Loving Konkani Mangalorean Way
? Tomazinho Cardozo
They did it. They toiled, they sacrificed and they achieved success. They
saw that Konkani - its song and music - entered The Guiness Book of World
Records. As GT remarked, "Not Goans but Mangaloreans made Konkani proud
worldwide". Has the Konkani 'Mull Pitth' - Heartland - been shifted from Goa
to Mangalore? Konkani is the official language of Goa then why events like
"Konkani Nirantari" that can take Goa to international fame do not take
place in Goa ? I was a witness to the record-breaking feat at Kala Angann at
Mangalore on that glorious day, 27th January 2008 , when "Konkani
Nirantari" - singing Konkani songs continuously for 40 hours ended
successfully, earlier record was broken and Konkani was catapulted to
international fame. During those two days, I have observed certain facts and
certain qualities in our fellow brothers in Mangalore. According to me, this
behaviour creates enthusiasm and emboldens them to undertake unique events
for the promotion of Konkani. I would like to share my observations on the
mind-set of Mangaloreans towards their mother tongue, Konkani.
First of all, they love their mother - tongue Konkani. They are proud of
their language and hence they do not hesitate to converse in Konkani. Rich
or poor, literate or illiterate, all speak Konkani. I was introduced by
Shri. Eric Ozario, the 'Gurkar' (Head) of Mandd Sobhann to Shri. Rony
Colaco - a NRI and a strong supporter of his mother tongue Konkani. He
discussed with me in his mother tongue Konkani various issues adversely
affecting the growth of Konkani. He was sincere in his views. I found his
deep love for Konkani in his talk. Afterwards I came to know that this
gentleman has donated Rs. Ten lakhs for organizing 'Konkani Nirantari'. He
also donated Rs. Twenty-five lakhs for the completion of 'Kala Angann'
theatre complex, which is under construction. I met yet another NRI, Shri.
Ronald Mendonca, who burns with similar passion for his mother tongue.There
were hundreds of people who have donated Rs. Five lakhs, One lakh, Fifty
thousand, Twenty Five Thousand, Ten Thousand and Five Thousand towards the
show. In fact it was a perople's show without any backing from the
Government.
Out of 43 singing groups that participated in the programme, only six were
from outside Mangalore. 37 groups were from Mangalore diocese alone. Out of
these 37, six groups consisted of religious persons such as Nuns, Priests,
Seminarians, Brothers, etc. Remaining thirty-one groups had come from 31
parishes of Mangalore Diocese. These troupes consisted of choir singers in
the churches and were trained by priests, nuns or by musicians serving in
the churches. In fact 'Konkani Nirantari' was inaugurated by His Grace, Rev,
Dr. Aloysius Paul D'Souza, the Bishop of Mangalore Diocese. If one goes
through the list of hundreds of donors and thousands of singers, one
observes that 99% of the donors and singers consist of people from the
Christian community. Thousands of people who attended the programme were
also Christians. If such a thing had to happen in the field of Konkani in
Goa , it would have been termed a 'comunal' event. In Mangalore it is the
source of strength of the unity of Konkani people. The Church of Mangalore
is directly and indirectly involved in the promotion of Konkani and it does
contribute in a big way towards the success of Konkani in Mangalore.
The Konkani people of Mangalore are the happiest people among the whole
Konkani speaking population of our country. This is because they fought
tooth and nail and won the battle to preserve their mother tongue Konkani
the way they have experienced it for centuries. They thwarted the efforts of
selfish-minded people who wanted to impose Devnagiri script for Konkani in
Mangalore and compel the Mangaloreans to accept 'one language, one script,
one community' concept of fascist nature. They did it in style. Shri. Eric
Ozario was the brain behind this achievement too. In the academic year
2006 -2007 they privately introduced teaching of one subject Konkani in
Kanada script for their children in English medium High Schools. The
Government could not object because they taught Konkani only after the
official school time was over.
The schools managed by priests, nuns and other catholics helped this
movement and over fifty schools started teaching Konkani in Kannada script.
Due to this initiative, the government of Karnataka had no alternative but
to issue a notification recognizing both the scripts - Kannada and
Devnagori- for Konkani. An option was given to use the script of their
choice to teach Konkani. Today there are over 90 schools, all except one
under Christian Management, which teach Konkani in Kannada script. The
children are happy and the parents too are happy because they learn Konkani
in the script and in the dialect of their choice. Because of this, more and
more Christians in Mangalore are encouraging their children to learn
Konkani. They go closer to Konkani day by day. They strengthen the Konkani
identity. So far there is not even one school teaching Konkani in Devnagori
script in Mangalore Diocese. Acceptance of the script and dialect of their
choice will go a long way in making Konkani education in Mangalore flourish
in the years to come. This aspect too has given a determined boost to
Konkani movement in Mangalore.
The situation of Konkani in Goa and in Mangalore is almost the same.
Christian Goans use Konkani in Roman script and Christian Mangaloreans use
Konkani in Kannada script for all their religious activities. Only schools
managed by Christians support Konkani in Goa as well as in Mangalore. The
only difference being the script and the dialect imposed in Konkani
education are not acceptable to parents in Goa while the script and the
dialect of their choice are used in Mangalore. Therefore, Konkani education
and Konkani identity will prosper in Mangalore and not in Goa . It is high
time that the Goan Church , the priests, the nuns and other school
managements offering Konkani education ponder over this issue seriously and
devise ways and means to attract Christians from Goa towards Konkani
education. Otherwise Christians in Goa are bound to become strangers in
their own land in times to come.
