* After Devnagri script was granted official status,
Roman script was looked down upon.
The Why of Roman script Konknni
Goa consists of two major religious communities, the Hindus and the Christians. Due to historical developments, especially after the religious persecution and the destruction of Konknni literature by the Portuguese, the Hindu community had to depend on the neighboring Marathi speaking areas to meet the needs of their cultural, social and religious life. Marathi, which is akin to the Konknni language, was adopted by the Hindu community as a medium of their expression or communication and fulfillment of spiritual, cultural and educational needs.
The Catholic community, however, had to face bitter experiences. At first the Portuguese ruler imposed Portuguese as their medium of communication. In the course of time, the Portuguese Bishops of Goa and the Portuguese missionaries realized that this was not viable. And so in order to educate the Christians and strengthen their faith, the Church authorities had to take recourse to Konknni, which was spoken by the people.
Due to the existing political situation, under which the Church of Goa lived, it was unthinkable to have religious literature in Devnagri Konknni. Already the medium of education was the Portuguese. The Goan clergy was being trained in the seminaries through an extensive use of Latin, Portuguese and other Western languages. Therefore the only solution to impart the Christian Doctrinal teachings to the masses in Konknni was by using the Roman script.. It was against this background that Roman (or Romi) script made inroads in Konknni literature.
In the course of time, the Portuguese language could not meet the bare economic needs of the people and gradually they had to learn English in order to get access to jobs outside Goa. Thus the Catholic community was completely cut off from the Devnagri roots.
With the advent of Liberation and after the official status was granted to Konknni with Devnagri as its official script, the younger generation is now coming in increasing touch with the Devanagiri script. If the trend continues successfully, we hope that after 25 to 40 years or so, we will have a new generation to whom reading Konknni in the Devanagiri script will be easy. Till then, the present generation will need the services of Roman script Konknni for at least another 30 to 40 years. This is a foregone conclusion.
However this is not to water down the bright chances Romi Konknni journalism has in the future. If, in the course of coming 25 years it makes large strides in terms of excellent literary, scientific and religious publications and keeps abreast with modern journalistic trends, then Romi Konknni will not easily die but will survive for a long time to come.
Present-day Romi Konknni media
The weekly Vavraddeanchi Ixtt and the monthly, Gulab are the only complete Romi Konknni publications of Goa today. Recently, in early October 2003, Ixtt celebrated its 70th annual day and Gulab has completed 20 years of existence. Today Vauraddeancho Ixtt (Worker's Friend) is the only weekly that has survived (since 1933) and is thriving to meet the present day challenges of the fast moving media. Started in 1933 in the backdrop of the spread of Communism, the weekly was to reach out the working class and people at the grassroots to educate, inform and educate them on Communism vis-a-vis religion. However, over the years, and as it gained wider popularity, the scope extended to the coverage of social, political, cultural and religious themes. Ixtt can boast of a glorious past as one weekly that provided news and views that satisfied the reading appetite of a large readership in Goa and Mumbai. Having run by priests and the Society of Pilar, its credibility and respect always remained consistent.