AERIAL VIEW
In fact, the major must go to Sanjeet Hegde Desai, who is working at Google, as Senior Manager of Business Systems and also Chetan Acharya, then president of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal and a Konkani activist, supported Desai to push the project forward.
It is no small job, and credit has to be given to Desai and Acharya, who made it possible to provide Konkani with international recognition.
Moreover, the Goa government and the Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant, who has hailed the development and celebrated it on social media, need to publicly felicitate the two Goans – Desai and Acharya. They deserve the appreciation.
However, the job is half done; there are many discrepancies in the translations and many corrections required, which is obvious and nothing to feel disheartened about.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
Editor, Goemkarponn
Earlier this week, the entire Goa was up in celebrations after our mother tongue Konkani, along with 24 others, was included in Google translate.
It simply means that if you type any word or sentence in Google translate, we will get its translation into the language of our choice. Yes, it is an outstanding achievement, and we need to really thank Google for this, especially those who made this possible.
In fact, the major must go to Sanjeet Hegde Desai, who is working at Google, as Senior Manager of Business Systems and also Chetan Acharya, then president of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal and a Konkani activist, supported Desai to push the project forward.
It is no small job, and credit has to be given to Desai and Acharya, who made it possible to provide Konkani with international recognition.
Moreover, the Goa government and the Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant, who has hailed the development and celebrated it on social media, need to publicly felicitate the two Goans – Desai and Acharya. They deserve the appreciation.
However, the job is half done; there are many discrepancies in the translations and many corrections required, which is obvious and nothing to feel disheartened about.
In fact, Dr Pramod Sawant, using all his power, can further assist Desai and Acharya in further improvement. The Government can seek the support of Konkani Academy, writers and journalists like Sandesh Prabhudesai and Sanjeev Verenkar, amongst many others.
Well, this is about the improvement in Google translate but the question today is, do we really love our mother tongue?
Interestingly, until last week, Konkani was dying a slow death as there were no takers for the local language as every parent today wants his son/ daughter to learn English, and several government schools imparting primary education in Konkani have closed.
Agreed, English is a global language, and one cannot deny that English education has become vital, but that does not mean people who have not done their primary education in Konkani do not succeed. A classic example is our late Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, who completed IIT and became CM and the Defence Minister of the country. Many such names have brought laurels to the State.
Of Course, I am not debating whether primary education should be in English or Konkani. That is an issue that the parents and the Government have to decide. This article is just an effort to show the mirror to the people who rejoiced on social media.
Forget about learning in Konkani; many Goans feel ashamed of talking in Konkani and, in fact, do not allow their kids to speak in their mother tongue as it will spoil their English-speaking habits.
We do not understand what the shame of talking in Konkani is? The people of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra are much better. Despite knowing English or Hindi, they will never speak another language with you, even if you are a visitor and do not understand their language.
It is not arrogance, but they take pride in expressing their own language.
It is a different story that we Goans are divided over Devanagri and Romi Konkani. It is time we sort out all these differences and support our language, which has just got a fresh lease of life.
