Sad state of Kerala Konkani

Sad State of Kerala Konkani  by Uday Pai

My friend Shri. Payyannur Ramesh Pai, reputed linguistic scholar and renowned writer in Konkani, told me that during his service as a banker in the Middle East, he had met people from Pakistan who speak Konkani even now.

Recently, I had an opportunity to attend a Konkani language seminar - unfortunately I did not understand few words used by those Konkani speakers who were from outside Kerala.

This is the biggest challenge and tragedy with this Language. In Kerala, native Konkani speakers use 70% Malayalam words. Most of them do not understand the actual Konkani words and phrases.

There are nearly 50 GSB temples in Kerala. Among those who speak Konkani as mother tongue in Kerala, GSBs are the second largest community (first being Kudumbis - the statistics is unverified). 

GSBs claim that the language and temple culture (which is different from typical Kerala temples) make them unique.

I have been to few GSB temples - but I have NOT seen any sign boards or display boards in any GSB temples written in Konkani Devanagari script! 

I have also noticed that during the announcements in Konkani temples in Kerala, the announcers use a whopping 70-90% Malayalam words. Even temple priests do not speak full-fledged Konkani.

When I speak Konkani, many of my new generation relatives and friends (whose mother tongue is supposed to be Konkani) ask me meaning of some words - so, naturally, I will be compelled to use English, Hindi or Malayalam.

Same is the case in Karnataka too.  And, if we go to Goa, we cannot understand many Konkani words. There is a growing domination of Roman vocabulary and dialects. They also mix up Marathi or Hindi words.

Yes, Konkani is an endangered language which may be dying fast. Even the champions of the languages do not use Konkani words. Endangered languages, much like endangered species of plants or animals, are on the brink of extinction. UNESCO says that a language is endangered when parents are no longer teaching it to their children and it is no longer being used in everyday life. 

All languages have its own beauty. But mainly, a language is a tool to express or to communicate. 

At home, even now, we speak Konkani only. I asked my kids to speak in Konkani till the age of 3. My reason was primarily not love to mother tongue, but science. If you learn genetics and DNA memory, you will know that the chances of children developing learning disability are more if you don't use your parent's mother tongue...

I am not a linguistic fanatic. But I know that mother tongue is important due to cultural, emotional and attachment values that we have.

As a human being it makes me sad to see that a language with such a vast rich cultural historical prominence is dying here. There are at least six million (sixty lakhs) people in India whose mother tongue is Konkani.

The government of Kerala has tried to support Konkani language as it is the third largest linguistic minority in the state. I heard that the government even printed few text books in Konkani. Unfortunately, there were no takers for Konkani. However, people are okay with learning Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic, Urdu and Bengali in the state. 

Many people provide "free suggestions" as to how to improve the usage of mother tongue and uplifting the language. Though lot of people do their level best to save and promote this langauge, they are facing a lot of practical difficulties. 

There are systemic practical solutions, which needs dedication, determination and devotion. It needs lot of time and efforts. We can easily develop lot of innovative ideas to promote the language. I have discussed with few influential people about it. But there was no positive response.

We can't blame any. When we are immersed in zillions of daily cores of life, where is time for this? If two people join, there will be petty politics and conflicts of interests and ego pops up in the mind rather than the attitude to serve. So, let's all watch this great language die peacefully.....

According to UNESCO, as many as half of the world’s 7,000 languages are expected to be extinct by the end of this century; it is estimated that one language dies out every 14 days.