By
DALE LUIS MENEZES & VISHVESH
KANDOLKAR
The
indefinite hunger strike of Savio Lopes and members of Forum for Rights of
Children to Education (FORCE) for government grants to English as Medium of
Instruction (MoI) have exposed the shallow and undemocratic language politics –
under the guise of ‘mother tongue’, ‘Goan identity’, ‘Konkani’, ‘Marathi’, etc
– in Goa. While arguing for a robust multi-lingual outlook as well, we would
like to open up the conversation to a host of other languages that Goans can
profitably engage with.
Arguably,
when one talks about expanding the access to languages other than Konkani,
Marathi, and English, the obvious choice that immediately comes to mind is
Portuguese. The importance of the Portuguese language for Goa cannot be
understated. Briefly, since a lot of legal and historical/archival material is
available in Portuguese, a good grasp on this language would help thousands of
Goans to access their own history. Further, as matters relating to land and
properties are recorded in Portuguese being conversant with the language will
help many to access this information, thus preventing frauds through fudging.
Though, familiarity with the Portuguese language may not instantly result in
overcoming the balance of power between the have and have-nots, learning it has
a potential of creating a more level playing field. This
is because in Goa, Portuguese as a language – then and now – was the preserve
of a few elites, which allowed them to hold onto power and privilege.
The
condition of the access to the Portuguese language, historically, is not so
different from that of the English language today. The large non-elite
population of Goa (across religious lines) demands English as MoI as it seems
to be the preserve of the few; the rich can afford the exorbitant fees of
private institutions. Therefore ending this monopolistic and hegemonic hold
that a few people have over languages can lead to the emancipation of the
have-nots by giving them access to power, privilege, and least of all,
respectable employment.
To
further open up the conversation about languages that can help us understand
Goan history, we would like to suggest that Persian or Farsi is also very
important. The territories that came to be known as Goa from the
fifteenth-century onwards were part of the Deccan Sultanate and can be said to
live in its cultural, and political, shadow. In fact, before Portuguese
intervention, Persian (as well as Arabic) terminology was much in use for
legal, administrative, and taxation matters in the territory which became Goa
and it continued to do so even during the subsequent Portuguese period.
Moreover, Goa was in a constant interaction with the cultural and political
hubs of the Deccan, such as Bijapur and Golconda.
Along
with Persian, a case can also be made for acquiring skills in Arabic. Given the
decades old migration of Goans in the Arab world, teaching Arabic in schools
may also be useful. Further learning to read and write the Perso-Arabic script
may also help many to access Konkani written in that script in pockets across
the Konkan and Canara coasts!
Sign
language, although not a spoken language might also be useful as it might help
us interact with people with hearing handicap. This suggestion might seem out
of context but it does help us to extend the idea that many people who
understand sign languages consider those who don’t as handicapped, and why not.
Of course there are cognitive benefits of learning a sign language for all
children, but the larger concern is that the learning for, and communicating
with, people with disabilities, is completely ignored in Goa.
The
article thus far has made reference to a number of ways in which Goans can
engage with multiple languages. To take this point forward, we would like to
suggest that contrary to the rhetoric of groups like the Bharati Bhasha
Suraksha Manch, identity is not tied to a singular language or ‘mother tongue’.
To demonstrate this, we would like to make reference to the literary career of
the Goan writer Laxmanrao Sardesai (1904-1986).
As
Paul Melo e Castro writes in his essay ‘Of Prison Walls and Barroom Brawls…’
(2012), for most of his literary career Sardesai wrote in Marathi, with most of
his stories being “anti-colonial, a bold stance when Salazarist propaganda
depicted Goa as part and parcel of Portugal” (p. 128). Having started his literary career by the
1930s, despite being considered an eminent Marathi writer, Sardesai shifted to
writing in Portuguese and Konkani from the 1960s. As Castro explains, Sardesai
wanted to craft a different identity for Goa to oppose the merger with
Maharashtra. As such “Sardesai’s turn to writing in Portuguese (and Konkani)
after a lifetime of renown as a Marathi writer” (p. 130) was a demonstration of
the unique singularity of Goan identity within the Indian nation.
Today,
none would dare to suggest that there were any contradictions in Sardesai’s choices;
neither would anybody argue that he was ‘denationalized’. What is important to
note is that Sardesai could choose from a pool of languages, which he learned
due to his privileged background. It is this privilege of choice that needs to
be opened up to the Goan masses as well.
(First
published in O Heraldo, dt: 19
August, 2015)
