Team Herald
MARGAO: Even as Konkani speakers in Goa and along the Western coastal belt celebrated World Konkani Day on August 20, writers and scholars of the ancient language call for a revival of the Goan mother tongue, especially among the diaspora, who they fear are losing touch with their Konkani roots. While this year marks the 30th anniversary of the language’s inclusion into the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, that lists 22 official languages, Konkani pundits call for young people in the State to adopt Konkani as a medium of communication on a day-to-day basis, to ensure that the language grows richer, with more literature and art representing it at a global level.
“We celebrate World Konkani Day every year, with a loud song and dance, but unless we speak the language, and encourage our children to speak and write in Konkani on a daily basis, we are doing nothing to promote the language,” said noted tiatrist and Konkani playwright Tomazinho Cardozo. “If parents don’t speak Konkani and show their love for the language, how can we expect future generations to take the language forward and outward, into the world,” asked Cardozo, who was also Speaker of the Goa Assembly.
Lamenting that the Konkani people have not been able to take the benefits of the Central government’s incentives and schemes to promote their native tongue, Anwesha Singbal, President of Konkani Bhasha Mandal said there are not enough people dedicating their time to complete the translation projects and other work happening at the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL).
“There have been many Konkani people who have gone from Goa to CIIL but could not stay there for long and came back and did not continue the job there,” she said. “A lot of Konkani books have been translated, and a lot of books in other languages have been translated into Konkani at the National Book Trust (NBT). We at Konkani Bhasha Mandal (KBM) made an attempt to get in touch with them and we translated a lot of books in Konkani. However, they never got published,” Singbal lamented. “They don’t have an independent editor for Konkani language. The person who looks after Marathi and other languages looks after Konkani, which delays important work. We have managed to get Konkani in Google and many central projects that are today happening around the globe. It is the responsibility of us, the Konkani people, to get these things done,” Singbal added.
“So many opportunities have been created, but the Konkani-speaking population has failed in taking advantage of it. Merely having the language in the Eighth Schedule was certainly not the objective of our leaders,” said Anant Agni, Principal of Konkani Bhasha Mandal's school, stressing that lovers of the language should make the best use of opportunities to help it flourish.
Konkani writer Guadalupe Dias told Herald that merely the inclusion of Konkani into the 8th Schedule does not absolve Goan people of their responsibilities to make the language grow. “For 30 years, the Goa Government has been required to take action for the growth of Konkani and it has done so admirably up to this point. Let us make a commitment today to work hard to make Konkani the foundation of our identity,” said Dias.