[Goanet]Konkani and Roman Script
Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following article. Pratap Naik, S.J. B.B.Borkar Road TSKK Alto Porvorim [EMAIL PROTECTED] ROMAN SCRIPT THE SOUL OF KONKANI Nelson Lopes R. Venkatraman, the former President of India, advocated the use of Roman script for all Indian languages. His noble vision was unity of script and National Integration. It would also facilitate the learning of Indian languages. Take the case of a person who wants to learn Tamil, but is unfamiliar with its script. It would be next to impossible for a non Tamilian to learn Tamil. First of all one has to master the script and then the language. A person who is familiar with the universally widely used Roman Script would learn Tamil or for that matter any Indian language if it is taught in Roman script. In this age of Internet and information technology, where the whole world has been reduced to a global village, the Roman script is gaining wide acceptability world-wide. It is a simple linear script and is computer and user friendly. Turkey, Swahili in Africa and the Indo-China region states have all resorted to the use of Roman script for their languages. The Chinese, Japanese, Punjabi, Sindhi and Kashmiri are using Roman script for e-mail correspondence. Therefore it becomes easier for any tourist visiting Malaysia or Vietnam, to read the sign boards and his destinations, though in the local languages but written in Roman Script. Take the case of India where there are hundreds of languages and dialects written in various scripts, wouldn't an Indian traveling from North to South find it easier to travel if all the sign boards were written in the Roman script? The Indian Army uses Hindi, written in the Roman script to instruct its recruits. As the army recruits come from diverse regions speaking different languages, can anybody dare to call the Indian Army or President R. Venkatraman, antinational or divisive? Have both the Indian Army and the former President deviated from the cultural mainstream of India? or become less patriotic? Is our nationalism dependent on the script we use for a particular language? Ever since the Dalgado Konknni Akademi was established to unite and motivate the sidelined Konkani writers, readers and speakers of books written in Roman script and enthusiasts, who sacrificed their life for the cause of Konkani, but denied any benefits. Loud noises are heard from self proclaimed defendants of Konkani, they accuse the efficient bearers of the DKA as divisive elements and antinational. They also label them as activists alienated from the cultural mainstream of India. By the way, where is the unity amongst the Konkani forces? Why are lakhs of rupees spent on Konkani by the Government used by only a few? A coterie of script fundamentalists whose only aim is to share the booty amongst themselves. Though the language bill was passed in the year 1987, Konkani as the official language remains only on paper. The bill has never been implemented and never will. Majority of government schools and private schools run by the majority community continue to promote Marathi and not Konkani. The Antruzi dialect Konkani that is foisted on the unwilling public has not found wide acceptability. Only a small percentage of Goans speak and use Antruzi Konkani dialect which is spoken by Saraswats, whereas the majority abhors the use of Antruzi as they feel it is not their language. The Antruzi Konkani can and will only survive with the government support. If the government financial support is withdrawn, the written Antruzi will die a natural death and it only will remain as a spoken dialect on lips of these small percentage of Goans. At present it is mainly kept alive by government grants. In Goa there is more readership and support for written Marathi than Konkani written in Devanagari script. The most of the religious rituals of the majority community are held in Marathi and not in Antruzi Konkani dialect. This itself proves that the majority community does not support or encourage Antruzi Konkani dialect in religious, cultural and educational fields. Take the case of Roman script Konkani, which uses the Bardesi dialect. Ninety eight percent of Goans understand this form of Konkani. Literature in this variant existed right from the sixteenth century. The Tiatrs that uses this Bardesi Konkani is highly successful and today its turn over is in multi crores. Hundreds of cassettes of Kantaram are released every year. VCD'S of Tiatrs are flooding the market by the hundreds and are bought by the people over the counter. Vavraddeancho Ixtt weekly and monthly magazines are sold by the thousands by paper vendors. Novels written in Roman script sell like hot cakes the moment they are released. Religious hymns, Bible readings, masses and other religious literature and church bulletins are in the Bardesi version Konkani. This shade of Konkani is sought to be suppressed and eliminated by the Devanagari
[Goanet]Roman script article.
Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following article Fr. Pratap Naik, S.J. Director TSKK Non-standardization of Konkani and use of Roman script for Konkani By Wilberious Evanglist D'Souza Udupi district, Karnataka Let us examine why Konkani survives albeit in many dialects, despite the fact that the Konkani linguistic community (encompassing all who speak any of the many dialects of Konkani) is just 0.5% of the Indian population, sparsely scattered all over India and abroad just like scattered dots on a large canvass. They are divided into three religious denominations viz. Christians, Muslims and Hindus. For many centuries they were concentrated at Goa, till part of the Konkani linguistic community spread to the state of Karnataka. The primary reason why each one of the many groups of Konkani linguistic community speaks a different dialect of Konkani, is the passionate love for one's mother tongue. That is why it is alive today in many of its dialectal forms. For each member of a dialectal group of Konkani linguistic community, that dialect one speaks at home, is one's mother tongue. No other dialect of Konkani, would be considered as one's mother tongue. With apologies to Rev. Dr Alexander D'Souza, President of Konkani Sahitya Academy of Karnataka, a standardi-zation of many dialects of Konkani will not bring about the development of one single Konkani language but shall only create one more dialect. He refers to the Goan system as a model for introduction of Konkani in schools of South Kanara District and Udupi District of Karnataka as an optional language. This utterly disre-gards the fact that of the whole area of the Konkani linguistic community, only Goa has adopted Konkani as the state language, that too after Konkani was recognized as an independent language, and schools were estab-lished with Konkani as medium of instruction in 1992. Even then the number of such schools has steadily dwindled and are dwindling owing to lack of students and reluctance of Konkanis to learn Konkani as a language. So, over-enthusiastically attempting to take such a step in Karnataka, is not only a precocious one but also a waste of Government grants/patrons' donations. Why is it so? English is the language of the world we live in today. Love, passionate longing make people indulge in wishful thinking that one's mother tongue will attain the pinnacle of literary glory, which is not at all realistic. For sheer survival, professional success, acquisition of knowledge and its application in order to ensure one a comfortable life, one chooses English and not any of the scores of mother tongues/dialects each of which is spoken by a limited number of persons. Here Konkani in its varied dialectal forms, or even with the standardization as proposed by many a representative of self-styled Konkani organizations, fails miserably. Today everyone performs the exercise of cost/benefit analysis before accepting any proposition or option, or even before buying an article. Here standardization of teaching Konkani as an optional subject in South Kanara or Udupi schools, fails to entice students and their parents. The self-styled protagonists of Konkani fail to understand a major point of fact which is stated below: Linguistically, Konkani community may be equated to a flower garden. Just as in a garden there are flowers of varying colour, fragrance, size, even genus of stench, each has a place of relevance and importance in that garden. That is why it is a flower garden. If one of the flowers, say rose, claims that it is the only genuine flower and the rest are all spurious it is absurd or idiotic. So are different dialects of Konkani. None or no section/clan of the Konkani Community can claim that the dialect of Konkani that he/she speaks is genuine one and others are spurious. Just as a garden that contains only rose plants or a single variety of flower plants, becomes not a garden but a commercial plantation, which will deprive that garden its aesthetic beauty. Or to put it differently, different dialects of Konkani may be compared to branches of a large tree i.e. Konkani. No branch can claim that it is the only legitimate one and the others are illegitimate. It is absurd and obscene as it casts aspersion on the mother tree by one of its children. How ignominious and deplorable that is! Therefore, all dialects of Konkani are to be respected and promoted since any attempts to standardize are bound to fail. Hence, the Konkani linguistic community is to be nurtured as a floral garden and not by standardization as attempting to plant a commercial plantation. Despite this disheartening note, I am confident Konkani will continue to exist as long as Konkanis continue to speak it, in its varied dialectal forms and shall continue to exist as a flower garden, provided the same appreciation, affection, and passionate love by Konkanis to their varied dialectal mother
[Goanet]Konkani and script
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B.B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim, GOA - 403521 (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.tskk.org Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release Thanking you, Yours truly, Pratap Naik, S.J. Director ** Thomas Stephens Konknni Kedr (TSKK) as an institution devoted to linguistic research into the Konkani language (recognized as a research institute by Goa University) would like to draw the attention of Konkanis to a few important points regarding language and script, in the context of a controversy being raised by certain politically motivated elements to create confusion about the issue. 1. Central Hindi Directorate of Govt. of India brought out an official book, written by eminent linguistic scholars like Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterji, titled 'Devanagari - Development, amplification and standardisation' They give the gist of language, alphabet and script, which we too emphasize and propose to you for serious consideration: "* Language is something that is intrinsic to personality. * Alphabet has a certain relation to language and some alphabets express different sounds more successfully than others. * Scripts are an abstraction thrice removed from direct experience. * Any alphabet can be written in any script and therefore it follows that any language can be written in any script, provided the alphabet has the necessary sounds. If it has not, such sounds may be added and visual symbols invented or adopted to represent them. * The only basis on which to prefer a script should therefore be clarity, legibility and capacity for easy manual and mechanical manipulation." 2. Though Devanagari is best suited to represent the sounds of Sanskrit, in ancient times Sanskrit used Brahmi script, and then the descendants of Brahmi, viz. Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Devanagari. Devanagari cannot show a number of sounds proper to Konkani, and its use is not as scientific as in Sanskrit because of inconsistent spelling. Devanagari cannot be the natural script for Konkani because it was not evolved for Konkani. 3. Konkani has used Roman script right from 16th century. Instances of use of Kannada script from 17th century in Goa, and in Karnataka Kannada script has been used for Konkani for over a hundred years. Devanagari script has been used only from the beginning of the last century in Goa, and very few use it elsewhere to write Konkani. 4. The resolution passed by the Sahitya Akademi recognizing Konkani as an independent modern literary language of India at the meeting of the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi held on 26 February 1976 is as follows: "As Konkani fulfils the criteria formulated by the Akademi for recognition of a language, it is recognized as an independent modern literary language of India. "With regard to programmes in Konkani like the annual award, publications, constitution and meetings of the Advisory Board, etc., involving expenditure, Sahitya Akademi should request the Government of India to provide the necessary extra funds. Such programmes and other activities should be undertaken only when extra funds are available." Here there is no mention of Devanagari script whatever. That was later on hoisted on Konkani by false propaganda. 5. The Constitution (seventy-first amendment) Act, 20th August,1992, does not mention the script of Konkani: "There have been demands for inclusion of certain languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. It is proposed to include Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution." The amendment reads: "(a) existing entry 7 shall be numbered as entry 8, and before entry 8 as so re-numbered, the entry "7. Konkani." shall be inserted;" It is true, however, that only the Goa state when declaring its state language has mentioned Konkani in Devanagari. 6. The Constitution of India in defining Cultural and Educational Rights, has ensured the liberty of choice of script: " 29. Protection of interests of minorities. - (1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same." In view of the above six points we sincerely believe that language is primarily important. The importance of the script comes only at the written level. Therefore it occupies the secondary importance. Nobody can impose a single script on the entire society. Society has the right to decide script or scripts for their language. Common script should be evolved with consensus and dialogue. Yours truly, Dr Pratap Naik, S.J. Director
[Goanet]100 years of Konkani novel
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B.B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim, GOA - 403521 ( (0832) 2415857, 2415864 E-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] July 30, 2005 Sir, I have sent a report prepared by our librarian Mrs. Preeta Naik on 100 years of Konkani novel. The first Konkani novel was published on 31 July 1905. This year on Sunday 31st July the Konkani novel completes 100 years. The first Konkani novel was written by Eduardo Bruno de Souza. You are free to edit it. In case you find it too lengthy you could omit the first paragraph. Pratap Naik, S.J. Director 100 YEARS OF KONKANI NOVEL KRISTANV GHORABO - Preeta Naik, Librarian, TSKK Alto Porvorim, Goa. The novel is a very important genre of literature in any language. Throughout the world in each language a number of famous writers have written novels. Among the readers too reading novels of well known writers or award winning novels, is a favourite pastime. In our tiny Goa most of the readers nowadays prefer to read English novels. Unfortunately, most of the Goans who pretend to be regular readers of English, ignore their own mother tongue Konkani because they do not appreciate it enough, and do not know that they possess some great Konkani novels about which they can be really proud. Exactly 100 years ago today the first Konkani novel was born, and today we are celebrating the centenary of this Konkani novel. On 31 July 1905 the first Konkani novel Kristanv Ghorabo was published, and Eduardo Jose Bruno de Souza is the writer of this first novel. It should be noted that it was written in the Roman script. This novel has 174 pages consisting 25 chapters. Eduardo in this first Konkani novel speaks of a family living the Christian ideal in their day to day life. When writing Kristanv Ghorabo Eduardo set himself the ideal of using a phonetically correct way of writing Konkani sounds, viz. following the 'one sound one symbol' principle. Therefore in the introduction he provides a key to the symbols he uses for the different Konkani sounds. Thus he makes use of the symbols William Jones used for retroflex sounds like ' t, d, n, l, s' with a dot under the letter, and even 'r' with a dot under the letter, where it is pronounced that way in place of 'dd' at the end of the word and in the middle of a word. For the first letter of the Konkani alphabet he uses a special symbol something like letter 'o' with two dots on it as opposed to 'a' the second letter of the alphabet. Uses ~ (tilde) to mark the nasal sound on a vowel wherever it occurs. He uses the letter 'y' wherever this sound occurs. Thus his system of writing Konkani, which he calls the 'Marian Alphabet' is an improved version compared to the current system of writing Konkani in the Roman script. Eduardo was born in Assonora village on 7th October 1836, in a house called Vhoddlem Ghor. Eduardo mastered Konkani, Portuguese and English and many other Indian languages. He was educated at Rachol for a number of years. He had a youger brother who was a priest and later Vicar General. Eduardo gave up his studies because of misunder-standings. Then he worked in Pune at a photographic firm. Later, he worked in Bombay staying at Dabul, where he died on 5th December 1905. He is also responsible for introducing the Konkani language into the field of Journalism. He regularly contributed to the 'O Heraldo' of Panjim, where he wrote articles on the Konkani Language under the pen name of 'Ejobudeza' meaning Eduardo Jose Bruno de Souza. He was Konkani's first journalist-Editor and the first Konkani journal he started was 'Udentechem Sallok', first printed and published in Poona on 2 February 1889. Eduardo Bruno de Souza was a great devotee of Our Lady, hence the name of the periodical 'Udentechem Sallok' stood for her name. Making use of his periodical, Eduardo began writing a grammar of Bardeshi Konkani in a series of articles. Unfortunately, he could not complete the grammar because the paper folded up in 1894. After Eduardo Jose Bruno De Souza started 'Udentechem Sallok' a chain of Ko nkani periodicals like Konknni Dirvem 1913; 'Dor Mhoineachi Rotti', 1914; 'Ave Maria', 1919; 'The Goa Mail', 1919; 'The Goa Times', 1930; 'Vavraddeancho Ixtt', 1933; 'Raknno' 1938; 'Poinnari' 1940; 'Udentechem Neketr' 1946' 'Konkani Daiz' 1958, etc. 'Monti Saibinnichim anim sabar dusrim Gayonam' (Hymns to Our Lady of the Mount, and several others), 1901; 'Ressurreicao do Concani', (Resurrection of Konkani), series of articles on Konkani in the 'O Heraldo' of Goa, 1905; 'Khuxalponnacho Ghorabo ani Ponchtis Kunvor' (Happy Family and Thirty five princes); 'Sorgacho Tthevo' (Treasure of heaven), 1915. He enriched Konkani literature through his writings. Through his masterpiece 'Eva ani Mori' he attempts to imitate the poetic vein of Camões and Dante. "A piece of poetry I wrote during the free time to rehearse the language which is not polished. The reader will come to know that even in the deplorable state she is in, our
[Goanet]Konkani Parishad
Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following article. Pratap aik, S.J. KONKANI SAHITYA PARISHAD AND FASCISM Nelson Lopes Chinchinim The all India Konkani Sahitya Parishad, a defunct and obsolete body of manipulators, is dictating terms to others as to what script Konkani should have and which Bhasha Mandal should be taken under its fold. Mr. Madhav Manjunath Shanbhag, formed the All India Konkani Sahitya Parishad in 1939 in Karwar. His vision in forming this body was to exchange the best amongst the Konkanis spread across the Konkan region and to unite Konkanis. The Parishad remained somewhat faithful to Shanbhag's avowed noble objective until 1975. It gave due recognition to the minority Konkanis, who steadfastly stood by the language and its culture. Post 1975 the Parishad was hijacked by a coterie of Devanagari fundamentalists. Their ideas were not in conformity with Shanbhag's, but reflected those of Hitler and Mussolini. The ideals of Madhav Shanbhag on which Parishad was founded, were discarded by these fanatics and new mantra was adopted , i.e., One Language, One Script, One Literature and One Society based on Hitler's philosophy "One Language, One Race, One Nation". The devastating results of the Nazi enforcement of its obnoxious , inhuman and perverted ideals were for everyone to see. Hitler annihilated six million Jews, including women and children not only in Germany but also in Poland to enforce his view on others. This one nation, one language one religion theory is also propagated and religiously followed by the Sangh Pariwar. The economic hegemony of the world powers, to enslave the world's poor countries, through globalization revolves around the same line of thinking. It is outright obsolete and redundant. It only aims to dominate and thereby suppress the unsuspecting voiceless masses. They are pushed to the brink and indoctrinated to believe, that their language, script, literature and culture are inferior, that they are pro-western and unsuitable to come into the sanctum sanctorum of Konkani. The tricky and forcible imposition of Devanagari, is a deliberate conspiracy to denationalize the minority community. The plan promotes the casteist ideologies of Manu, the Patron Saint of these cowards, who only cheered from their roof-tops, when bus loads of Konkani agitators where marching towards Azad Maidan to fight for Konkani. These agitators faced brickbats, lathis and bullets, whereas a few fundamentalists are enjoying the privileges that accrued as a result of the blood shed by the brave Konkani agitators. It is a historical fact and hard reality, that the minority community was used during the opinion poll, the language agitation and also during the fight for Statehood. No tangible benefits have accrued to them out of any of these agitations. The centuries old Roman script literature, the sacrifices and the martyrdom that the community has suffered, have all gone down the drain and in vain. Coming back to the Parishad, a body of desecrators who rise from hibernation once in two years. What has the Parishad done for Konkani, in Goa where it is the Official Language? The Govt. still patronizes, Marathi medium schools at the primary level and also at the secondary level. Has the Parishad done anything to change the medium to Konkani? The minority community runs 125 Konkani medium primary schools, but the majority community runs only 8 Konkani medium primary schools, and 77 Marathi medium primary schools. The minority community's 126 High schools offer Konkani as a third language, whereas out of the 158 High schools of the majority community only 76 schools offer Konkani as a third language. Why is the Sahitya Parishad not interested in changing this scenario? and why it maintains its stoic silence on this issue? Is it because the Konkani Sahitya Parishad does only lip service to Konkani, and its true loyalties lie with Marathi? I appreciate the Marathiwadis, they practice what they preach, but the Sahitya Parishad members only bask in hypocrisy. They label their own Konkani brothers as 'Deshi Pakhles' (homebred foreigners) and do not stop to spew venom on fellow Goans, when the issue of Roman Script is raised. The Govt. should stop giving grants to the Parishad and other Konkani institutions, who in the name of official language swindle money. Let the same money be spent by the Govt. on bettering the lot of the suffering public. The funds allotted for Konkani are used by these disgruntled crooks who do nothing for Konkani, but are bent upon dividing the Konkanis for their ulterior gains. Sensible Goans, who have a love for their land and the language, should disown and discard this farce called Konkani Sahitya Parishad. The Parishad and its devious activists should be boycotted. The Parishad is not a representative body of Konkanis. It does not adhere to democratic norms. It is against the basic tenants of pluralism and natural justice. It believes and promotes "
[Goanet]Konkani meeting of Roman script writers
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim GOA - 403 521, INDIA (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release. Pratap Naik, S.J. Director Resolutions passed during Roman script Konkani writers, tiatrists, and artists' meeting held at Margão on August 08, 2005 More than fifty Konkani writers, tiatrists, and artists and readers of Roman script Konkani held a meeting at Grace Church hall at Margão on Monday, 8th August 2005 at 4.00 p.m. The meeting was convened by Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA), to demand equal status for Roman script Konkani with that of Devanagari. Mr. Tomazinho Cardozo, the president of DKA, DKA Executive members Mr. Wilson Mazarello and Fr. Pratap Naik, S.J., well known tiatrist Mr. Mario Menezes addressed the gathering, and explained the need of including Roman script Konkani in the Language Act. Mr. Ullas Buyãv, Cosma Fernandes, Boniface Dias, Jose Gomes, Michael Gracias, and others took part in the discussion. Mr. Jose Salvadore Fernandes, the secretary of DKA proposed vote of thanks. The following resolutions were passed unanimously: 1. Goa's Konkani community is divided into two groups, namely those who read and write Konkani in Devanagari script, and those who read and write Konkani in Roman script. Therefore Goa Government should give equal and official status to Konkani written in Devanagari and Roman scripts. For this the Govt. should modify the Language Act accordingly. The present Language Act,1987 2. (c) reads "Konkani language" means Konkani language in Devanagari script. We propose the following amendment to 2. (c): "Konkani language" means Konkani language in Devanagari and Roman scripts. 2. Goa Government recognizes Marathi Akademi as the official Akademi for Marathi in Goa and gives grants. Similarly, Goa Government must recognize Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) as the official NGO of Konkani in Roman script and give the same amount of grants which the Govt. gives to Goa Konkani Akademi (GKA) and Marathi Akademi. 3. So far, Goa Govt. has not appointed the president of GKA from the Roman script group. The term of the present GKA president will be completed in the month of November 2005. Hence this time Govt. must appoint the president of GKA from the minority community. In the future, Govt. could appoint the president by turns from Devanagari script and Roman script groups. 4. GKA is a Govt. institution. At present a nominee of the All India Konkani Parishad is the ex-officio member of GKA. GKA Constitution must be amended to include a nominee of Dalgado Konknni Akademi as the ex-officio member of GKA. Goa Govt. appoints three persons eminent in the field of Konkani language, literature or culture as ex-officio members of GKA. While nominating these three persons Govt. should give equal representation to Devanagari and Roman script groups. 5. In the past Kala Akademi (KA) used to give annual prizes for books published in Devanagari and Roman scripts. For the last many years it has stopped giving awards to books written in Roman script. KA should be ordered to give awards to Roman script Konkani writers, and extend to them all other projects and schemes which are available to Konkani in Devanagari script. 6. Kala Akademi gives Gomantak Sharada Puroskar to Konkani writers in Devanagari script and Marathi writers. In future KA must consider and give this prestigious award to Roman script writers and artists as well. 7. Kala Akademi is established to promote the culture of Goa. Hence it should be asked to hold competitions and to promote non-stop Konkani drama, one-act plays in Konkani in Roman script, Mandos, Dekhnnis, Christmas carols, Church hymns, Motets, Intruz khells, Kantaram, Kunbi songs and dances, and other folk arts. 8. Govt. must name its new theatre for the performing arts in Margão, in honour of Late João Augustinho Fernandes, who is popularly known as "Pai Tiatrist". By doing this Govt. will honour a great Goan tiatrist and his minority community. If this is not done we are forced to consider it as an insult done by the Govt. to Goans and Goan tiatrists and artists. 9. Tiatr is the most popular form of theatre in Goa. To promote this local art form Goa Govt. should make available its theatres in Panaji, Ponda and elsewhere at subsidized rates for tiatrs. This generous gesture of the Govt. will boost the tiatr industry. 10. Goa Konkani Akdemi, Kala Akademi, Directorate of Art and Culture, and other Govt. departments while publishing Konkani books, should publish them in both Devanagari script and Roman script. 11. In school syllabus, lessons from Roman script Konkani must be given equal representation without changing the language and style. In college and university syllabus Konkani literature written in Roman script should be taught in Roman script itself. Students who opt for Konkani as a major subject at T.Y. B
[Goanet]Release of TSKK Konkani orthography in Roman script
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B.B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim, GOA - 403521 ( (0832) 2415857, 2415864 E-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Website:www.tskk.org August 16, 2005 Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release. Thanking you, Yours truly, Dr. Pratap Naik, S.J. Director TSKK KONKANI ORTHOGRAPHY IN ROMAN SCRIPT "TSKK Romi Lipi" a booklet of 52 pages which deals with the modified Roman orthography of Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) to write Konkani in Roman script, was released by the veteran Konkani singer Mr. Ullas Buyanv on 15th August during a public function organized by Dalgado Konknni Akademi at Grace Church Hall, Margão. Konkanis who read, write and support Konkani in Roman script were present for the function. The book is written by Dr. Pratap Naik, S.J and it is published by TSKK, Alto Porvorim. While releasing the book Mr. Buyanv said, though he is a Konkani speaker and supporter of Konkani, for his religious purpose he uses Sanskrit and Marathi. This is the ground reality with practically the entire Hindu community of Goa. If the entire Hindu community uses Marathi for their religious purpose, the Goan catholic community has the right to continue and foster their religious tradition using Konkani in Roman script. Further he said that the Portuguese ruled Goa for 450 years. The British never ruled Goa. Even then, present day Goans have accepted English and discarded Portuguese. This is the sad part of the story. Goans once again should take interest to study Portuguese to understand old documents and records related to land and property. Mr. Tomazinho Cardozo, the President of the Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) explained to the audience the aims and objectives of DKA. He said that every Goan should take pride to speak Konkani and to read Konkani in any script. He stressed the point that without Konkani Goa will lose its identity, and Goans will become strangers in their own land. Pratap Naik, the director of TSKK compared Devanagari and Roman scripts to two wheels of a cart. With these two wheels the cart will move smoothly. Both the wheels are equally important and necessary for Konkani to exist, to flourish and to progress. He further challenged those who oppose Roman script saying that they should give up cashew, pineapple, papaya, potato, desk, table, bench, chair, computer, scooter and hundreds of objects of foreign origin. If these objects of foreign origin are part of Goan way of life then Roman script with its 494 years of history in Goa is the integral part of Goan life. Roman script for Konkani has come to remain in Goa and it will continue to remain. Fr. Cleto Pereira, the parish priest of Grace Church was the guest of honour. Mr. Salvador Fernandes, the secretary of DKA proposed vote of thanks. Mr. Michael Gracias, a budding tiatrist was a compere of the function. The function was followed by a quiz competition on the theme 'Independence of India'. TSKK took the initiative to modify the existing Roman orthography to suit the Konkani speech sounds, the requirements of e-mail and other computer applications. TSKK has evolved an orthography for Konkani which is scientific and at the same time user friendly. TSKK orthography makes use of a linear typing system without diacritics, making use of only the standard computer keyboard. It has used 24 alphabets of the Roman alphabet and added only two phonetic symbols available on the keyboard. Except three major and one minor speech sound all other speech sounds of Konkani are correctly represented in TSKK orthography. At present among all the orthographies used to write Konkani, TSKK Orthography is the closest to the pronunciation. It has 96% accuracy. 100% accuracy could not be attained because TSKK orthography makes use of physically visible computer keyboard and avoids diacritical marks. One has to read what is written just like Sanskrit orthography. Therefore it is ideal and best suited to write Konkani. This booklet contains a few Konkani texts in TSKK Roman Orthography, Devanagari and Kannada scripts. TSKK hopes that these texts will help Konkanis, and others to read and write Konkani in Roman script. The booklet is available at TSKK office, Zito Almeida, Margao, St. Paul's Bookshop, Panaji, Varsha Bookstall, Panaji and at Bom Jesus Bookstall, Old Goa.
[Goanet]Re: TREMENDOUS RESPONSE - FOR SEND AN EMAIL - KONKANI ROMAN SCRIPT
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim GOA - 403 521, INDIA (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org Mogall ixttamno, For eighteen years we partly neglected our heritage, namely our dialect, script and culture. We were made to believe myths as facts. Now the light has dawned on us. Now we demand neither charity nor favours. We demand our rights as citizens of India. To achieve our goals we must work and fight together. Unfortunately in India unless we make a lot of noise nothing is achieved. E-mails are pouring in. It is really encouraging sign for us at the grass roots level. E-mail alone will not do. they must be followed by letters. Goans and Konkani lovers must flood the secretariat with letters. At each constituency voters must demand from their political leaders their rightful demands for Roman script. Let us become the prophetic voice of our voiceless brethren. Dev Borem Korum Pratap Naik, S.J. Director
[Goanet]A message for World Konkani day
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim GOA - 403 521, INDIA (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org A MESSAGE FOR WORLD KONKANI DAY On 20th August 1992 Konkani was included in the Constitution of India. Since then our mother tongue Konkani got the official status as one of the Offical Languages of India. to remember this historical event let us celebrate it as WORLD KONKANI DAY. I have no better words than the words of 19th century Italian Jesuit Konkani scholar Fr. A.F.X. Maffei (12.11.1844 - 31.05.1899) who worked in Mangalore. In his Konkani grammar of May 1892, "Konknni Ranantlo Sobit Sundor Tallo or A Sweet Voice From The Konkani Desert" pages x to xi he has said: "In fact, Konkani is a really beautiful, graceful, and, so to say, a smiling language, but, being uncultivated, its beauty is hidden. Let us call this queen, confined to a desert, among us, by study and we shall soon perceive sounds of sweetness. Let us hope that the Konkani race, so distinguished in other respects, will one day awake to a full knowledge of the hidden treasure they possess, and beginning to cultivate their beautiful language, as all civilised nations do, add to other elements this still wanted element of civilization. Will they still bear that foreigners dig their treasures while they remain indifferent lookers on? Let them understand that what we, foreigners, do in this respect, is directed to point out the nobility of their language and consequently to ennoble their race. For this purpose their co-operation is required, but co-operation in union" This dream of Fr. Maffei has remained unfulfilled. We Konkanis (Konkani speakers or people of Konkani origin) of the world together can fulfill his lovely dream. Hail Konkani. Hail Konkanis. Pratap Naik, S.J. Director
[Goanet] Roman Script Movement (RSM) in Goa
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim GOA - 403 521, INDIA (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org Do you know RSM? It stands for Roman Script Movement. Why RSM? Roman script Konkani was the foundation on which Konkani was recognized by Central govt. Only in Goa Language act of 1987, for the reasons best known to Konknni Porjecho Avaz (KPA) Roman script was ignored and Devanagari was inserted as the official script for Konkani. Some Roman script writers have said the it was a "Conspiracy" by vested interest group. Therefore now RSM demands to rectify the past SIN by amending the Language Act of Goa (LAG)1987. Present situation: So far none of the local politicians have openly supported the move to amend LAG. Their silence could be interpreted has indirect support to RSM. In Bible Jesus says, "Those who are not against us are with us". Mr. Eduardo Faleiro's, (an ex. M.P. of Goa) statement supporting official status to dual scripts for Goa has been published in Herald daily (25th august) page 4. What has been done so far: 1.RSM has sent memorandum to 40 MLAs and M.Ps of Goa. RSM members have met a few politicians. They are going meet other MLAs. Future course of Action: Have patience. Wait for a surprise! ROMAN SCRIPT MOVEMENT (RSM) RSM demands from Goa Govt. the following: 1. Goa Government should give equal and official status to Konkani written in Devanagari and Roman scripts. For this the Govt. should modify the Language Act accordingly. The present Language Act,1987 2. (c) reads "Konkani language" means Konkani language in Devanagari script. We propose the following amendment to 2. (c): "Konkani language" means Konkani language in Devanagari and Roman scripts. 2. Goa Government recognizes Marathi Akademi as the official Akademi for Marathi in Goa and gives grants. Similarly, Goa Government must recognize Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) as the official NGO of Konkani in Roman script and give the same amount of grants which the Govt. gives to Goa Konkani Akademi (GKA) and Marathi Akademi. 3. So far, Goa Govt. has not appointed the president of GKA from the Roman script group. The term of the present GKA president will be completed in the month of November 2005. Hence this time Govt. must appoint the president of GKA from Roman script writers. 4. GKA is a Govt. institution. At present a nominee of the All India Konkani Parishad is the ex-officio member of GKA. GKA Constitution must be amended to include a nominee of Dalgado Konknni Akademi as the ex-officio member of GKA. Goa Govt. appoints three eminent persons as ex-officio members of GKA. While nominating these three persons Govt. should give equal representation to Devanagari and Roman script. 5. For the last many years Kala Akademi (KA) has stopped giving awards to books written in Roman script. KA should be ordered to give awards to Roman script Konkani writers, and extend to them all other projects and schemes which are available to Konkani in Devanagari script. 6. Kala Akademi gives Gomantak Sharada Puroskar to Konkani writers in Devanagari script and Marathi writers. In future KA must consider and give this prestigious award to Roman script writers and artists as well. 7. Kala Akademi is established to promote the culture of Goa. Hence it should be asked to promote cultural forms of roman script Konkani. 8. Govt. must name its new theatre for the performing arts in Margão, in honour of Late João Agostinho Fernandes, who is popularly known as "Pai Tiatrist". 9. Tiatr is the most popular form of theatre in Goa. Therefore Govt. must promote it. 10. Govt. institutions and Govt. departments while publishing Konkani books, should publish them in both Devanagari script and Roman script. 11. In school syllabus, lessons from Roman script Konkani must be given equal representation without changing the language and style. In colleges and university the syllabus should include Konkani literature written in Roman script. 12. Konkani has two representatives in Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Goa Govt. sends three names to Sahitya Akademi as its nominees. Let the Goa Govt. send names of Devanagari writers and Roman script writers by turns. 13. To promote Konkani films the Govt. must establish a separate board with equal representation of artists from both scripts. Pratap Naik, S.J. TSKK
[Goanet] Pune Bishop's support to Roman Script Movement
Hello, Pune Bishop has supported Roman script Movement (RSM). I hope that other bishops will take note of this and follow the example and leadership of Pune Bishop -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 3:14 PM To: Cute Jill, St.Xaviers; Daryl Gandhi, St. Xavier's; Francis, St. Xavier's; Joe George, St.Xaviers; MA Joseph, St. Xaviers; Maria Gandhi, St. xavier's; Melange, St. xavier's; Melvyn, St. Xaviers; Merlyn Fernandes, St. Xaviers; Michelle Fernandes, St. Xaviers; Patrick, St. Xaviers; S Klasse, St.Xaviers; Stany, St.Xaviers; Vijita D, St.Xaviers Subject: Language Act of 1987 Bishop's House Pune 411 001 26 August 2005 Dear Lover of Konkani in the Roman Script, If you are interested kindly send the text given below or an adaptation of it to the Chief Minister of Goa and copies to the 3 addresses given belo. Konkani in the Roman Script is about 500 years old. In this technological age the Roman Script is universal. Wishing you God's belssings, Yours devotedly in Christ, + Valerian D'Souza Bishop of Poona E-mail IDs of Hon'ble Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. Pratapsing Raoji Rane: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Fax No: +91833464 Rev.Fr. Pratap Naik, Director, TSKK, Porvorim: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mr. Tomazinho Cardoso, President, Dalgado Konkanni Akademi: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mr. Luizinho Faleiro: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Hon'ble Chief Minister of Goa Secretariat Panaji, Goa 403 001 Sir, The Goans are proud of their mother tongue. Some read and write in the Devanagari Script and others in the Roman SCript. Both groups should be treated equally. The Language Act of 1987, 2(c) means Konkani in the Devanagari Script when it speaks of "Konkani Language". It should be amended to include the Roman Script and read: - "Konkani Language means Konkani Language in Devanagari and Roman Script. I hope your government will take the necessary steps to do justice to both the communities of Goa and promote our mother tongue in Konkani, the pride of Goa. Your prompt action will be remembered and appreciated bye very Goan and Konkani Lover. With best wishes, Yours truly From: -- --
[Goanet] Tomazinho Cardozo's talk at XCHR
On 15th December 2005 at 6.00 p.m. during "History Hour" at Xavier Centre of Historical Research Mr. Tomazinho Cardozo delivered the following lecture. SOCIO - ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE GOAN COMMUNITY THROUGH THE KONKANI LANGUAGE By Tomazinho Cardozo I am neither a historian nor a linguist. I am only a social activist and that compelled me to participate in almost all the issues, movements, etc., which affected the Goan society. Konkani language was one such issue which dominated the Goa scene for more than 25 years after the liberation of Goa in 1961. Being a part and parcel of the Goan society and being a strong believer of the Goan Identity through Konkani language, I did not only participate in the agitation to make Konkani Language the Official Language of the state of Goa but also contributed to its development through literature, culture and education. I have experienced the impact of Konkani language on the Goan society before the Liberation of Goa, after Liberation and before the enactment of Goa Official Language Act and after Konkani in Devanagari script became the Official Language of Goa. I am going to place before you my experiences about the Konkani language and its scripts vis-à-vis the socio-economic growth of the Goan Society. During the Portuguese regime in Goa, Konkani language was not given any importance. The elite of Goan society used it only to converse with their servants. They felt ashamed to make use of it in public. They sent their children to get a Portuguese education. Hindus preferred Marathi education while majority of the children coming from poor catholic families studied Konkani in Roman script in church schools. The church schools, besides Portuguese and Konkani in Roman script used to teach music. I was one of the few students in my village who started learning through Konkani in Roman script. Educationally Konkani language did not have any value during the Portuguese rule. Economically too, Konkani language was not at all advantageous to the people as job opportunities were open only to those who studied in Portuguese. As such the weaker sections of the society suffered. They could not earn their daily bread. This had an adverse effect on the economic growth of the Goan society. Culturally also it was the same trend. Hindus, as they promoted Marathi education without the help of the Government, continued to promote their culture too without any patronage from the Government. The elite of the Christian community, who used to speak in Portuguese in their daily life, did not favour Konkani culture except for the promotion of Mando & Dulpods which came to be identified with their status while the entertainment for the poor masses was tiatr. Due to these factors the economic growth, educational development and cultural unity of Goans suffered. Goa was liberated on 19th December 1961. After almost 450 years of Portuguese rule, Goa achieved freedom and became a part and parcel of our motherland, India. Elections were conducted and Maharaxttravadi Gomantak Party (MGP) formed the first democratically elected Government in free Goa. Unfortunately, people of Goa elected MGP to power a party which was a strong protagonist of Marathi language. In fact they fought the election on two important issues i.e. (1) Marathi to be the Official language of Goa and (2) Merger of Goa with Maharashtra. On the other hand United Goans Party (UGP) which contested the elections on twin issues such as (1) Konkani as the Official language of Goa and (2) Separate Statehood for Goa was defeated. Statistics proved that the people of Goa exercised their franchise on communal lines. MGP won the seats where a majority of the electorate included people from Hindu community while UGP won the seats in areas that were dominated by Christians. MGP ruled for 17 long years. Promotion of Konkani language, Konkani culture and Konkani education was not the agenda of MGP. They promoted Marathi education and Marathi language. As they could not neglect the presence of Konkani language and culture, they started promoting Tiatrs through Kala Akademi. Literary awards were also given to Konkani books in Roman as well as in Devanagari scripts. Economically too, Konkani community of Goa, Christians in particular, was at a disadvantage as far as Government jobs were concerned because of the lack of the knowledge of Marathi. They had to depend only on their expertise in English. The Hindus on the other hand, including the supporters of Konkani, were better off because they were well versed in Marathi besides English. 17 years rule of MGP in Goa, although it brought a lot of development to Goa, it could not deliver the goods to all sections of the society and hence failed to give social, economic, cultural and educational justice to Goans as one community. Subsequently UGP merged with Congress Party and in the 1979 elections MGP was defeated and the first Congress Government t
[Goanet] Konkani coursein Devanagari script at TSKK
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road Alto Porvorim - 403 521, GOA, INDIA (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org December 20, 2005 Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release. Thanking you, Yours Sincerely, Pratap Naik, S.J. Director KONKANI BASIC COURSE Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) will conduct the Konkani Basic Course in Devanagari script from Monday 02 January 2006 to 28 February 2006 (both days inclusive) at TSKK premises at Alto Porvorim. Classes will be held from Monday to Friday in the morning from 10.00 p.m. to 12.30 p. m.. TSKK will conduct this course mainly for those who wish to learn basic Konkani. This course uses a modern linguistic approach to teach Konkani to beginners. Though spoken Konkani will get primary stress, reading Konkani in Devanagari script will also get the importance. Hence this course is open to those who have a sufficient knowledge of Devanagari script. This would mean that the student must know either Hindi or Marathi or Sanskrit to read sufficiently well. Admissions are based on first come first served basis. For details contact TSKK during office during office hours. Contact 2415857, 2415864. -- |Goa - 2005 Santosh Trophy Champions | || | Support Soccer Activities at the grassroots in our villages | | Vacationing in Goa this year-end - Carry and distribute Soccer Balls | --
[Goanet] APKP to Jess Fernandes
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road Alto Porvorim- 403 521, GOA, India ( (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org October 5, 2005 Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release. Thanking you, Pratap Naik, S.J. Director ANTONIO PEREIRA KONKNNI PUROSKAR TO JESS FERNANDES Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) has chosen the veteran Konkani writer and poet in Devanagari and Roman scripts, Mr. Jess Fernandes, as the recipient of Antonio Pereira Konkani Puroskar (APKP) for the year 2005. He is chosen for his valuable contribution to Konkani such as poetry, short stories, journalism and performance arts for the last forty five years. The award consists of a shawl, memento and a cheque of Rs. 25,000/-. The award will be conferred on him by Mr. M.V. Naik, the Director of Art and Culture, Goa on 26th October at a public function to be held at Municipal Hall, Quepem. He was born at Palolem, Canacona on 6th September 1941. He studied up to the 7th year of Portuguese Lyceum, and completed his B.A. He holds a Diploma in sanitation. He started his career as a Portuguese primary teacher. Later he served in the Health Department of Goa in various categories as a para-medical officer. He retired in 1999. He has to his credit 29 books. Some of his books are 'Paimvatt', 1994 (poetry); 'Punor Jivon', 1994 (short stories); novels: 'Nirmonn', 'Jitlem divxi titlem ghevxi',1966, 'Don Rupam', 1969. He has contributed articles, short stories, poems and book reviews to local dailies and periodicals. He has worked in the field of translation. He has translated poems of a number of eminent Indian and European poets. He has translated five books of wisdom of the Bible for the Goa diocese. Besides his literary work he has extensively contributed in the field of khell, khell-tiatr, tiatr and drama writing, directing and acting. He started to give radio programmes from 5th October 1958 to the then Emissora de Goa. After liberation he continued to give regular programmes on All India Radio, Panaji and later on Doordarshan, Goa. He has been in the field of Mando festival from the time of its inception in 1965 and received several prizes for himself and for his troupe. His poems are included in the textbooks. His poems and short stories are included in various literary anthologies. He has taken part in workshops, seminars, poetry recitation programmes in Goa and outside Goa. His hobbies are arborics, painting, music, folk art and journalism. He says that his aim in life is to live for his mother tongue Konkani, and to leave a small footprint on the soil of his motherland. Jess Fernandes is a man of many facets and talents and thus a boon to Konkani and Goa. <>
[Goanet] Second edition of TSKK Romi Lipi within a month
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B.B. Borkar Road, Alto Porvorim, GOA - 403521 ( (0832) 2415857, 2415864 E-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Website:www.tskk.org October 5, 2005 Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release. I have sent the photograph of the function as an attachment. Thanking you, Yours truly, Dr. Pratap Naik, S.J. Director SECOND EDITION OF TSKK KONKANI ORTHOGRAPHY IN ROMAN SCRIPT The first edition of "TSKK Romi Lipi" a booklet of 52 pages which deals with the modified Roman orthography of Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) to write Konkani in Roman script, was released by the veteran Konkani singer Mr. Ullas Buyanv on 15th August at Grace Church Hall, Margão. TSKK printed 750 copies. Within a month all copies were sold out. TSKK improved and edited the text and now published the second edition of the book on 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti Day. Since there is a demand for this booklet 1000 copies have been printed. The book is written by Dr. Pratap Naik, S.J and it is published by TSKK, Alto Porvorim. TSKK took the initiative to modify the existing Roman orthography to suit the Konkani speech sounds, the requirements of e-mail and other computer applications. TSKK has evolved an orthography for Konkani which is scientific and at the same time user friendly. TSKK orthography makes use of a linear typing system without diacritics, making use of only the standard computer keyboard. It has used 24 alphabets of the Roman alphabet and added only two phonetic symbols available on the keyboard. Except three major and one minor speech sound all other speech sounds of Konkani are correctly represented in TSKK orthography. At present among all the orthographies used to write Konkani in any script, TSKK Orthography is the closest to the pronunciation. It has 96% accuracy. 100% accuracy could not be attained because TSKK orthography makes use of physically visible computer keyboard and avoids diacritical marks. One has to read what is written just like Sanskrit orthography. Therefore it is ideal and best suited to write Konkani. This booklet contains a few Konkani texts in TSKK Roman Orthography, Devanagari and Kannada scripts. TSKK hopes that these texts will help Konkanis, and others to read and write Konkani in Roman script. The booklet is available at TSKK office, Zito Almeida, Margao, St. Paul's Bookshop, Panaji, Varsha Bookstall, Panaji and at Bom Jesus Bookstall, Old Goa.
[Goanet] apkp to jess fernandes
THOMAS STEPHENS KONKNNI KENDR B. B. Borkar Road Alto Porvorim- 403 521, GOA, India ( (0832) 2415857, 2415864 e-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website:www.tskk.org October5, 2005 Sir, Kindly give publicity to the following press release. Thanking you, Pratap Naik, S.J. Director ANTONIO PEREIRA KONKNNI PUROSKAR TO JESS FERNANDES Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (TSKK) has chosen the veteran Konkani writer and poet in Devanagari and Roman scripts, Mr. Jess Fernandes, as the recipient of Antonio Pereira Konkani Puroskar (APKP) for the year 2005. He is chosen for his valuable contribution to Konkani such as poetry, short stories, journalism and performance arts for the last forty five years. The award consists of a shawl, memento and a cheque of Rs. 25,000/-. The award will be conferred on him by Mr. M.V. Naik, the Director of Art and Culture, Goa on 26th October at a public function to be held at Municipal Hall, Quepem. He was born at Palolem, Canacona on 6th September 1941. He studied up to the 7th year of Portuguese Lyceum, and completed his B.A. He holds a Diploma in sanitation. He started his career as a Portuguese primary teacher. Later he served in the Health Department of Goa in various categories as a para-medical officer. He retired in 1999. He has to his credit 29 books. Some of his books are 'Paimvatt', 1994 (poetry); 'Punor Jivon', 1994 (short stories); novels: 'Nirmonn', 'Jitlem divxi titlem ghevxi',1966, 'Don Rupam', 1969. He has contributed articles, short stories, poems and book reviews to local dailies and periodicals. He has worked in the field of translation. He has translated poems of a number of eminent Indian and European poets. He has translated five books of wisdom of the Bible for the Goa diocese. Besides his literary work he has extensively contributed in the field of khell, khell-tiatr, tiatr and drama writing, directing and acting. He started to give radio programmes from 5th October 1958 to the then Emissora de Goa. After liberation he continued to give regular programmes on All India Radio, Panaji and later on Doordarshan, Goa. He has been in the field of Mando festival from the time of its inception in 1965 and received several prizes for himself and for his troupe. His poems are included in the textbooks. His poems and short stories are included in various literary anthologies. He has taken part in workshops, seminars, poetry recitation programmes in Goa and outside Goa. His hobbies are arborics, painting, music, folk art and journalism. He says that his aim in life is to live for his mother tongue Konkani, and to leave a small footprint on the soil of his motherland. Jess Fernandes is a man of many facets and talents and thus a boon to Konkani and Goa.
[Goanet] Script conspiracy by Devanagari Proponents
SCRIPT CONSPIRACY BY DEVANAGARI PROPONENTS. Episode I: Konkani and Sahitya Akademi: A fist full of Devanagari proponents for Konkani had a powerful wild dream, namely to acquire power, wealth, recognition, status and name. If they had remained with Marathi, nobody would have looked at their contribution to literature. They could not have dreamt any regional or national award or recognition for their negligible contribution to Marathi literature. Hence they joined hands with others to get the official recognition to Konkani. Their primary motive was not development of Konkani but their own personal interests. To their good luck the Marathi proponents who did not know the difference between dialect and language forcefully were saying that Konkani is not a language but a dialect of Marathi. Sahitya Akademi (SA), an autonomous institution of the Central Govt. which gives recognition to a language as modern literary language of India and gives annual literary award to each of the recognized language, declared Konkani as an independent literary language of India on February 26, 1975. At that time the Devanagari proponents did not have neither the quantity nor the quality of literature or dictionaries and grammars in Devanagari script. Hence they presented to the SA a list of Dictionaries and grammars written in Roman script, literature from Roman and Kannada scripts and convinced the authorities of SA the why Konkani should be recognized. Based on this the SA recognized Konkani. Here below in Document A we have given the exact text of the Akademi. In the text the script of Konkani is not mentioned. SA gave recognition to Konkani language and not to a particular script of Konkani. Document A: Excerpts from the meeting of the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi held on 26 February 1975: "As Konkani fulfils the criteria formulated by the Akdemi for recognition of a language, it is recognized as an independent modern literary language of India." "with regard to programmes in Konkani like the annual award, publications, constitution and meetings of the Advisory Board, etc., involving expenditure, Sahitya Akademi should request the government of India to provide the necessary extra funds. Such programmes and other activities should be undertaken only when extra funds are available." The SA is guided in its programmes by Advisory Boards in the respective languages. The Advisory Board of Konkani in SA was ruled by a few Devanagari proponents and to fool the public and to give the impression of democratic outlook they incorporated in their group one soft spoken person each from minority group from Goa and Karnataka. From Kerala they always took a person of their own group. They continued to share annual awards and the benefits of SA projects among themselves and Nagari supporters. Konkani writers of Kannada and Roman scripts complained to SA and demanded their literature must be considered for awards. To manipulate and misguide the SA, the Advisory Board of SA met on 21 November 1981 and recommended to SA that Devanagari script should be the sole script of Konkani! Who were the members of this Advisory Board of Konkani? On Goanet, on Wednesday, 12 October 2005, Mr. Godfrey Gonsalves, a freelance journalist has exposed the names and their conspiracy. Mr. Ravindra Kelekar was the convenor of the Advisory Board and the Executive member of Konkani in SA. The other members of the Advisory were: Uday Bhembre, Chandrakant Keni, Manoharrai Sardessai, N. Purushottam Mallya and William R. da Silva are still alive. Fr. Antonio Pereira (Goa), R.V. Pandit (Goa), Mr. B. . Borkar ( Goa), Dr. D. Sukhtankar (Bombay), Mr. V.J.P. Saldanha (Mangalore) are no more in this world. May their souls rest in peace. The harm the Advisory Board of SA has done to Konkani unity must be condemned and rectified without delay. Episode II: Konkani and the Eighth schedule of India's constitution In 1992, Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included in the Eighth Schedule of India's Constitution through an amendment. The amendment does not mention the script of Konkani. Kindly refer the Document B which is given here below. Document B: THE CONSTITUTION (SEVENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992 [31 August, 1992.] An Act further to amend the constitution of India. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-third Year of the Republic of India as Follows:- 1. Short title.-This Act may be called the Constitution (Seventy-first Amendment) Act, 1992. 2. Amendment of eighth Schedule. In the Eighth Schedule to the constitution,- (a) existing entry 7 shall be re-numbered as entry 8, and before entry 8 as so re-numbered, the entry "7. Konkani." shall be inserted; (b) existing entry 8 shall be re-numbered as entry 10, and before entry 10 as so re-numbered, the entry "9. Manipuri." shall be inserted; (c) existing entries 9 to 15 shall be re-numbered as entries 12 to 18 respectively, and before entry 12 as so re-numbered the entry "11. Nepali sha
[Goanet] Memorandum of Konkani to President
-- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | || | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | || | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -- All Goa Citizens' Committee Submits Memorandum of Konknni to President All Goa Citizens' Committee for Social Justice and Action's (AGCCSJA) delegation consisting of Mr. M.K.Jos, Mrs. Rhoda Almeida and Dr. Joe D'Souza, had a Meeting with President Dr. Abdul Kalam, at the Office of the Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, in the evening of 18th October 2005. they submitted to President AGCCSJA's Petition for RECOGNITION OF KONKNNI IN ROMAN SCRIPT which has been in use for 500 years. AGCCSJA's delegation emphasized that it is mandated in Article 347 of the Constitution of India that President has the Power and Authority to grant recognition for a language "...which is used by a large proportion of people in the State". Besides the Petition supported with three representative list of signatures from Petitioners out of 75,000 signatures from Petitioners demanding Konknni in Roman script, they also impressed upon the President: 1. Equal status for Konknni in Roman Script on par with Devanagari script. 2. Roman Script Konknni has been in use for 500 years. 3. 99% of Christian religious and secular writings in Goa are in Roman Script. 4. World famous Tiatr and Khell Tiatr are 100% in Roman Script. 5. Non-Resident Goans want Roman Script. 6. Recognition of roman Script will enable Minority Community to apply for jobs, presently denied. 7. The demand of AGCCSJA is valid and justifiable under Article 347 of the Constitution of India. 8. AGCCSJA expects 75,000 or more signatures of Petitioners. President considered AGCCSJA's Petition favourably, appreciated their concern for the welfare of Konkani and he has promised to study and examine the petition. Pratap Naik, S.J. TSKK Alto Porvorim, Goa -- | 1st Young Goans International Essay contest 2005 | || | Theme: WHAT CAN I DO FOR GOA | | More details at| | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/034190.html| --
[Goanet] script conspiracy
-- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | || | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | || | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -- KONKANI SCRIPT CONSPIRACY . Pratap Naik, S.J. TSKK, Alto Porvorim Episode I: Konkani and Sahitya Akademi: A fist full of Devanagari proponents for Konkani had a powerful wild dream, namely to acquire power, wealth, recognition, status and name. If they had remained with Marathi, nobody would have looked at their contribution to literature. They could not have dreamt any regional or national award or recognition for their negligible contribution to Marathi literature. Hence they joined hands with others to get the official recognition to Konkani. Their primary motive was not development of Konkani but their own personal interests. To their good luck the Marathi proponents who did not know the difference between dialect and language forcefully were saying that Konkani is not a language but a dialect of Marathi. Sahitya Akademi (SA), an autonomous institution of the Central Govt. which gives recognition to a language as modern literary language of India and gives annual literary award to each of the recognized language, declared Konkani as an independent literary language of India on February 26, 1975. At that time the Devanagari proponents did not have neither the quantity nor the quality of literature or dictionaries and grammars in Devanagari script. Hence they presented to the SA a list of Dictionaries and grammars written in Roman script, literature from Roman and Kannada scripts and convinced the authorities of SA the why Konkani should be recognized. Based on this the SA recognized Konkani. Here below in Document A we have given the exact text of the Akademi. In the text the script of Konkani is not mentioned. SA gave recognition to Konkani language and not to a particular script of Konkani. Document A: Excerpts from the meeting of the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi held on 26 February 1975: "As Konkani fulfils the criteria formulated by the Akdemi for recognition of a language, it is recognized as an independent modern literary language of India." "with regard to programmes in Konkani like the annual award, publications, constitution and meetings of the Advisory Board, etc., involving expenditure, Sahitya Akademi should request the government of India to provide the necessary extra funds. Such programmes and other activities should be undertaken only when extra funds are available." The SA is guided in its programmes by Advisory Boards in the respective languages. The Advisory Board of Konkani in SA was ruled by a few Devanagari proponents and to fool the public and to give the impression of democratic outlook they incorporated in their group one soft spoken person each from minority group from Goa and Karnataka. From Kerala they always took a person of their own group. They continued to share annual awards and the benefits of SA projects among themselves and Nagari supporters. Konkani writers of Kannada and Roman scripts complained to SA and demanded their literature must be considered for awards. To manipulate and misguide the SA, the Advisory Board of SA met on 21 November 1981 and recommended to SA that Devanagari script should be the sole script of Konkani! Who were the members of this Advisory Board of Konkani? On Goanet, on Wednesday, 12 October 2005, Mr. Godfrey Gonsalves, a freelance journalist has exposed the names and their conspiracy. Mr. Ravindra Kelekar was the convenor of the Advisory Board and the Executive member of Konkani in SA. The other members of the Advisory were: Uday Bhembre, Chandrakant Keni, Manoharrai Sardessai, N. Purushottam Mallya and William R. da Silva are still alive. Fr. Antonio Pereira (Goa), R.V. Pandit (Goa), Mr. B. . Borkar ( Goa), Dr. D. Sukhtankar (Bombay), Mr. V.J.P. Saldanha (Mangalore) are no more in this world. May their souls rest in peace. The harm the Advisory Board of SA has done to Konkani unity must be condemned and rectified without delay. Episode II: Konkani and the Eighth schedule of India's constitution In 1992, Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included in the Eighth Schedule of India's Constitution through an amendment. The amendment does not mention the script of Konkani. Kindly refer the Document B which is given here below. Document B: THE CONSTITUTION (SEVENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992 [31 August, 1992.] An Act further to amend the constitution of India. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-third Year of the Republic of India as Follows:- 1. Short title.-This Act may be called the Con
[Goanet] goencho Ulo a new konkani fortnightly
-- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | || | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | || | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -- Kindly give publicity to the following press release. Pratap Naik, S.J. Alto Porvorim, Goa On 24 November Diamond Publications, Panaji have launched a new Konkani fortnightly called "Goencho Ulo". It is a coloured periodical with tabloid size. It has ten pages out which 6 are coloured. Miguel Braganza, Tomazinho Cardozo and Pratap Naik, S.J. were the brain behind this new venture. Roque Fernandes is the publisher. Goencho Ulo was released at T.B.Cunha Hall, Panaji by the veteran singer Mr. Ullas Buyanv. The editor of the periodical Mr. Joel D'Souza, Pratap Naik and Mr. Tomazinho Cardozo and Miguel Braganza addressed the public. A few prominent writers, readers and journalists were present for the function. The first three issues of the periodical will be distributed free of cost to Konkani readers.
[Goanet] Konkani in Kannada script in Karnataka schools from June 2006
-- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | || | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | || | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -- Konkani will be introduced in the schools of Karnataka - Announces Karnataka minister Mumbai, Nov 28: "Konkani in Kannada script will be introduced in the primary schools of Karnataka as a third language from the next educational year itself." announced the Co-operation minister MR. R. V. Deshpande yesterday in Bangalore. You may find the detail report at http://199.74.239.15/udayavani/showstory.asp?news=0&contentid=294150&lang=2 Dev Borem Korum, Ancy Paladka Url: http://www.konkanifoundation.com/ancy
