PANAJI
“Most of the Goans do not like to speak in Konkani in their day-to-day life. They don’t like to read Konkani dailies or magazines. They don’t want to watch tiatr, mando or any other Goan folk art and dances. Even most prefer to attend Sunday mass in English,” stated Tomazinho Cardozo, former speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly. Tomazinho was speaking at the ‘Talk of the Month’ programme organized by Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) at Reginaldo Fernandes hall in Panaji. The topic of the talk was ‘How can we preserve our mother tongue in the current scenario’. “Konkani in Roman Script did not find a place in the Official Language Act and the political scenario at present is such that even elected MLAs do not ask for a change in the Act. Romi Konknni should be taught to students after class hours or at the time of catechism,” suggested Tomazinho who appealed to the Goans to save Goa, Goemkar and Goemkarponn. “For this to happen we must speak in Konkani with our children, read Romi Konkani books, ask them to listen to Konkani songs on radio, read and tell children stories, play mittamni, tablam, gonje-bar and promote Goan delicacies to our children,” stressed the former speaker. The president of the DKA Vincy Quadros chaired the programme.
