Waman Raghunath Shennoi Varde Valaulikar (23 June 1877 – 9 April 1946), known popularly as Shenoi Goembab, was a noted
Konkani writer and activist.
Early life
Waman Shenoi was born on 23 June 1877 at
Bicholim, Goa. He came from a notable family which could boast the presence of diplomats. One of his progenitors was a diplomat of a local potentate in the court of the Portuguese in Goa, while another is reported to have been was 'Delegate or Ambassador of the Portuguese Government at the Court of the Peshwas in Pune'.
Waman's father, however, was not a successful man, who is reported to have held the position of manager in the household of a rich relative and subsequently a poor shopkeeper in Bicholim.
He attended primary school in
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
till 6th standard and then joined a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
primary school, where he completed ''"Segundo Grau"'' (roughly 4th grade). After discontinuing studies due to financial constraints he taught himself
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
and English at home. He went to the city of Bombay (now
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
) in 1893 and continued with his studies there, completing High School in 1898.
He was married to Shantabai in Mumbai and had two sons and two daughters.
Career
He returned to Goa in 1899 and took up a job as a teacher in a school, but left it since he wasn't satisfied. He went to
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
and worked there for some time as a clerk in the Lahore Municipality. He returned to Mumbai where he got married and later got a job with the Italian Consulate. Later he joined a German company, ''Meister Lucius & Bruening'', as a stenographer.
[Goa Konkani Akademi – promoting the development of Konkani language, literature and culture](_blank)
Due to World War I, the Germans had to leave and Waman was left in charge of the company. He managed the company well in the absence of its management and on their return, he earned their praise. Later he was promoted to the post of a Secretary of the company. However, due to some disgruntled employees he was accused of mismanagement and left the company.
After this he dedicated his life to revitalising
Konkani.
Nickname
It is believed that he earned the nickname ''"Goembab"'' when he was going along with his uncle Chintamanrao to Mumbai aboard a steamer. A friend on board the ship remarked to his uncle "I hear you are taking this Goembab (Gentleman from Goa) with you to Mumbai." The young and idealistic Waman later used "Shennoi Goembab" as his pen-name.
Writer
Waman had started writing in Konkani at the time he was working in Mumbai. His wife was illiterate but had a very good knowledge of Konkani language and folklore. He made her recite the tales and proverbs and put them in writing which were published later.
''"Goenkaaranchi Goianbhaili Vosnook"'' (Goan migrants outside Goa) was a series of history lectures given by Shenoi Goembab at the Saraswat Brahman Samaj, Mumbai, in 1927.
Another historical book he wrote was ''"Albuquerquan Goen Koshem Jiklem"'' (How Albuquerque Won Goa).
''"Mhoji Baa Khuin Gelli?"'' is regarded as the first modern Konkani short-story. It was published in ''"Gomantopnishat"'', which is a two-volume collection of fiction and non-fiction. The second volume contained ''"Sonvsar Budti"'' (The drowning of the world). It used the story of the Great Flood to discuss various philosophies and includes parts from various religious works such as the
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
, Bible,
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
and
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
.
He believed that Konkani language was awaiting a revolution and it could only be brought about by its youth. This was revealed in his essays ''"Amrutacho Pavs"'' (The Rain of Nectar) and ''"Konkani Vidyarthiank"'' (For Konkani Students)
One of his major contribution was towards children's literature. ''"Bhurgianche Vyakran"'' (Children's Grammar) was written in a series of question-answers that he used to teach his son and ''"Bhurgianlo Ishtt"'' was a collection of short stories.
He also translated many works into Konkani the chief among them being
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
's ''Le Médecin malgré lui'', which he translated as ''"Mogachen Logn"'' (''Love Marriage'') and
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Othello'', ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' and ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
''.
He is most remembered for his translation of the
Bhagavad Gita into Konkani: "''Bhagwantalem Geet''".
Konkani Activist
In an autobiographical reference, Goembab credits the Barão de Cumbarjua (Baron of Cumbarjua), Tomás Morão, with opening his eyes to the fact that it was Konkani, and not Marathi, which was the mother-tongue of Goans. In anecdote he recounts in ''Konkani Bhashechem Zoit'', Goembab indicates that in about 1899, he had written a book "''O Mestre Portugu''é''s''" for use in the Marathi-Portuguese schools that had been established by the Estado da Índia in Goa since 1871. At the time the Barão of Cumbarjua, was the Inspector of Schools in Goa. In that book, Goembab indicates that he had introduced lessons covering grammatical rules, meanings of words and sentences for teaching the art of translation. In the Portuguese introduction, he recounts "I had, in my ignorance, referred to Marathi as "''Lingua Vernacular''" i.e. local language. After reading that introduction, the Barão pointed to my mistake saying, "the local language of Goa is Konkani, how can it be Marathi?". I saw the truth in that statement. And I have not forgotten that incident till this day."
He had observed how Konkani had diminished in status among
Goans
Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and ...
and Marathi and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
had taken the place of respect among the educated, upper class Hindus and Christians respectively. Konkani was used only to communicate with their employees, the poor and downtrodden castes.
He believed that no matter how many languages a person could communicate in to earn a living, he was lost if he could not communicate in his mother tongue, the "language of your soul" as he called it.
"We have been shining under others' lamps", observed Shenoi Goembab.
He began telling Konkanis about the sweetness of their mother tongue and of its rich past. He started writing books to propagate his views.
Not only did he see the Konkani language as an inseparable part of every Goan's and Konkani's identity. He also saw it as a movement against Portuguese rule in Goa.
Shenoi Goembab wrote 7 books in the
Roman script
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Ital ...
and 22 in
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...
. This included short stories, dramas novels, poetry, essays, linguistics, philosophy history.
Perhaps, ahead of his time, Shenoi Goembab stressed on the need to eliminate caste barriers and get the lower castes educated. He said "let's make ''Pandits'' (scholars) out of ''Gawdes'' (farmers)".
In a communally divided linguistic community Waman Shenoi spread the message of peace and unity without rejecting religion. He equated Santeri (a Goddess popular among Goans) with the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
to get the
Goan Catholics
Goan Catholics ( gom, Goenchem Katholik) are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians following the Roman Rite of worship from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konkan ...
and
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, two major communities of Goa, to join hands for Konkani. He would chant ''"Om Santeri Have Mercy on Us! Holy virgin Mother Bless Our Way!"''
Recognition
Shenoi Goembab died on 9 April 1946 in the city of Bombay, and his death anniversary, is now observed as Vishwa Konkani Dis (World Konkani Day).
Shenoi Goembab was posthumously awarded the Konkani Person of the Millennium award by ''Mandd Sobhann'' (a
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...
based Konkani organisation), on his 54th death anniversary(9 April 2000).
The Shenoi Goembab School of Languages and Literature is established by the amalgamation of six conventional language departments active in the field of languages and literature, viz., Department of Konkani (established in 1987), Department of Marathi (1970), Department of Hindi (1965), Department of English (1965), Department of Portuguese (1987) and Department of French (1965) of Goa University.
See also
*
Konkani Language
Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of ...
*
Konkani people
*
Shenoy
Shenoy is a surname from coastal Karnataka and Goa in India.
It is found among Hindus of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community following Smartha Sampradaya of Kavale Matha or Madhva Sampradaya of either Gokarna Matha or Kashi Matha.
S ...
References
External links
Goa Konkani Akademi page on Shennoi Goembab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goembab, Shenoi
1877 births
1946 deaths
Writers from Goa
20th-century Indian linguists
20th-century Indian historians
Konkani-language writers
Konkani people
Activists from Goa
People from North Goa district
Indian male writers
19th-century Indian male writers
19th-century Indian linguists
Educators from Goa