WHY CAN’T WE CELEBRATE DIVERSITY?
By Valmiki Faleiro
I generally respect men with beards. At the risk of digressing, and of being
accused
of male chauvinism in these days of the swine flu, may I recall the old ditty:
Beards and wisdom,
Beards and wisdom go together,
Men have it sometimes,
But women, never!
SM Borges is no exception. A grey full beard dominates his countenance. As a
senior
friend, I respect his experience and wisdom. Even if at times, I cannot concur
with his
opinion, like on the naked injustice to Konknni written in the Roman alphabet.
Without naming, but obviously alluding, to what I wrote here (“Konknni’s twins,”
HERALD, 13 May), Borges (HERALD, 20 May) asks, rather rhetorically, a few
questions to drive home his point. I shall pointedly answer them. Before that,
may I
remind that I’m not against Konknni in the Devanagri script, just as no votary
of the
Romi script I know is.
I’ve publicly said that Devanagri is the natural script of Konknni. Everyone,
save
ostriches who prefer to bury their heads in sand, knows the genesis of how bulk
of
Konknni users in Goa came to use the Romi script. And how crass injustice to
them
crept in since 1987. I’d go a step further.
Middle East-based Wilson Coelho, upon my 13 May piece, actually brought this to
attention. I would urge all Goan parents to encourage their children to master
the
Devanagri script – to stay competitive in the job market of the country. Jobs
in Goa
are at saturation point. India is the USA of tomorrow. Goans, Catholics in
particular,
are disadvantaged here.
The advantages of knowing Devanagri in India can hardly be overstated. The
sooner
Goan Catholics realise this, the better. Take the personal case of the other
unnamed
target in SM Borges’ piece, Prof. (Dr.) Olivinho Gomes.
My senior respected friend Olivinhobab quit a cushy job in the Central Civil
Services
to serve the ‘Konknni Mission,’ as Professor and Head of Konknni Dept at Goa
Univ.
He is as much at home with Marathi and Hindi, as he is with Konknni in both
scripts.
He mastered Marathi during his nine-year IRS tenure in Maharashtra, and wrote
in it.
He had studied Hindi from his school days in Don Bosco’s, Panjim, and perfected
it in
the North Indian milieu while serving in the Tax Research Unit of the Union
Finance
Ministry.
Few will know that Olivinhobab was honoured at the ‘Hindi Literary Conference’
of
Allahabad (the ‘Prayag,’ meeting point, of India’s three sacred rivers) in
March-2001.
He delivered its keynote address, in Hindi, on the complex theme “Sahitya Kyon?”
(why literature.) The citation read, for “his remarkable services to the cause
of the
spread of Hindi.” He contributed to the Hindi magazine press at the national
level.
Comparisons are odious, but I can’t help noting that no Goan votary of Konknni
in
Devanagri comes anywhere near Olivinhobab’s credentials with the script. Others
may yap. He writes, extensively, in Konknni, Marathi and Hindi.
Devanagri and knowledge of Indian languages stood Olivinhobab in good stead.
(Even if it – to his pain, flowing from his love for his mother-tongue, and to
the
chagrin of his critics – helped him pinpoint the ‘Marathisation’ of vocabulary
and
syntax of Konknni written in Devanagri script!)
Olivinhobab is clear about the Official Language Act being crippled, in defining
Konknni ‘as Konkani in Devanagari script.’ He wryly says, “It is like saying a
woman
means a woman clad in a sari.” All others dressed differently are not women!
Over to Borges’ questions of 20 May:
*Is writing/reading in Konkani in Roman script banned? *Does the Government
censor private correspondence in Konkani (in the Roman script)?
Obviously no!
*Are they forced to read and write Konkani exclusively in Devanagari script?
Yes, at primary school.
*Isn’t there sufficient Konkani literature being published in Roman Script?
With the ease, finance, awards, etc., that writers in Devanagri have cornered
for
themselves? Did you hear of a Konknni author in the Roman script ever bestowed
with a Sahitya Academy award? Why? Because he is a second-class writer in his
own country?
I’m not suggesting Borges hang by his own beard in shame. Fact is only Konknni
books in Devanagri script can get an award, under rules framed by a latter-day
Advisory Board of Konkani, contrary to the position when Konknni was recognized
as
an independent literary language of India in 1975.
A lecturer in geology that Borges was, he then takes us to an ‘experiment.’
Perhaps,
five Romi Konknni writers will write the same passage differently. What about
spoken
Konknni? Borges needn’t cross Goa’s rivers to find out. As he steps out of his
ward in
Velim, he knows how, for something lost, villagers say ‘por poddlem’ or
‘sanddlem’ or
‘xendhlem’!
That, precisely, is my point. Why can’t we celebrate diversity – why try to
herd the
larger segment of Konknni users into imperious ‘uniformity’? Why not treat all
at par?
Give me one good reason and I’ll join the anti-Romi brigade! (ENDS.)
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The above article appeared in the May 31, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
