Marshall writes -
While goans are apparently giving up konkani in favour of English and other
languages, here are marwaris in Bombay who speak the language fluently.
We adopted the idiom a century ago in British India, out of necessity. In
Bombay, we competed with the Irish/Indian mob, Parsees and East Indians for
social status and for jobs. Fifty years ago, one belived it helped with
obtaining 'bank jobs': that case certainly holds no water today. An Indian who
attempts to converse in English with a govt. employee is often ignored; it gets
worse in the streets and in stores. One can make a strong case for the use
of the vernacular all through High School, with English reserved for the
sciences only: it works very well for 99% of Indians. The sight of little
children using creole leads me to believe the parents see English as a way out
of old class compartments. I fear that with Carnival announcing new losses,
their jobs below deck may not be around much longer. The Jesuits dispatch
young Goan novices to Bassein for a six month
'immersion' course in Marathi, which enables them to teach in the missions in
the vernacular. The learning they provide serves the country well, with a
caveat: they produce the occasional Bicholim/Barad nemesis to Marshall and
Augusto ! eric.
