Four-day Aloysian Literature Fest 2020 inaugurated on Feb 17

Mangaluru: “Educational institutions need to focus on local culture in order to rescue it from the impact of western culture,” said veteran folk scholar and former vice-chancellor of Karnataka Folklore University, Shiggavi, on Monday, February 17.

He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating a four-day literature festival called “The Aloysian Literature Fest (ALF) 2020” at the college auditorium. He said, “Multi-language, multi-culture and multi-art forms are the speciality of our country. India is a rich country due to this diversity in culture and tradition. However, due to globalisation, the prominence of our culture and tradition have been diminishing. Hence, there is a need to give importance to our own culture instead of entertaining western culture to much.”

He further said that one should welcome the opinion of others and that it is everyone’s duty to respect others’ opinions. “Teachers in educational institutions should teach their students how to respect others and their opinions. They should encourage students to get involved in the research. They should also ask their students to be aware of more languages which will help them study the different cultures and traditions of our own country,” he added.

St Aloysius Institutions Rector Fr Dionysius Vaz presided over the programme. College Principal Fr Praveen Martis, in-charge registrar Alwyn D’Sa, Aloysius Literature Festival convener Rathan Mahanta, student leader Rupal D’Souza and others were present.

There was a plenary session in the afternoon on “History and Contemporaneity in Indian Fiction” by renowned novelist and author Vasudhendra. There was also a recitation of multilingual poetry by the students and staff of the college.