Devanagri, Devchargiri, Dadagiri!
Open letter to whoever is responsible for excluding official Konkanni in
Roman script!
Whats this I hear about Devanagri script being the only official script for
my mother tongue Konkanni?
Shouldnt be there a freedom of rights for anyone who wants to write Konkani
in any script? Do you have to force a writer to write Konkani only in
Devanagri script to be recognized? If you write Konkani in any other script
is the writer not qualified for Government grants even if the quality of
writing is of superior standard? This is just not acceptable.
Why force anyone to write against his/her wish in a script s(he) is not
conversant with and be a loser, especially those writers born in Goa before
1961? Enforcing this is similar to forcing Hindu Goans writing in Konkani in
Roman script during the Portuguese rule. Is there any evidence of this? If
there is, it is equally unacceptable. But the Portuguese never encouraged
Concanim anyway. Hindus wrote letters in Konkani/Marathi in Devanagri
script and less educated Goan Catholics wrote Konkani in Roman script. In
fact the only qualification for a Catholic bride at that time would be a
requirement to write letters in Konkani in Roman script together with some
sewing skills.
I remember one Prof Sardessais Conversacao guidebook which translated
Portuguese phrases in Concanim in Roman script of course, and which was a
very valuable tool for Goans from villages to learn the Portuguese language.
We never saw Concanim written in Devanagri script during Portuguese rule,
not that it was of any use to us. The only Devanagri script we saw was for
Marathi schools in Goa and there was even Urdu script for Urdu studies.
So it is no wonder that after the liberation, no Catholic Goan (born before
1961) that I know of was ever awarded a Sahitya Academy award for Konkanni
so far, because most of the veteran writers came from the pre-liberation
period. If novelist Reginaldo Fernandes were alive today, he wouldnt get
any Sahitya Academy Award for sure, because he wrote Konkani in Roman
script. The only Catholic Goan, who could come close to receiving it would
be Prof Olivinho Gomes, but he never wrote a novel in Konkanni in his life
as I can recall, although he translated some works from novelists like
Francisco Luis Gomes from Navelim.(Os Brahmanes, I think).
If I write Konkanni in Devanagri script it could be full of mistakes, like I
wouldnt know if I use the first u or the second uu or first ka or
second kha,etc and I am not able to differentiate between these accents,
but I can write a novel in Konkani for its substance, wordage and
entertainment. But I have to write it in Devanagri script or else it is not
recognized by the Academy. Where are my rights?
Its ok to make Konkanni in Devanagri script compulsory for people born
after 1961 for sure, but what about us? We have something to offer for
readers in Konkani literaure, but the Government says we are no good writers
as long we write in Roman script. Isnt this a double standard? Is it our
fault that liberation took place in 1961? Did the Indian government or the
Indian Sahitya Acadmy make sure that we, the Catholic students during the
Portuguese rule in Goa, were allowed the facility to learn Devanagri script
in our aula, the way they force it now in Konkani schools? No! And if
there was such a facility, I would surely have taken it. The Marathi schools
were far away in Hindu strongholds. I took French and it was even more
difficult. So why castigate people like us now?
So I would request the Human Rights department (if there is such a thing in
India) from Goa/India or the freedom fighters or anyone who took away our
rights/freedom to write in our script of choice against our wishes, to
strongly force the government to recognize Konkani in Roman script.
So let Konkanni be written in Devanagri script or in Roman script and let
every writer be recognized for his/her contribution to society. Remember
Hindus too wrote Concanim in Roman script during the Portuguese rule and
were recognized by the people of Goa for their contribution in Concanim
Tiatro or on Vauraddeancho Ixtt or other publications.
So dont give us the only option there is right now, that Konkani will be
recognized only in Devanagri script and that it is the only right way or
else take the highway. After all, Konkanni in Roman script is NOT
Devchargiri. But if that is the governments or the Sahitya Academys or
anyone elses perception, then I am afraid I can accuse all of you as the
perpetrators of a greater Dadagiri!
Silviano C. Barbosa,
Author of the novel The Sixth Night
Sottvi Raat hi kadombori rochpi ani boroupi.
August 12, 2006
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