------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * * * * * * * ANNUAL GOANETTERS MEET * * * * * * * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goanetters in Goa and visiting meet Jan 6, 2009 at 3.30 pm at Hotel Mandovi (prior to the Goa Sudharop event, which you're also welcome to). Join in for a Dutch dinner -- if we can agree on a venue after the meet. RSVP (confirmations only) 9822122436 or 2409490 or f...@goa-india.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Affirmative Action Konkani Amchi Mai, Konkani Amkam Zai! Miguel Braganza Happy New Year, 2009. May Goa be blessed with everything good in this year. We deserve to be happy in our own simple way. Not for us are the Rave parties or drugs, and not for us are the gated enclaves and casinos. Let us put the raves and rapes behind us and retreat to our traditional simple ways. May our Government give power to the Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats to plan the development of simple lives for the simple people in our simple villages. May the people of Goa speak their mother tongue, Konkani, with genuine, heart-felt pride. Let the world come and see us in all simplicity. Fellow alumnus from St. Britto HS, Frederick Noronha, wrote an article on New Year's eve entitled "Rethinking Language in Goa". It got me thinking. What did a man, who knows very little Konkani and still less "official" Konkani, have to say on the script controversy and the leadership of the two camps that I did not already know. I have had my children learn in primary school a dialect that seemed as removed from my mother tongue as Bhojpuri or Haryanvi and yet manage to get distinction marks before dumping it to take up English studies as ordained by the Goa Government. I have read and re-read the definition of "Konkani" in the Goa, Daman & Diu Official Language Act, 1987, to see if my mother tongue fits in there somewhere. I have read the Sahitiya Akademi resolution of 1975, the Advisory Board recommendation of 1981 and the 71st Amendment to the Constitution of India of 20 August, 1992. So, what is new that Frederick writes about? Writes Frederick Noronha quite matter-of-factly, "In Goa, the language [controversy] gets fueled by suspicion and communal, or caste, based divides. Not surprisingly, therefore, it took two decades for the Romi Konkani supporters to realize that their script and dialects were languishing due to the Devanagri-alone official approach." When I left Goa for my post-graduate studies in December, 1987, the controversy was only between Konkani and Marathi. At the behest of the then Agriculture Minister, now South Goa MP, the Agriculture Officers' Association had translated half of the technical matter in the "Agri Diary 1986" from Marathi into Konkani , both type-set in Devanagri script. The Marathi protagonists in Sattari, who could read Devanagri, detected the Konkani portion in the Diary and burnt a few copies in protest just before the OLA, 1987, became a law. The Roman script reading farmers in the South Goa complained that the entire Diary was in Marathi. Among the majority of the Konkani readers in Salcete in 1987, Devanagri script and Marathi were synonymous. The possibility that Devanagri script was also used for Konkani had not registered in their minds even though their children might have learnt it in that script at school since 1960s. Publications in Konkani in the Roman script were more or less a parochial domain. The regular publications, "Vavreaddeancho IXTT" weekly, "Dhor Mhoinneachi Rotti" and the GULAB monthly magazine, were controlled by Catholic priests. Other publications like Uzvadd, Undentiche Noketr and others shone for some time and faded away. Secular thought in Konkani set in Roman script perhaps began with the "Goencho Ulo" tabloid and established itself with JIVIT monthly magazine that recently celebrated two years of publication. Other publications got the courage and the motivation to make their presence felt. "Konkonn Divo" published by Ashok Chodankar, and Prabhakar Tendulkar's "Goykar" revived and published by Tomazinho Cardoz, need to be mentioned in this context. Serafin Cotta and Vincy Quadros are two prominent persons with catholic background who are still seen in the Executive Committee of the pro-Devanagri Konkani Bhasha Mandal [KBM] that was founded by a Correia-Afonso from Benaulim. There are others, no doubt, but these two names are easily identifiable in Goa. In a marked shift from the normal, Michael Gracias, the former Secretary of the pro-Romi Dalgado Konkani Akademi [DKA], chose Vincy Quadros as the Editor of his magazine, JIVIT. This action, in spite of knowing that Vincy's links in the KBM for almost a decade, came as a surprise to many. That they have been able to work in tandem for almost two years is a positive sign, indeed. What Vincy has to say can be read in his interview published on pages 7 to 9 of JIVIT's December, 2008 issue. He knows that the politicians will not resolve this issue unless pushed against the wall and left with no option, as in the case of RP 2011. Michael tells me there is more to follow in the January, 2009 issue. Another pleasant surprise was that Vincy Quadros was chosen as the Working President of the DKA's first Literary & Cultural Convention. At last, here was a KBM Executive member who was acceptable to the DKA leadership. DKA President, Premanand Lotlikar and IPP, Tomazinho Cardoz were happy to play second fiddle to Vincy playing the lead, even in the presence of CM Digamber Kamat and the erstwhile strongman of Konkani on the home-coming trail, PWD Minister Churchill Alemao. Prince Jacob anchored the entertainment programme and Wilmix Mazarello had a prominent role. Fr. Conceisao, Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, Principal Newman Fernandes, Mario Menezes, Prem Kumar and other stars of the Konkani movement shone alongside the undisputed Konkani son, Vincy. Even Dr. Pratap Naik SJ has delivered the keynote speech at the inaugural function, deftly presided over by Vincy. Vincy seems to be a consensus candidate of the KBM and the DKA for the plum post in the Goa Konkani Akademi [GKA]. As per Vincy's interview published on the front page of GT dated 29 December, 2008, this rising son from the ST community and the perceived "Minority" to which Konkani Martyr Florian Vaz also belonged, is not averse to taking responsible post in the GKA. He is a niz Goykar. He knows to read, write and edit in both Roman and Devanagri scripts. He is even handed to both scripts when it comes to the promotion of Konkani. The other contenders to the post are reportedly familiar with Konkani in one or the other script, not both. He is also well abreast of the impact of education on the language and its usage. Wilmix Mazarello opines in a recent article that once the Konkani issue is amicably resolved, all will be well with Goa. Who can fault him on this? Konkani Amchi Mai, Konkani Amkam Zai! After the disastrous run of the KPA in the dying hours of the second innings after the Opinion Poll, will it be Vincy Quadros who will do justice to our Mai Bhas, Konkani? (ENDS) Miguel Braganza's column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=482 =========================================================== The above article appeared in the January 2, 2009 edition of Gomantak Times, Goa