Don’t humiliate, let thousand Konkani dialects blossom
HRISHIKESH KADAM, PANAJI | 24 January 2016 19:40 IST
Shashikant Punjai at 30th Konkani Parishad (Photo: Antara Bhide)
Why should we feel shy speaking our own dialect of Konkani? Let other people enjoy the sweetness of various dialects of Konkani. The youth should proudly display it.
This was almost a consensus at the seminar on ‘Konkani and its various dialects’ at the 30th session of All India Konkani Parishad held in Panaji.
Except a few like Nagesh Karmali or chairman Bhushan Bhave, the panel was full of the young and veterans speaking as well as producing literature in their own dialects.
The point of inferiority about one’s dialect was made by Soyaru Velip, a journalist who writes in his own Velip dialect of Quepem taluka.
“Youngsters from our own community limit our dialect only among the closed circles and try and speak so called standardised dialect with others. This needs to be reversed”, he proposed.
He also said firmly that his Velip dialect is one of the sweetest among varied dialects of Konkani.
His viewpoint was instantly supported by Shashikant Punaji, who has even published his poetry books in Pernem dialect.
Speaking in his Pernem dialect throughout the seminar, Punaji narrated how Konkani people from other areas humiliate them when they speak in Pernem dialect.
“Even Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has faced this humiliation while studying in Mapusa and was forced to speak in Mapushekar dialect to survive in the school”, Punaji said.
Dr Bhushan Bhave, a researcher and linguist, in fact took a step ahead suggesting a dictionary of all the Konkani dialects and also a thesaurus while studying the phonetics of each dialect.
Paul Moras at 30th Konkani Parishad (Photo: Antara Bhide)
“This research will help developing Konkani from all the angles and make it the richest”, said Bhave while chairing the session.
He was also responding to the suggestion made by Sadhana Kamat from Mumbai that all dialects need to be documented in a written form.
K V Bhaskaran from Kerala was furious over our outlook towards different dialects of Konkani, especially beyond Goa in different states.
“Treat all the dialects of Konkani as children of Mother Konkani and respect them”, he said.
Paul Moras from Mangalore also expressed his grief over the existing differences between Konkani people, divided into different dialects.
“Writers should have freedom to express in whatever dialect they wish to and no institution has the right to use dialect as a scanner to decide the quality of the work,” he said.
Baban Mendonca, who migrated to Goa 25 years ago but grew up in Belgaum in a Konkani family, pointed out that Konkani is influenced by other languages in the process of out-migration and colonisation.
“Language in itself decides what to keep and what to wash out and no one can stop it. Even if it is preserved, it won’t be used in our day-to-day life,” said Nagesh Karmali, a veteran Konkani poet.
I love to listen to all dialects of languages, specially Konkani ...speak in your dialect so i may learn from you, be proud it's your heart-song, the music of your language. There is a strange thrill in listening to the dialect of Marathi spoken in Kolhapur...its rhythm and music is hypnotic.
I am revisiting the dialect of Malvan konkni which i would speak with my some of my friends (from hills) in Tuem village and go to villages of Banda where our relatives would be married ...i relish the good times i would visit Canacona just to hear the bubbly staccato dialect of Konkni spoken by villagers. So going cross-country in Goa itself is such a huge experience to my ears and so many dialects in between North Goa to the Southern end. The dialect of one's birth and growing up years is a very sensitive personal issue and to be cherished and cultivated like a small flame in the dark...to glow bright one day and illumine a million minds! Thank you for this forum and this article ...highly appreciated!