Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão re: Konkani should be the primary school medium - by F. Mousinho de Ataide
http://oheraldo.in/news/Local%20News/Konkani-should-be-the-primary-school-medium/46753.html [1] 90 percent of Grace Church parishioners will not know to read Konkani in that (Devanagri) script. [2] I would like to ask Fr. Mousinho if he knows the meaning of mother tongue. [3] Fr. Mousinho always harped that Portuguese were dictators; so now in democracy if the people want primary education in English, why is he invoking God to avert it? [4] Does he have any responsibility toward the future of our children? [5] The love for Goa’s identity Fr. Mousinho is talking of is a distorted one. COMMENT: I have nothing significant to add to what Dr. Falcao has written (and I have excerpted above) except the following: a: I read and write in Devanagri. b: I enjoy speaking and hearing good Marathi. c: What is being 'sold' as Konkani by these chaps is (to me, at least) an atrocious sounding nasal version of Marathi) (You hear it at many construction sites in Poona). d: I know at least one prominent Devanagri-only-Konkani proponent from Goa who, I KNOW, does NOT have a clue of the Devanagri script. e: The S-Konkani sermaos in Goa are jarring to those of us who understand Good Marathi. One tunes them out as soon as these 'uncomfortable' priests open their mouths and READ. f: I cannot speak for the other parishioners.....though I believe that Dr. Falcao is correct. See anybody standing in line to buy Gulab? I did not think so. g: I would have sat and listened to Fr. Mousinho de Ataide if he had simultaneously advised me what medium of education he advocated for his children. h: Like I advise those without wives (one wife at a time please) NOT to preach family planning to those with wives (again, one at a time), I suggest to those without children, Please do not advise the rest about the medium of instruction for their own children. i: Remember Fr. Mousinho de Ataide, the world is bringing down dictators. jc
