A group of Goan Catholics, under the leadership of late Fr Moreno de Souza SJ, way back in October 2005, met at the old Office of “Dor Mhoineachi Rotti”, in Old Goa. Their express purpose was to discuss the ways and means to counter the active propaganda and signature campaign, that was going on, asserting that all the Goan Catholics favoured an amendment to the Official Language Act to include Roman Script for Konkani. It was on that occasion that a team was formed called “Goan Catholics for Devanagari” as an expedient to show that all the Goan Catholics did not endorse the move.
As the 150th Birth Anniversary of Msgr Sebastiao Rodolfo Dalgado had occurred that year, they felt that it would be opportune to disseminate among the Goan Catholics his message regarding the proper script of the Konkani language. Bearing this in mind, they launched on December 20, 2005, at a public function held at the Institute Menezes Braganza, in Panjim, a periodical, in Devanagari, entitled “Dalgadacho Sondex” meaning “Dalgado’s Message”. Later on, as the circumstances prompting the name “Goan Catholics for Devanagari” had been attenuating, its members decided to change it to “Dalgado Devanagari Konknni Manch”.
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In the introduction to his Konkani-Portuguese Dictionary published in 1893, Dalgado declares, without mincing his words, that “Konkani should be written in the proper alphabet, Devanagari…”. The Portuguese colonisers had been successful in alienating the Goan Christians from their native culture, education, practices, habits, entertainments and whatever might remind them of their ancestral ethos. At a certain stage, the Goan Christians were even prohibited from using the Konkani language. Only the spoken Konkani, however, escaped the onslaught, though bruised and downgraded to the status of a dialect with no script of its own.
At that stage, when the Goan Christians had been completely weaned away from Devanagari, Dalgado thought it wiser to use that script for his Konkani-Portuguese Dictionary. One simple and clear-cut reason was that, for him, Konkani had to be written in Devanagari only. Another important reason he had, as he mentioned it openly, was to facilitate the study of other Indian sister languages such as Marathi and also Gujarathi. Probably Hindi was not popular in his time. Dalgado was therefore a great visionary to perceive the need to motivate the two major Goan communities, noted for journeying on two parallel tracks, to unite for the growth and development of their common language. Language is an irreplaceable means to foster unity, solidarity and a conscience of belongingness, all essential to achieve any goal.
As we commemorate this year the First Death Centenary of Msgr. Dalgado, it would be a befitting homage to his memory to take up his message to heart and take a pledge to make it live in the present. Today’s generation of educated youth is familiar with Devanagari. Let us motivate and encourage them, promoting literary activities, such as essay writings, story readings, etc. I hope better sense will prevail for the sake of social, cultural, emotional, and even political integration.
