Dear friends,
Jerry Fernandes (Mess. #4, Iss. #487) seems to be going around in circles. By
(a) Romi Konknni and (b) Devnagari konknni I understand (a) Konkani language
WRITTEN in Roman characters and (b) Konkani language WRITTEN in Devnagari
characters. But for Jerry these terms stand for Konkani SPOKEN in two different
accents, (a) the one he understands and (b) the one that goes over his head!
And he says, "Hope you understand." I confess that I cannot understand. In
fact, how could anybody understand? I would request him to provide a few
sentences in what he calls "Romi Konknni" and some (not necessarily the same)
in what he calls "devanagari Konkani." Then perhaps we could make some sense of
what he wants to say. Perhaps, like many members of his tribe, he cannot write
properly one single sentence in his Romi Konknni using Roman characters.
Gratuitously, he provides a few sentences in Hindi, which is certainly beside
the point. And I am not, nor was, a professor
of the Konkani Language. So he could cut that out too and refer to me simply
as 'borges'.
I can certainly write him a message in my Saxtti Konknni using Roman
characters: "Zannmuga! Kit sangom sodit'tem tem ispoxtt utramni sarkem
kompletament buroi. Bextto goddbodd kiteako? Soglem sark buroilea magi amchean
teje folladik bhasabhas korum zatoli. Somjil muga?" I hope this has not gone
over his head. If it has, then he can give it one more name, perhaps 'Modi
Konknni'.
Again he is getting hypothetical. Instead of giving a couple of quotes from my
writings which point to my strong love for devanagari Konkani, he says many
others have also got the same impression, and advises me to go through my own
writings on goanet to find out! This does not get us anywhere. I again invite
him to justify his assertions on the basis of his own clearly-stated
observations. That will certainly save a lot of time and band-width.
His final sentence certainly went over my head. Perhaps, following in his
footsteps, I should call it "devanagari English"! Here it is : <<Hope to read
your Konkani or Konkni as is said in devanagri, in devanagri language, where by
I want to see if I can really understand it at all.>>
It appears that Tony de Sa (Mess. #8, Iss. #482)has got his facts mixed up.
Konkani was taught in Goa in the Primary classes from June 1962 in Devanagari
script in some five schools of which Loyola High School, Margao was one. My
former colleague, Remedios Rebello, presently Principal of Fr. Agnel
Multipurpose Higher Secondary School, Verna was one of the students. This was
not the result of any machinations by politicians but a wise independent
decision of eminent Catholic educationists. In fact, the MGP government was
against this. Later, when Konkani was taught as the third language in middle
school, too it was the Diocesan Society of Education in tandem with Konkani
Bhasha Mandal that did all the spadework. Even the introduction of Konkani as a
language at SSC examination was a masterstroke of a stratagem. The students
were taught the language at standards VIII and IX, and then the Government was
approached for permission to offer it at Std. X. The
Government initially refused. Then it was told that the students would find it
impossible to cope with any other language suddenly in the crucial final year.
The government relented but queried: where will you get the books? And the
answer was: We have the books! The fact is that Felicio Cardoso and his
colleagues had already kept the books ready. The rest is history. All the
students were from Diocesan schools and 90 percent of them Catholics. The
script has always been Devanagari. Following this, the language became a
subject at Higher Secondary and also the F.Y. B.A. of Bombay University. When
Goa University was started in 1985, Konkani became a subject at M.A. and it was
taught by Professor Olivinho Gomnes. The first batch of M.A.s passed out the
same year that the Official Language Act was passed by the Goa Legislative
Assembly.
Perhaps Tony is referring to the large-scale introduction of Konkani as the
medium of instruction at the Primary level in Diocesan schools, in 1991. But
even here he errs. Who would have taught of introducing computers and language
labs in Primary schools in 1991?! Even colleges did not have them.
I do not know which part of Goa Tony lives in. I have never heard of 'ponnos'
being taught as 'fanas' in a Konkani school; perhaps it is a Marathi school
where it would be the correct term. And 'pachvo' means green, not yellow, for
which the Konkani term is 'hollduvo' which some people from Bardez (for whom LL
is silent) pronounce as 'ouduvo'.
Floriano (Mess. #4, Iss. 483) and Ariosto Coelho (Mess. #3, Iss. #484) mean
well. But is it possible, given the arithmetic of the present (or even future)
Goa Legislative Assembly? Even when Floriano's Goa-Suraj Party hopefully
succeeds in forming the Government in Goa, and moves to amend the Act, he would
be well advised to ensure beforehand that he has sufficient support to pass the
amendment without making Marathi the Official Language. My contention is that
no Hindu MLA will ever support the insertion of Roman script without
simultaneously making Marathi the Official language.
Sotachench zoit zatolem.
Mog asum.
Sebastian Borges
