Devnagari Konkani, in effect, is nothing but a Goan version of Marathi. BY VINAYAK NAIK Editor-in-Chief, Goa Today magazine Dear friends, I would have, ideally, liked to speak to you this evening, in Konkani. But I have decided to speak in English instead simply because the type of Konkani I speak has a pronounced Devnagari flavour. And thisfunction being, essentially, one of Romi Konkani, I do not want anybody in this august assembly here in front of me, to run away with the idea, right at the start of my talk, that I may be a supporter of Devnagari brand of Konkani. Actually, that’s precisely what I am not. Most of the people present here, of course, know it. But some may not. That’s why this clarification. In fact, I would like to mainly dwell, at some length, on the rather problematical Romi-Devnagari issue on this occasion. I’ll do that in just a moment. But before I launch into that topic, I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to the Dalgado Konknni Akademi for the fabulous work it has been doing, all along, right from its initiation, for the prime purpose of fostering the growth of Konkani – especially Romi. Infact, no praise would be too high for Dalgado Akademi and all its constituents for having striven, all these years, to keep the Konkani flag, or rather the Romi Konkani flag flying. Very well done indeed! Also, I would like to congratulate the five outstanding Konkani personalities who have become the Dalgado Konknni Akademi award recipients, this time, for their meritorious endeavour towards Konkani’ s elevation as well as propagation. No doubt about it, it’s an honour each one of them has most deservedly earned. Well, along with the five awardees, I too feel honoured, on this occasion. In fact not just honoured, but doubly honoured, because it’s the second time that the Dalgado Konkani Akademi has deemed it fit to have me as the Chief Guest for its function , the earlier occasion having been, well over three years ago, when the late Dr Olivinho Gomes’ book had been ceremoniously released at my hands. Now, I’ll get down to brass tacks and come to the subject I promised to discuss, a while ago. I mean, the ongoing Romi Konkani versus Devnagari Konkani scuffle. Those who know me well enough, are fully aware of my pro-Romi stand rightfrom the time the script controversy came to the fore. In fact, I have beenabsolutely consistent and rigid in holding on to that stand. Mark you, ithas not seen even the slightest mutation over the years. One can easilycheck this fact by reading afresh the Romi Konkani –friendly editorials Ihave written in the magazine I have been editing, Goa Today, over the last18 years. Well, I have never done it with a view to playing to thegallery. Or for that matter, to seek popularity for myself in Goa’s Romi-Konkani-espousing community. I have done it all along, going by theprompting of my heart. Today, 18 years down the line, I would say, my commitment to the cause ofRomi Konkani is stronger than it has been ever before. It is my immutable belief that it is Romi Konkani which should have been recognised as the sole Official Language of Goa, and not Devnagari Konkani, which is unfortunately the case. The Devnagari brand of Konkani, relatively speaking, is very recent. In fact, I would call it a post-Liberation creation. Honestly, I don’t remember having heard of the term Devnagari Konkani until Goa’s Liberation. That’s because it didn’t exist at all. Maybe just an odd man or two had scribbled a few lines in Devnagari Konkani, but that output was too little to merit being labelled as Devnagari Konkani literature. Believe me, some people, who have been reading my editorials, have expressed great surprise over my patently pro-Romi stance. Some have evenquestioned as to how I could be having so much affection for Romi Konkanidespite not being able to even hold a simple conversation in it. Well,there you are! That’s precisely the reason! Because I don’t understand Romiwell enough, I am able to genuinely appreciate the large-scale differencethat exists between the Devnagari version of Konkani and Romi Konkani. Thetwo are far too different! All the more reason therefore, according to me, for their independent existence. The lovers of the so called Devnagari Konkani are conveniently trying to give the impression that the two versions of Konkani – Devnagari and Romi –are very nearly synonymous. Meaning, they are as good as the same. But, inreality, that is not the case at all! I dare say, they are poles apart.That’s why one should try and understand the difficulty in learning Devnagari Konkani experienced by thousands of Christian children in Goa,who have been exposed, from the time they were out of the womb, to only one brand of Konkani at home. And that’s Romi! The contention of several Devnagari Konkani votaries is that since all the kids coming from the Catholic households in Goa have to study the Devnagari script, thanks to the subject of Hindi, there should be no difficulty whatsoever for them in coming to terms with the Devnagari version of Konkani. But this argument, to my mind, is fully fallacious. Is it not akin to making a case for giving someone a supplementary dose of pain, since the person is already in pain? Come as I do from a GSB (Gowd Saraswat Brahmin) household, I can very well appreciate the enormity of the difficulty the Hindu kids would face if they were to be told to compulsorily learn Romi. Then, the boot would have definitely been on the other foot! That’s the reason why I feel that it’s my duty to appeal to all those who seemingly take sadistic, or rather heartless pleasure in inflicting Devnagari Konkani on the primary-schooling pupils from Christian households, to try and look at the plight of those children with empathy. I am acquainted with some suchkids. I mean kids coming from the Goan Christian families, who have beenstruggling to scrape through the subject of Devnagari Konkani, despitegetting supplementary coaching in it. I mean, despite getting privatelytutored in that subject. The same kids, I am given to understand, aredoing exceptionally well in their studies, especially in the otherlanguages like English and French. Obviously, they find the Devnagari brand of Konkani tougher than what the combination of Greek and Hebrew would be. So, how can one even think of synonymising, or rather equating, DevnagariKonkani with Romi? As I have said, for times out of count at different fora – or forums if you like – they ought to be synonymising Devnagari Konkani with Marathi, instead. To have a concrete proof of the claim I have just made, all one has to do is to have only a cursory glance at the headlines in Goa’s only Devnagari Konkani daily. I am pretty sure, on an average, seven out of every ten words used, especially in the headlines, are bound to be in Marathi . I have brought an edition of that paper to prove my point. Here is a headline which is a hundred per cent Marathi headline. And here is another, again a chaste and pukka Marathi headline. Here is yet another. So, tell me, where is the difference between Devnagari Konkani and Marathi? The same headlines would have been totally different if they were to be in Romi. Even their wording would have been far –too-different. The point I am trying to emphasize is that the Devnagari Konkani, in effect, is nothing but a Goan version of Marathi. Don’t forget, Marathi has so many other brands too –The Malwani brand, the Kolhapuri brand – Kai paun, patlam....,the Solapuri brand, The Nagpuri brand, and so on, but when it comes to writing, they uniformly use just one brand for it. Verify this fact, please! The votaries of Devnagari Konkani, in their heart of hearts, know that their Konkani and Marathi are almost identical, but they wouldn’t want the adherents of Romi Konkani to know this fact. Actually, they have cashed inon the Romi supporters’ failure to realise that Devnagari Konkani and Marathi are virtually the same. The Devnagari Konkani supporters are, in fact, trying to strengthen that misunderstanding and making it seem as though Devnagari Konkani and Marathi are two different full-fledged languages, because they know that Devnagari Konkani can continue its ‘reign’, unhindered, as long as the Romi adherents fail to detect the identicalness between Marathi and Devnagari Konkani. To my mind, it is a case of rank opportunism on part of the Devnagari votaries. Like in football, they have effortlessly found the ball at their feet in the goal area, and taking full advantage of it, have scored the goal, leaving all those who actually did the spadework towards that goal, absolutely high and dry. Yes, that’s just what it is! Looking back, I think, it’s the second time such a thing has happened. Thefirst instance was during the Konkani Movement, when almost 80 per cent of the effort had come from the Romi adherents, but still, the Devnagarphiles, who had put in only about 20 per cent of the effort, had gone on to score the all important goal to claim victory solely for themselves, I mean to the total exclusion of all others who had made a mountainous contribution in that Movement. I think enough indignity has already been done to the users of Romi, like for instance, making the Romi writers get their works “transliterated” in Devnagari so as to make them eligible for the Sahitya Akademi Awards. According to me, the word “transliterated” itself is a huge misnomer in this case. In actual fact, in the context of Romi, it virtually amounts to getting the Romi writing translated in Devnagari Konkani – and not transliterated, as they call it – I say so because of the massive alteration involved in the exercise. It’s not just a question of replacing, or rather substituting, the former script by the latter, as is the impression that has been created, but it’s much, much, more. It’s not easy at all! It’s an extremely laborious process. Conversely, the Devnagari Konkani and Marathi are virtually one and the same. Hence, turning something which has been written in Devnagari Konkani into Marathi, is a pretty facile exercise. One doesn’t have to do much, because one is called upon to make a few marginal changes only. It’s almostlike dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the‘t’s. Yes, as simple as that! Try it out, please! But when one tries to put down someone’s Romi writing in Devnagari Konkani, a whole lot of structural and even semantic changes need to be effected. Is it not a telling pointer to the fact that Romi and Devnagari are massively dissimilar? So, why should this nasty discrimination against Romi be allowed to go on? Why should Devnagari script be allowed to have an upper hand over Romi? Isn’t this practice almost analogous to the one of untouchability? As things stand, Romi writing becomes ‘touchable’ for the Sahitya Akademi jury on condition that it is turned into Devnagari. To draw a parallel, it is almost akin to telling one’s prospective spouse, “If you want to marry me, convert to my faith”. Yes, that’s the kind of situation it is! No self-respecting writer can live with that kind of ignominy. South Africa had become notorious for its egregious practice of apartheid which saw the Whites calling the shots, and subjugating the ethnic Blacks. In respect of Konkani, it’s a slightly different from of Apartheid. But Apartheid all the same. I would call it Scriptal Apartheid, in which the Devnagari Konkani is seen calling the tune, with Romi Konkani being at the receiving end. When will this apartheid end? Now has come the time for theRomi- Konkani worm to turn. And I am glad it is showing signs of doing precisely that! Well, I just wanted to get my feelings of deep frustration stemming from the pronounced injustice that is being done to Romi Konkani, off my chest. And I could not have asked for a better occasion than this for doing it. Before I wind up, I would like to extend my renewed thanks to the Dalgado Konkani Akademi for providing me this wonderful opportunity, and also to all of you present here, for listening to me with rapt attention all through my address. Thanks once again. --------------------- Audio of function at: https://archive.org/details/DKAAWARDSVinayak008
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 10:58:54 +0000
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