‘Colonising’ Romi BY VINAYAK NAIK
As Chairman of the Kala Academy, Vishnu Wagh has shown the broadness of vision as none before him had done. His decision to put the writers of Romi Konkani on a par with those of Devnagari Konkani is concrete proof of that. I would reckon it as a master move, one that would help assuage the feelings of the Romi Konkani votaries who have really had a raw deal ever since Konkani’s recognition as the State official language and its subsequent incorporation into the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. I have said it on numerous occasions in the past that although ‘One Language One Script’ ought to be the norm, exceptions should be made in some extraordinary cases, especially like the one of Konkani. There are already several languages, which are coursing along swimmingly, despite the multiplicity of scripts they have. I remember having presented, some time back, in these columns, the whole catalogue of those languages. And I don’t think it would be proper on my part to go over that roster yet again. That the proponents of single script for Konkani have a very self-centred agenda is beyond question. It’s so obvious that their sole aim is to disallow the apportioning of their ‘ill gotten gains’ with their Romi-Konkani favouring partners of the Konkani Movement. Theirs is a classic case of trying to be perennially on the beneficial side – ‘Heads I win, tails you lose’. So, what wrong has Vishnu Wagh done by giving the Romi Konkani writers something that was long overdue to them? And why should the Devnagariwalas react to the move adversely as though they have been made to forgo something? Doesn’t that indicate their utter lack of consideration for their former associates without whose invaluable assistance Konkani would never have got to the coveted position in Indian languages it now enjoys? One can easily see through their bigotry. Make no mistake, Romi Konkani differs from Devnagari Konkani by a long way. The distinction is tellingly apparent. So, how can the Devnagariphiles make a case as though the two are one and the same? I would say, even if it means legitimising another brand of Konkani by recognising Romi Konkani, there would be nothing wrong in it. In fact, that is exactly the type of action warranted at the moment, keeping in mind the ground reality. For sure, that would help set the record straight, which, at present, is so lopsidedly tilted in favour of the votaries of Devnagari Konkani. One more thing! All the Devnagari Konkani stalwarts, past and present – to a man – have a proven ability in writing chaste Marathi. That’s because, I say it again, there is not much difference between those two languages. For them, it’s just the question of switching gears, as it were – from Devnagari-Konkani-writing to writing in Marathi. But that isn’t the case with Romi Konkani. It’s so very dissimilar – not only lexically, but phonetically and scriptally as well. And all these factors should have gone in favour of Romi’s unconstrained existence as a language. But the reverse happened. And that’s indeed very tragic! I would like to re-stress here that there is not much that is common between Romi Konkani and the Devnagari brand of Konkani. To tell the truth, the commonness between Devnagari Konkani and Marathi is umpteen times more than between Devnagari Konkani and Romi. The articulation of almost hundred per cent of the words used in Romi Konkani is strikingly different from what it is for Devnagari Konkani. So how, in all fairness, can one call both Devnagari Konkani and Romi Konkani as one language? Call it just Romi, and not Romi Konkani, if one is very sensitive to the nomenclatural division of Konkani into two languages. I am only trying to make a strong case for Romi Konkani’s separate subsistence, unshackled by the shadow of Devnagari. The near-synonymy between Marathi and Devnagari Konkani of the Goans is such that a user of the latter can easily understand at least eight of the ten words used in a sentence framed in Marathi. But he would struggle to understand even two out of the ten words used in a sentence of the same size framed in either the Bhatkal or Kumtha brand of Konkani. At least, that’s the case with me. So, how can the Goan Devnagariphiles arrogate to themselves the right of deciding on any matter pertaining to Konkani, on behalf of the entire Konkani-using community? Moreover, how can Devnagari Konkani be imposed on the users of Romi Konkani, which is currently the case, right at the primary school stage itself? The acceptance of Devnagari Konkani as the sole official language for Konkani was, ostensibly, a terrible act of trickery – a vile trick played on the unsuspecting adherents of Romi! For those who insist on ‘One-Script-One-Language’ for Konkani, I ask, why not reverse the order? Would they ever be ready to accept Romi as the sole script for Konkani to avert the duality of scripts for Konkani? Would they have put up with the foisting of Romi Konkani on their kids – something which they are presently guilty of doing to children coming from the Romi-Konkani-speaking Christian families? Doubtless, today, kids from the Devnagari Konkani speaking households are enjoying a head start at the primary level of education. While thousands of those brought up on the diet of Romi Konkani at home are starting with a huge handicap. But why should this injustice be continued? When will this ‘colonisation’ of Romi by Devnagari end? Ever since the current Chairman of the Kala Academy righted the wrong done to the Romi Konkani, he has come under a deluge of criticism from the upholders of Devnagari, with some going to the extent of being even abusive. This entire hullabaloo was actually uncalled for. The contention of the Devnagari Konkaniphiles that the step taken by Wagh would split the users of Konkani on communal lines is ludicrous in the extreme. Why talk of the future? Such split already exists. The stark truth is that they are already communally divided because of the rank indifference shown to Romi. The aficionados of Devnagari Konkani look upon Romi with repugnance. Likewise, the Romi Konkani users too, who are predominantly Christians, can’t possibly have any feeling for Devanagari Konkani. If the Devnagari Konkaniwallahs really believe in the oneness of Konkani, then why do they display their ‘divisiveness’ by invariably staying away from the Romi Konkani functions? Isn’t that their tacit admission of the fact that Romi Konkani is different? The current antagonism between the two camps can be decisively ended only by formalising the existing split in Konkani. There are no two ways about it! Let there be two official scripts for Konkani. Better still would be the recognition of the two brands of Konkani as separate languages which, in actual fact, they are. If Urdu and Hindi, despite their conspicuous commonality, can flourish as two separate languages, there is no reason why that can’t happen should Devnagari Konkani and Romi formally go their separate ways! ============