konknni Akademi and Omor Prokaxon for a shoot with the 'birthday-boy'. Those who had assembled to greet Prabakar-bab on his 75th birthday were heading towards the lift to take them down to 0-level. Among the many prominent personalities who attended the celebration was Fr. Manuel Gomes, Director, Diocesan Centre for Biblical Apostolate (DCBA), Goa. He presented me a copy of Devachim Vortim Vismitam (DVV) and Zannvayecho Ulo Ani Provadiancho Tallo (Part II), two of DCBA's most recent publications which were released by Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2009 at the Sé Cathedral, Old Goa. Comic Book in Romi Konknni DVV immediately caught my attention. It was a comic book in Romi Konknni, explaining through striking visuals and graphic details The Acts of the Apostles, the fifth book of the New Testament. Seeped in valuable history of the early Christian church, The Acts, in essence, is the story of St. Peter, largely responsible for the growth of the Christian community in the early days, and the missionary journeys of St. Paul, aka 'the Apostle to the Gentiles'. As one who grew up with Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead and the likes of Phantom (the ghost who walks!) and Denise the Menace, reading comic books and comic strips has always been my fascination. Someone once said that a single picture is worth a thousand words, and how true he was! I may have forgotten the many stories that I have read ever since I was a boy. But to forget Denise, with Ruff in tow, or the other comic characters, is simply impossible! That I would one day do Out Of My Mind, a regular comic strip for GT, is another story altogether. [Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão releasing Devachim Vortim Vismitam. Fr. Manuel Gomes, Director, Diocesan Centre for Biblical Apostolate, Goa is also seen] By the time I could even think of properly thanking Fr. Manuel for the two books, he had already left and was nowhere in sight. A comic book and that too in Konknni warmed the cockles of my heart, and upon reaching Kepem, I began in right earnest. Acts of the Apostles DVV is the Konknni version of Acts of the Apostles, the comic book prepared by Rev. Fr. Salvatore Putzu, sdb, and his collaborators in the Word and Life Publications, Philippines. While Fr. Manuel, who has done the Konknni translation, has been spared the daunting task of executing the visual frames, his assignment was not easy either. To empty the 'dialogue-boxes' and then replace the English words with Konknni within the available space, must have been quite a challenge. 'The original comic book was in black and white. But we have made the Konknni version still more beautiful by having it in colour,' Fr. Manuel said when I got in touch with him a week later. The colours have been selected with much care and Fr. Manuel has done an exceptional job. From the time the apostles meet to choose Judas' successor to the final pages where St. Peter is crucified 'upside down' and St. Paul puts his head 'on the block' to be executed, DVV is one religious comic book which transports you back in time, to a period when early followers, led by the Holy Spirit, spread the Good News 'to the ends of the earth'. St. Peter's first miracle, the stoning of Stephen, the dramatic escape of St. Paul as the Jews watched the city gates to kill him.all this and more is what you find inside DVV. Every frame, with an eye for detail, has been painstakingly planned and illustrated. Interspersed with maps charting out the various journeys of St. Paul, DVV is appealing and interesting. Comic Book and More. The comic book, in fact, is more than a comic book. It stops at regular intervals to make way for the full text from the scriptures of what one has just seen in the 'visual' form. While children and gen-next may absorb themselves in the comic book and skip the text, I thought of enjoying the book, one sip at a time: a part of the comic followed by some serious reading of the text and then a well-deserved break to assimilate what I have just 'seen' and read. This way, I managed to almost read the complete text of Dhormdutancho Itihas while at the same time enjoying the comic, a spiritual 'exercise' which not only lifted my spirits and improved my Konknni but found solace in the words of Jesus which St. Paul wants the elders of the church to remember (20:35): dusream koddchem gheunche poros dusreank divop odhik vhodd bhag (There is more happiness in giving than in receiving). A few 'spelling errors' apart, Devachim Vortim Vismitam is a great offering from the Diocesan Centre for Biblical Apostolate, Goa. While helping the Church to reach out to a larger and a younger audience, DCBA has simultaneously done its bit to promote Konknni in Romi script also. With the Acts unfolding through 208 pages of glossy paper and priced at Rs.110/- only, Devachim Vortim Vismitam is a steal. The comic book is available at DCBA Office, Old Goa (Phone: 2284296) and at the usual Diocesan outlets. Pics: [Frame showing the stoning of Stephen] [Frame showing the escape of St. Paul] [Frame showing the crucifixion of St. Peter] [Frame showing St. Paul moments before being executed.] [As published in Gomantak Times of today (18 June 2009)]