Ramesh: “Arrey, ye mukkari bessale aalale sitha korndyathu dikkinave. Chaang aviyal mon dissatha”
Suresh: “Vaii. Une mellari chinna asinine nave?”
Are you wondering which language this is? This is not a newly developed code language; this is Konkani, one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Constitution of India. If you are a Malayali, you would have picked the word “aviyal” from this conversation. You would have also guessed that their conversation might be around “food” and let me tell you, they are talking about the delicious Aviyal in a stranger’s lunchbox 😋
Do you know that there are around 70000 Konkanis in Kerala, around 8 lakh in Karnataka and 4 lakh in Maharashtra? But very little do we know about this linguistic and cultural minority. Who are Konkanis: Konkani speaking people or people settled in the Konkan region?
Let us try to explore a bit. We all have heard Parashuram’s (6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu) story. He, having killed all the corrupt kings after king Karthavirya tried to steal Kamdhenu from his father sage Jamadagni, decided to perform penance at Gokarna. During this time, he encountered Varun dev (lord of the oceans and seas) who offered him as much land as he wanted because Parashuram had already donated all the land he had. The legend has it that, at this time, ancestors of Gowd Saraswats (a segment of Konkani speaking people) were settled on the banks of the Saraswati river. Parshuram threw his axe across and the sea went back and a strip of land (including Goa) was created, and he invited 96 families of Gowd Saraswats to settle down with him on this new land called Konkan.
Every Konkani would have heard this tale from their grandparents with awestruck eyes but would have always wondered the community became so dispersed throughout India. We will soon see.
