Konkani- A Linguistic Minority Community of Kerala
By Maria Treesa Aji and Nishta.N.Sharma
(Originally published on the 17th edition of Teresian Impact Bi- Annual Newsletter)
A. Venkiteswara Prabhu, a retired superintending Engineer at GCDA, is currently the President of Dr. Padiar Memorial Homoeopathic Medical College, Chotanikkara. He graduated in Bsc Engineering (Civil) and completed MBA for higher education. He had also been part of the temple activities in the GSB temple, Ernakulam and agreed to do this interview to help us gain an insight on Konkani as a linguistic minority community of Kerala.
In brief, can you tell us about the origin of the Konkani language?
Konkani is one of the ancient languages in India. According to my knowledge, the language was spoken by a set of people who were believed to be settled over the banks of Saraswati river (Badri-Manna border) and eventually travelled and settled along the coastal regions and was only then found in Goa and some parts of Karnataka as they all were part of a single province. The Konkani speaking people of India are currently found in Goa, coastal Karnataka, Gujarat, Sindudurg (coastal Maharashtra), Dadara and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Kerala
How did the Portuguese inquisition affect your community?
Vasco Da Gama, who sailed to India in 1498, bought in the Portuguese rule. The Portuguese royalty, soldiers and missionaries forced the people, especially the Konkani-speaking Brahmin community, to eat meat. They destroyed many temples and tried to establish Churchianity by building churches. Konkan communities were asked to either convert to Christianity or leave their birthplace. Due to such cruelties, many fled to other states, some people hid in the eastern parts of the state, some protested till death, whereas the others got converted. That is the main reason why the Konkani community is spread in south India, especially in the coastal regions. They travelled in Pathemari, a kind of boat prominently used in earlier times to flee. Konkanis who migrated to Kerala are mostly found in the places like Calicut, Kodungallur, Kochi, Thuravoor, Alappuzha, Cherthala, Purakkad, Kayamkulam and Kollam.
In Kochi, Shaktan Thampuran welcomed our ancestors by giving them land to settle down. Although they came as refugees, they were treated like people of his own. The first people who settled here built their largest temple for Gauda Swaraswath Brahmins in the land permitted to them by the king in Mattancherry.
What are some of the distinct features of Konkani language and can you explain why this language does not have a script of its own?
Not having a script of our own is a false belief. Devanagiri is the original script of the language. Newspapers (Bhaangar Bhuin i.e., Golden Land), scriptures, abhangs, bhajans and other articles had been written in this script but nowadays, people in Kerala tend to use the Malayalam script more to write in the Konkani language. Similarly, the Konkani people in other states use their respective state language’s script to write in Konkani. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution. It can be written in five different scripts — Roman, Kannada, Persian-Arabic, Malayalam, including the original Devanagari script. Konkani now features on the Indian Currency notes as one of the 15 languages in which the value is printed.
What can you tell us about Kudumbis? How are they being treated in society?
When our ancestors fled Goa due to the Portuguese inquisition, a few different Konkani speaking communities were among them. They include Vaishyas and Vanikas (traders and businessmen), Vishwakarmas (goldsmiths, black smiths etc), Kudumbis along with the Gauda Swaraswath Brahmins. The Kudumbis had exceptional skill in pandal making, house thatching, fencing, decker work and women were mainly job and service oriented. They were also successful farmers whose practices in marshy land (pokkali krishi) earned them the admiration of Kochi royalty. They too have their own community temple, traditions and culture. Currently they comeunder the OBC section where reservations are granted to them in the education and occupational sector. Many have benefitted from this and have reached high positions.
Have you felt suppressed by the local people (for eg, neighbours) around you because of the language?
We have not felt suppressed because as the time passed, we mingled well with the local community. The state and people have always been welcoming and valuing our traditions, though they are curious to know what kind of community we are when we speak in our language to a fellow Konkani in the presence of a Malayali . But we never leave them out on purpose. We switch to Malayalam so that they can understand and be involved as well. Though I must say, sometimes we do use Konkani in the presence of a Malayali when we want to convey something confidential.
Do you think Konkani as a language would survive another 50–100 years? Do you see any changes in the language when you were young and now?
Definitely! It will continue to survive even though it has been through enough hardships. It also depends on the parenting, as Konkani is spoken at home, within the family and community. Rest of the time we speak in Malayalam or English because education and work demands it. As far as changes, we incorporate more Malayalam and English words while we speak than we did during my childhood days. For example the new generation may use the Malayalam alternative chembarathi instead of dakshine phul, which is in Konkani.
An answer to which every Malayali wants to know, Do you identify yourself as Konkani or Malayali and why?
(Laughs) I can proudly say that I am a Konkani. Even though our language is a minority language in Kerala, we have our own traditions and temple culture which may seem similar but are different in nature. Picking up a new language, which is not your mother tongue, is not easy, but this adaptable and hardworking nature of our community helped us in gaining jobs, setting up businesses, educational institutions and medical facilities. We have tried to create an identity of our own and I hope people will continue to value and respect our language and culture.
