Dear Rico,
Laamb til naikanche, ghorant hal bailanche
Longer the 'til' (vermillion line applied on forehead after morning
puja) of the lords, greater the trouble for their wives at home
The actual connotation of "Bail" in a Naik's house is generally about a
"Naikinn" or "external service provider" also known as "Kolvont", "Rakhel" or
"Thaylleli" ...the woman ...other than one's wife ...who was "kept at home" by
the Naik or Sawkar. This system was similar to the Devdasi system but without
the elaborate "dedication" in the temple as at Soundatti or Yellapur till CM
Gundu Rao had the guts to stop it by force [In 1980, even a lady Superintendent
of Police was paraded nude while trying to prevent the practice. In 1981 Gundu
Rao sent Armed Police in full riot gear and issued shoot at sight orders to
finally stop the teribble practice of "dedication" once and for all times]
There is a reason why the word "laamb" is used instead of "vhoddlo" to describe
the "Til" or "Tilak"
To translate that as mere harrassment of wife by an externally devout Hindu of
a higher social bracket such as "Naik" or "Lieutenant" [as in Naik Hawaldar or
Naik Subedar], is to forget history and context of the saying.
Mor sundor, paiem kalle
The peacock is beautiful but his legs are dark
Would also translate as "Even a beautiful peacock has black feet" meaning
metaphorically "Even the apparently beautiful have something to hide."
Literal translation hardly do justice to the beautiful sayings in Konkani.
Morunk zai ieketch pavtti, toiar raunk sobar pavtti
One must die but once, but be prepared all the time.
That is the unfortunate truth for the brave. Cowards die a thousand times,
anyway! ;-)
I would also suggest that TSKK or GKA look at the orthography/spelling
Perhaps the suggested correct spelling of "once" is "yekech".
Fr. Matthew Almeida sj's book "Konkani Course in Roman Script" available for
Rs.250/- at Broadway Book Centre and the GKA book 'Methodology orf Writing
Konkani in Roman script" available at GKA at Patto, opposite Shyansundar Photo
studio for Rs.20/- are good guides, even though they differ slightly on some
issues. There is still some confusion ...but we are on the right track.
The good news is that Daniel D'Souza's "Konknni Martir Florian Vaz Puroskar"
winning book "Koslich Malis Nastana" not only won the KBM award this year, but
has also gone into a revised edition. This is something rare in Konkani
publication [other than text books and orthography] ..... in any script !!
Having said that, it is really wonderful that Valmiki Faleiro is documenting
some of the sayings that may otherwise be lost to posterity. Great job in
itself. I hope we can help to make it better.
Mog asundi.
Miguel
Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 00:57:47 +0530
From: "Frederick \"FN\" Noronha" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] Konkani adages: A long loin-cloth, an useless boast
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Laamb til naikanche, ghorant hal bailanche
Longer the 'til' (vermillion line applied on forehead after morning
puja) of the lords, greater the trouble for their wives at home
Morunk zai ieketch pavtti, toiar raunk sobar pavtti
One must die but once, but be prepared all the time
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