To live long, Sunaparant has to sell. The issues highlighted by the newspaper have to be discussed, and a conducive atmosphere in favor of the newspaper needs to be created. Is this too much to expect?
Chapter 18: Romi Konkani, hanging on a cliff
Peter RaposoPeter Rapose considers himself "just a five-year-old priest" given the responsibility of editing a seventy-year-old Konkani weekly. Says he modestly: "The only thing I have besides my priestly studues is a Diploma in Journalism from Xavier's Mumbai and a lot of enthusiasm to do the best I can." The enthusiasm shows; recently the publication he edits put up its website (something other larger publications in Goa don't take seriously) at http://www.v-ixtt.com. He has earlier worked for three years in Bombay Archdiocese.
To say that Roman-script Konknni journalism did not make a mark would be a fallacy. However, that it did not maintain and live up to the challenges of modern day journalism is a fact that caused its very decline.
The total number of Konknni-speaking people spread in India (Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala) and scattered across smaller pockets across the world is five million (or, 50 lakh). This population of Konknni-speaking people is further divided between people who write the language and read it in four different scripts: Devnagri, Roman, Kannada, and the Malayalam script. While the Konknni people of Kerala use the Malayalam script and Konknni people of Karnataka use the Kannada script, the Devanagiri and Roman divides the Konknni people of Goa and coastal Maharashtra.
Among the four scripts, the population that understands or follows Roman script (RS) Konknni would be around 300,000 to 400,000 approximately. (This is a rough calculation based on the 1991 census.) However, going by facts and figures of Konknni journalism on the whole, we could definitely put Roman script Konknni journalism as the fore runner.
A Brief History of Roman Konknni Journalism
The first Konknni weekly Udentichem Sallok was published in Pune by Edward Bruno D'Souza in 1899. It started as a monthly periodical which later became fortnightly. In 1894 it was closed down. It came out in Konknni-Portuguese. In 1891, O Luzo-Concanim was published. It was a bilingual weekly in Konknni-Portuguese. Aleixo Caitano Jose Francisco was its editor.
From 1892 to 1897, A Luz, O Bombaim Esse, A Luo, O Intra Jijent, O Opiniao Nacional Konknni-Portuguese weeklies were published. In 1907 Sanjechem Nokhetr was born. B F Cabral was the editor of this paper. Since it was published from Mumbai, this paper carried Mumbai (then called Bombay) news in detail. We can say that this periodical is the first newspaper in Konknni.
Soon after this Roldao Noronha started a monthly named Katolik Sovostkai, which later became a fortnightly and then ceased publication. In 1907, Honarato Furtado and Francis Xavier Furtado published a weekly named O Goano from Mumbai. This weekly was independently divided into three parts: Portuguese, Konknni and English. In 1912 Konkan Magazine a monthly magazine was started by Joaquim Campose. In 1914, a monthly named Dor Mhoineachi Rotti came into existence in Karachi. Fr. Vincent Lobo and Fr. Ludovic Pereira were instrumental in starting this magazine and it had a circulation of 8,000 subscribers. Today, the same Rotti is published and printed in Goa; Fr. Moreno de Souza is the present editor.