It was a wonderful gift for the children of Goa that was unveiled to them – three children’s books written in Roman Konkani as a means to propagate the language amongst youngsters and to ensure its preservation
Stories have always had the power to enthral peopleirrespective of their age. This very fact was made use of in the three Konkanibooks for children that were released on Children’s Day last year. Besidesserving to captivate, the books aimed at keeping alive the Konkani languagewhose continuity depends on its usage by the young generation. A lot of thoughtand consideration went into moulding the books in a way that would appeal tochildren – the language is simple and illustrations serve to graphically makethe stories come alive.
Vincy Quadros, author of Jaduchem Pettul - a novel about aboy who found a magical box in a jungle - says he has been writing since he was13. Quadros has 12 other publications to his name. This, however, is his firstbook for children. “There is not much literature for children in the Romanscript. This perhaps could be attributed to the fact that the official languageof Goa was described as that written in the Devanagari script. Thus, funds fromthe government were channelled towards this and Roman Konkani suffered untilthe Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) was formed,” he says. Fr Pratap Naik SJ whoholds a doctorate in Konkani linguistics, aimed to contribute to the languageby retelling Aesop’s fables in Konkani. His book Isopacheo Kannio contains a100 tales. At his request, the stories were selected and translated intoDevanagari Konkani by Shilpa Salvi who worked at the Konkani Kendra inPorvorim. Fr Naik sorted out the language into simpler text, shortened thestories and adapted them to suit the Goan environment. “Being ‘Goan’ is aterritorial identity, it is a secondary identity. Your primary identity is thelanguage you speak. The language has to be spoken and that’s the only way youcan keep it alive,” says Fr Naik in answer to question about the current statusof the language.
The third book, a translation of Espi Mai is Stuck Again andother Goan Tales by Anita Pinto was worked on by Isidore Dantas from Pune andthe five poems in the book were translated by Pandharinath Lotlikar, formerdirector of Doordarshan and editor of Paklleo, a Konkani magazine. Dantas andLotlikar never met, but they corresponded through email. “I was approached byFrederick Noronha for this project and my love for the language prompted me toaccept it,” says Dantas who founded the Konkani Bhasha Mandal in Pune.
The books are a step in the right direction, as Dantasrightly says, “Unless Roman script gets due recognition by the government,Konkani cannot flourish. There is a risk that if a script dies, the languagemay die.”
