As Catholics And Hindus Fight Over Scripts, Konkani Loses Out In Goa

When Fausto V. DaCosta, editor of Gulab, one of the last Romi Konkani monthly magazines published out of Goa, goes on his distribution rounds in the countryside, a thought occasionally crosses his mind. 바카라�It first came to me when I went to Aldona recently on a distribution round. Even after 100 Romi Konkani readers die, we do not get even three new (Romi Konkani) readers. So, when I go on the first (of every month) for distribution, instead of visiting booksellers, I wonder if I should visit the cemeteries instead,바카라� says DaCosta. In an increasingly cosmopolitan Goa, Konkani바카라�s slow and steady march to irrelevance appears to have begun. While socio-cultural change, largescale migration바카라�both into and out of Goa바카라�are some of the key reasons for the relegation of Konkani to the margins of popular culture in the state, there are some inherent fundamental flaws that have hastened its procession to the fringes.

It does not always take too many cooks to spoil the broth. In the case of Konkani, Goa바카라�s official language that is critical to the state바카라�s cultural identity, it appears to have taken just two. Caught in a forever tug-of-war between two camps바카라�one enforcing the imposition of the language in the Devanagari script and the other trying to keep it afloat in the Roman script바카라�has stymied Konkani in Goa. 바카라�There is no sale of novels and periodicals. There is not a single book outlet where our books are being sold anymore,바카라� DaCosta says. The steady marginalisation of Konkani in Goa is evident from a comment made by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at a Good Friday function this year, where he may have inadvertently tried to mask the decline of the language under the cloak of linguistic plurality. 바카라�Goa is known for four languages. We speak in Konkani, we prefer to read Marathi newspapers, we prefer to watch films in Hindi and while writing we prefer to use English. This is a state which is always known for four languages,바카라� the chief minister also said.

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In urban spaces and coastal areas that are popular with tourists, Konkani is conspicuously missing. A walk along the Calangute-Sinquerim road stretch, one of the busiest tourist thoroughfares in the state, makes it amply clear. Russian perhaps outranks Konkani when it comes to murmurs on the stretch, store signages, restaurant menus, and discount hoardings. Though limited to Western India, predominantly along the Konkan belt, from which the language derives its name, Konkani has always been fairly malleable as far as adaptation is concerned. Apart from Devanagari and Roman (or Romi in Goa), Konkani has also been adapted to the Kannada and Malayalam script.

Birth of an era: 1st issue of Romi Konkani magazine Gulab, January 1983

The 2011 Census of India has indicated a drop of nearly two lakhs, vis-a-vis the count of Indian citizens who have opted for Konkani as their mother tongue. Konkani has also been paired along with Urdu as a scheduled language showing a negative decadal growth. Out of the 22.56 lakh persons who listed Konkani as their mother-tongue in the 2011 Census, Goa accounts for the biggest share at 9.64 lakh, followed by Karnataka, mostly the southern state바카라�s coastal regions, at 7.8 lakh. While the 2011 survey records an increase of Konkani speakers in Goa, the trend could be attributed to large-scale migration here between 1990s to 2010. Those were the decades that saw a boom in the state바카라�s labour-intensive sectors of mining, tourism and real estate development, but were also marked by increasing out-migration of Goan workforce to the Middle East and Europe.

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In a fast-changing Goa, the dwindling soul of Konkani split into Devanagari and Romi script camps. It took a year-long agitation and the death of seven protestors before the demand to anoint Konkani as the state바카라�s official language was finally fulfilled by an incumbent Congress government in 1987. Proponents of both Devanagari and Romi camps campaigned relentlessly for Konkani to be recognised as the state바카라�s official language as against Marathi, a plan which previous ruling dispensations headed by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party were accused of tinkering with.

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But the plot twist, which seems to have forever exacerbated the relationship between the two feuding camps, came when the government at the time notified that only Konkani written in the Devanagari script had been deemed as Goa바카라�s official language. The Devanagari Konkani script was and is backed by elite Hindus, while Catholics largely backed the Romi script, which was also the script of choice in Goa바카라�s churches and tiatrs바카라�a popular form of theatre. Roman Catholics, who account for nearly 26 per cent of Goa바카라�s population, suddenly found the Romi Konkani script they were habituated to, had been put to pasture. While DaCosta바카라�s laments sum up the perils that the Romi Konkani readership face, Devanagari Konkani has fared better thanks to government patronage. One such area, according to Konkani poet Sanjiv Verenkar, is book sales. 바카라�Counter sales of books published in Devanagari Konkani are better than Marathi,바카라� Verenkar confirms.
In the newspaper universe, Konkani바카라�either Romi or Devanagari바카라�just does not make the cut. Marathi has been the go-to vernacular language of newspaper readers in Goa, with newspapers like Tarun Bharat, Gomantak, Lokmat and Goa Doot taking pride of place when it comes to circulation. Konkani newspapers like Sunaparanta and Rashtramat, once published in the Devanagari script, have fallen to the wayside and surrendered to the realms of extinction. Bhaangarbhuin is the state바카라�s only surviving Konkani daily. Veteran journalist and poet Pandurang Gaonkar has had the unique distinction of working for two Devanagari Konkani newspapers, Sunaparanta and Bhaangarbhuin, over two decades. He feels both Konkani camps should put behind their differences emanating from the two scripts, and even suggests a point where a constructive dialogue between the two can begin. 바카라�Romi literature should be translated into Devanagari, and Devanagari literature should be translated into Konkani. Readers will be able to understand both languages better,바카라� says Gaonkar.