April 9 marks the death anniversary of Shenoi Goembab, a noted Konkani activist, and is
celebrated as World Konkani Day. Our mother tongue is an integral part of our
lives though we may not give it too much thought, but for Goans living in other
parts of the world, Konkani, whether written or spoken, holds special meaning.
Every word, phrase or song in Konkani transports them back home, even if just
for a moment.
World Konkani Day, organised by the Music Mafia, will be
celebrating its 4th successive edition with performances by Urja Naik Gaonkar
(Saregamapa fame), Guilman D’Costa, Shaistah and Sidharth, Praveen Michael
Dias, renowned sitar maestro Yograj Naik and comedy acts by Ben Evangelisto and
Sally with dance performances by Maitrini at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on April
8, 2018 from 6:30pm onwards. Stanley Marchon, a member of the Music Mafia,
says, “World Konkani Day celebrates our identity, culture and sense of
belonging to our motherland Goa. This annual anniversary is a day that makes it
easy for the Goan diaspora to enjoy our memories and look forward to it year
after year. The hard work of the people keeping this flame alive needs to be
encouraged so we can teach our love for Konkani to the generations to come.”
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Lorna, Goa’s most loved and revered ‘Nightingale of Goa’, will
be felicitated at the hands of TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai. Eager to enthral
audiences at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, she says, “I started off singing to
jazz music but today I am what I am because of Konkani music. Singing in
Konkani and representing our culture here in Goa and around the world gives me
immense happiness. Singing in front of packed audiences till date, around the
world, is such an amazing feeling and to be doing that in Konkani is special.”
Such celebrations are not restricted to Goa. Every Goan loves to
speak and enjoy the freedom that language gives them. There are many
flourishing associations that are promoting Konkani globally. Rene Baretto is
the founder of World Goa Day that brought together members of different global
associations for Konkani. “World Goa Day (WGD) was instituted to promote
Konkani and many of our members were given awards at the very first Global
Konkani gathering in Mangalore. We had dedicated WGD to Konkani. Wold Goa Day
celebrations have stimulated a revival of Konkani in many of our Global Goan
Association communities,” says Rene from the United Kingdom.
In California, USA, Joseph Lawrence is heading CalifornianGoans.
“At CalifornianGoans, we strive to keep the Goan culture and traditions alive.
Konkani plays a crucial role and we make sure we have Konkani music at all our
events, either in the form of live music, deejays or at least ambiance music.
We even had an open mic at our last World Goa day event. I feel like I have
been more in touch with my culture here then back home. I guess when you are in
a foreign land, you long for things that make one feel at home. A lot of the
kids here are exposed to Goan music,” says Joseph.
Speaking about how children and youngsters are in love with
Konkani, he says, “A friend’s daughter, Lizann Lopes, sang the ‘Goemkarponn’
song at the open mic and a group of the kids sang the choir in Konkani at our
St Francis Xavier’s feast mass lead by Anusya Pereira. My own daughter, who is
half American, is a big fan of Varun Carvalho and sings along to his songs in
the car, especially ‘Goa Amchem Goa’. I am currently working with Rene and
others to bring all Goans organisation and celebrate this year’s theme ‘Amchi
Mati, Amchi Bhaas’ at WGD 2018, where we plan to have our open mic again.”
Gerard Lobo is the President of the Goan Association of
Australia, a 26-year-old association, and is the overall coordinator of the
Global Goan Association Australia. In Australia itself, there are six
associations. “When we catch up with our friends, we speak in Konkani. The Goan
Overseas Association of Victoria, which is 39 years old, has a Sanskrut Night,
where we have small skits, songs, etc in Konkani. Josefato Vales trains youngsters
to get involved in Konkani. We have different activities like Goa Day and Goan
food festivals, where we have members put stalls and sell Goan home cooked food
as we play Konkani music and have sing along sessions of Konkani mandos. We
also have an inter village football tournament. The age group of the
participants in all the programs is from 10 to 60 years,” explains Gerard.
Selwyn Kenneth Collaco, President of the Goan Overseas
Association, Toronto, has been working towards promoting Konkani through performances
and even starting Konkani classes in Toronto. “It is amazing to celebrate World
Konkani Day. We as individuals and as a community need to continue to do more
to conserve our beautiful language. My heartiest wishes to all those who have
been tirelessly contributing in promoting and fostering Konkani. In Toronto,
The Goan Overseas Association has commenced weekly Konkani classes, besides
promoting and supporting various performers and our local tiatr. We have
organised events such as Konkan Nite and Viva Goa Festival that has a key focus
on Konkani. This year, the Viva Goa festival will be headlining Goa’s
nightingale, Lorna, along with a lifetime achievement award for her
accomplishments, not only as an artiste but as a woman who has contributed so
much to our culture and music,” says Selwyn. Viva Goa festival will be held on
July 28, 2018.
Young Goans Club in Bahrain is 64 years old with over 400
members; Savio Ribeiro is very active with Goans under aegis of the club. “For
children born and brought up abroad, the onus is on the parents to speak the
language at home and maybe even play Konkani hymns and songs in their houses.
They have to acknowledge and inculcate Konkani in their lifestyle. They should
not feel shy to speak the language and should be proud that the unifying link
to their home in Goa is Konkani,” says Savio, while Menino Fernandes, a noted
musician in Bahrain, adds, “Konkani is our root instrument and the language
helps us flourish no matter where we are. We are trying to attract youngsters
to attend Konkani musicals to get a feel of the language. We recently hosted
‘Tumkach Lagoun Ami’, an evening of Konkani music and comedy skits by Goan
artistes who flew down from Goa.”
Caesar Pereira in Perth, Australia, heads the segment ‘The Chinchechim
Bottam’ on the radio show ‘Goans On Air’, a one-hour light entertainment and
informational program that is broadcast every Friday from 7am to 8am. “The
Goans in Perth look forward to their hour of Konkani Music every Friday. It’s
usually an interactive show, where listeners call in to give answers to a quiz
question. It’s difficult to gauge as to how many are listening but our
community here is about 470 members strong and being an FM broadcast, it is
also heard by other ethnic communities who tune in to 95.3 FM. Bernard D’Sa of
The Youth Show composes and showcases some songs during his show. Sometimes we
also have some of our Goan members record and sing classic songs, which are
then aired on radio. The second and third generations are not picking up the
Konkani language since it’s not spoken at home. Yes, they are exposed to the
language through Goan community events but it is not done enthusiastically,”
says Caesar.
Frankey Fernandes, who is based in Melbourne, is happy that
families living in Australia are still speaking in Konkani. “There are radio
shows in Perth and Auckland (New Zealand) in Konkani and there are quite a few
families in Adelaide that speak in Konkani with their children. When their
grandparents call from Goa, they speak fluently with them,” says Frankey, who
last visited Goa in 2014.
Though
the United Kingdom has a quite a few families that have moved there recently,
there are many families who have been living there for years and have kept
Konkani as a central part of their lives. Flynn Vas from London, originally
from Agassaim, speaks Konkani fluently with his family and friends. “All my
friends from Goa speak in Konkani and we don’t feel shy to speak in public. My
parents are fond of Konkani songs and tiatrs and there have been plently of
Goan celebrations in UK.”
