Dear Fr. Ivo,
At Doordarshan Goa, I was present for the debate on MOI with Wilmix as
moderator and both Konkani/Marathi protagonists i.e. Tomaziho, Radarao, N.
Shivdas, Raikar on the esteemed Panel.
When I spoke (from the audience) I told the panel that what they were
discussing was not MOI but GRANTs, FUTURE OF CHILDREN etc. which was
totally absurd. Then I explained what MOI is. That it is nothing but the
LANGUAGE OF THE CHILD, which language it has mastered since birth, which
language the child can talk freely and understand completely. That MOI
should be that language and not any alien to the child language, not the
language which will build its culture, not the language that will give the
child lucrative jobs. That language which will strengthen the child's
foundation to recognize good from evil in its formative years to make it a
veritably dependable citizen of GOA.
I explained this thus: Poilea disa burguem iskolachea bankar bosta tedna
tea burgueak tor sangxi khi ...." VHO EOK FATOR. VHO FATOR SODUN MARXI
ZALEAR TO DUSREACHEA KOPOLACHER BOSO'ETA, KOPOLAK KONK ZAUM'ETA, ROGOT
VAUM'U'ETA. TOH GAI PUSUN VOKHOT GALINA ZALEAR TACHER MUS BOSTELE, TEA
GAI'EAK KIDHE PODTELE."
That one hundred per cent of Goan children will understand this perfectly
well. You tell the above to them in Marathi or English, none will. That they
will take another two to three years to first understand what is 'stone',
what is 'forehead', what is 'wound', what is 'blood', what is 'fly' and what
is 'worms'. In this case you will not be 'INSTRUCTING' the child in the
language it understands. You will be 'TEACHING' the child an altogether
another language in the hope that it will improve its future prospects. IS
THIS RIGHT???
Then I asked the panel the question. What is the language of Goa's children.
That, for 95 per cent or more that language is KONKANI. For maybe 5 per cent
or less, it is English ( mostly in urban areas) where these children are
also quite fluent in KONKANI because of the pervading influence of KONKANI
in Goa.
And I pressed my point further to say that even those who are for Marathi,
the spoken language in their homes is KONKANI, not Marathi.
**
Having said that , I am now in favour of ENGLISH as MOI in Goan Primary
Schools, totally and completely, for the following reasons.
1. Because English is the Lingua Franca of India.
2. Nehru's dream of preserving the 'PAROCHIAL MOSAIC' of India has
back-fired, and very badly too.
3. That Goa's lead is bound to be taken by other states of India to make
English the MOI at primary level with the regional languages as a
subjects.
4. That Marathi, the curse of GOA and Goans, which has kept GOANS divided
since past many centuries is slated to be slaughtered to render Goa free,
with
ENGLISH becoming the double-edged SWORD that will behead Marathi in Goa
on the one side and slit the throats of the Mergerites on the other side
which
was long since overdue.
5. Hence forth Goans will not call themselves HINDUS and CATHOLICS. They
will call themselves GOANS with KONKANI as their beloved mother tongue
whether written and read in Devanagri or in ROMI scripts.
6. That KONKANI will survive like it has survived for more than 450 years,
even with the 'Portuguese' having been against IT as desired by 'most'
Hindus of
GOA.
This can only be a WIN - WIN situation for GOA AND GOANS.
Viva Goa, Viva Goemkarponn, Viva KONKANI and Shabash ENGLEZ
Cheers
floriano
GRA/GSRP
9422060347/9890470896
www.goasu-raj.org
PS1: A thank you to Fr. Ivo for prompting the above.
PS2: N. Shivdas had this to say to me after the recording at Doordarshan. "
Tuvem sanglaim tem ami chintlench nam"
PS3: Those who are in favour of Marathi as MOI in Primary Section should
enmasse move over into Maharashtra, because Goa will never be allowed to
merge
with Maharashtra, physically or morally/linguistically.
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 8:11 PM
Subject: [Goanet] Konkani MoI
From: [email protected]
On Behalf Of floriano
Subject: Re: [Goanet] WILL ENGLISH MOI CREATE A PARADIGM SHIFT IN
GOANPOLITICS?
**Dear Floriano,
I do agree with you totally. Let those who wish to study marathi go to
marathi schools. But even in marathi schools, Konkani should be taught as
the first language. There are not two "matru-bhasha" in Goa. Marathi is
not the mother-tongue of Goan Hindu communities. English should be taught
from the beginning. It is easier for children to learn, first the Roman
script, and then devanagari, which will be useful for both Konkani and
Hindi. Konkani should be taught in both scripts. I have seen text books
for Konkani. Most lessons are written in "marathized" Konkani. Let them
learn the standard Konkani spoken, or rather written, in Goa.
Now Konkani should be taught as the main language together with English.
Konkani written in our reviews should be used. Otherwise, children will
hate Konkani. Let them study also portuguese, french, sanskrit, german in
the VIIIth standard.
This problem should be solved with care. Let better sense prevail!
Regards.
Fr.Ivo
