Noman Tuka Goembab
It was Waman Raghunath Shenoi Varde Valaulikar's relentless efforts that gave Konkani its status and Goans a unique identity. Alexandre Moniz Barbosa celebrates the visionary and prolific writer on his 132nd birth anniversary. Not many may have read the Konkani short story, Mhoji Baa Khuin Gelli?' (Where has my mother gone?). Perhaps many may not have even heard of it, though it is considered the first modern Konkani short story. A lot many will, however, have heard of the volume Konkani Bhashenche Zait' (Konkani's triumph), even if they have not read it. What connects the two is that they come from the pen of Goa's legendary Konkani writer Shenoi Goembab. Waman Raghunath Shenoi Varde Valaulikar lived up to the long and impressive name given to him at birth on June 23, 1877. He is described as a scholar, writer and fighter, the last for the single-handed battle he waged for the upliftment of his mother tongue, Konkani. His writings are numerous and include translations of the Bhagwad Gita into Konkani, as well as the works of Shakespeare and Moli?re. What, however, makes Goembab special to Goa and Goans is his passion for Konkani, which, he told his fellowmen, was the "language of your soul". "He is the man who gave us our self respect and identity. He told Goans, "you have got your own language, your own mother tongue". There existed at that time the belief that Konkani was just a spoken language and not a written language. He changed that notion," says N Shivdas, president of the Goa Konkani Akademi. Goembab was able to bring about a revolution in Konkani by preparing thoroughly his defence of the language. Former Goa Konkani Akademi president Pundalik Naik says, "Goembab studied the history of Konkani that spanned 2,500 years and through his findings pointed out that a Konkani person is an intellectual and talented personality. That being so, he argued that the language of a cultured person cannot be a dialect, it has to be a language." Goembab lived at a time when Konkani had been languishing in a deep abyss and it was his efforts to revive it that has lead Goans to hail him as the father of the Konkani movement. Konkani writer Mukesh Thali says about the Konkani stalwart, "Shenoi Goembab came as a tonic for the then confused Konkani minds. He offered his entire life for the cause of regeneration, rejuvenation and rehabilitation of Konkani after centuries of political suppression, popular neglect and social scorn. His prolific contribution is instrumental in the residence of our present identity consciousness as Goans and as Konkani people." This is collaborated by Kiran Budkuley, reader in English at the Goa University who wrote on Goembab saying, "No commentary on Shenoi Goembab would be complete without an elucidation of his unparalleled work thoughtfully aimed at awakening his slumbering brethren and enriching the depleted granaries of the once-prosperous Konkani language." Goembab found that it was not just foreign rule that drove Konkani into near oblivion, but its abandonment by its own people that played a major role too. In an article on Goembab, writer and journalist Chandrakant Keni talks of the anguish Goembab felt because of this. "What pained Shenoi Goembab was this callous indifference of the Goan community to the humiliation of its mother tongue and the foolish opposition by its own sons and daughters in order to win the goodwill of the Marathi community of Bombay," wrote Keni. To a great extent, Goembab was successful in awakening Goans to their mother tongue and identity. "Konkani identity exists today because Goembab showed the way. Every Goan must read Goembab's works. After him many others continued the fight and Konkani has been accorded its rightful status," says Naik. Today Goembab is remembered by his works. "Shenoi Goembab is our Shakespeare and at Goa Konkani Akademi we have published his works and also translated some of them into English," says Shivdas. Goembab struggled not just for Konkani, but for equality and elimination of caste barriers too. With books in the Roman and Devanagari scripts, Goembab remains not just a mascot for the language, but perhaps also a unifying force for the Konkani factions warring over the script in which the language should be written. QUOTE Let us develop the Konkani language in such a way that it should be understood in speech and literature at all levels. Let us not divide it into the speech of the higher classes and the speech of the lower classes, scholar's speech and the farmer's speech. Let us make a farmer a scholar and let us all become scholars and let us all enjoy the full independence of Konkani language Shenoi Goembab Shenoi Goembab's works In the Devanagari script Goemkaracho Mumbaikar (1919) Goemkaranchi Goemyabhaili Vosnuk (1928) Gomantopanishat (First Volume) (1928) Konkani Bhashechem Zait (1930) Gomantopanishat (Second Volume) (1933) Bhurgeamlo Ixtt (1935) Mogachem Logn (1913,1938) Konkani Poilem Pustok (1939) Punyatmo Ram Kamti (1939) Konkani Nadshastra (1940) Bhurgealem Vyakron (1941) Abe Faria (1941) Yevkar Odheoxalem Uloup (1945) Konkani Mullavem Pustok (1947) Povnanchem Toplem (1948) Konkanichi Vyakrani Bandavoll (1949) Zilba Ranno (1950) Albuquerque-n Goem Koshem Ziklem? (1955) Konkani Vidhyarteank (1958) Bhagvantalem Geet (1959) Vollipattanacho Sod (1962) Zaducho Zunvo (1968) In the Roman script Rajput Hamlet Ani Bapailem Bhut Gore Bailecho Kallo Ghov Mudyamkhatir Ghova-Bailanchem Zogddem Dhuvanchi Porixa Zunvllea Bhavancho Ghuspa-Gondoll Agulleachem Nivllon Raniechem Zivem Bavlem Ghatmaro Ixtt Bailechi Porixa Mogache Piddechem Vokhod Bhusmare Alebhav-Kolebhav Source: Goa Konkani Akademi http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Goa/Noman-Tuka-Goembab/articleshow/4688713.cms
