Today, Goa stands at a crossroads with regards to losing its identity with respect to its land, environment, language etc. Of course there a set of things responsible for the same but I think one of the biggest reason is, due to what’s happening in our own Goan homes i.e the reluctance to give at least some importance to Konkani to the newer/younger Goan generation; and the fault in my view mainly lies with the current ageing generation. As an NRI child growing up abroad, I was of the misplaced view that only English was necessary and speaking the mother tongue Konkani somehow would restrict the fluent speaking of English, until I realized later that Arabs there not only spoke and gave good respect to their native language ie Arabic but were also fluent in at least one more language including English! I am not sure if most Goans realize this but fact is the language is one of main basis of identity and if that goes, it is as good as their Goan identity goes. I think the important thing is to at least start making some attempt to give Konkani some importance in our communication.
