CHANDIGARH | 19 MAY 2019
Going, going...
Kalpana Bindu
R
EKHA and Albert D'Souza are
chatting away with their neigh-
bours from the porch of their
house, located on the top of a
hill overlooking the Arabian
Sea. They are conversing in a language
that’s all Greek to everyone, except of
course to them and roughly 240 other
families in the neighbourhood. For the
record, this small Catholic community
speaks a dialect called Creole, a strange
mix of Portuguese and Marathi! This
small community, clustered around the
three-century-old church at upper Korlai
village in Raigarh district of Maharash-
A dialect born out of Portuguese and
Marathi in the 16th century is on the
verge of extinction. Just around 240
families in a village on the outskirts of
Mumbai speak the language now...
tra, 135 kilometres south of Mumbai, is
the unique bearer of the Portuguese
legacy and Marathi culture.
The imprints of the Portuguese rule on
the cultural landscape of Korlai are clear-
ly exhibited through ‘Our Lady of
Mount Carmel Church’ and the crosses
in every nook and corner of the village.
Popularly known as Portuguese or
Kristy or Nau lin, Korlai Creole Por-
tuguese (KCP) is amongst the several
vestiges of the Portuguese era in India.
KCP, the primary language of conversa-
tion within families and community and
the first language for the children of Kor-
lai, has a history that dates back to the
16th century. One might wonder how did
the cultural heritage of this predomi-
nantly farming Indo-Portuguese com-
munity stand the test of time for more
than three hundred years. Also, what
kind of socio-cultural and linguistic
transformations the people of Korlai
went through were instrumental in the
evolution of this language.
Professor Joseph Clancy Clements,
who has done extensive research on Cre-
ole, explains that during the early 16th
century the Portuguese had started
establishing fortified settlements in
India. This led to a large scale domestic
slavery, and the Portuguese soldiers
started engaging in multi-partner rela-
tions with lower-caste Hindu women. By
the mid century, a lot of Portuguese sol-
diers had settled down in India, marry-
ing these women and converting them to
CAPTION CONTEST 1214
Suggest a caption and win a prize. The caption should only
be in English, telling, witty and not exceeding 10 words, and
reach Spectrum, The Tribune, Chandigarh, 160030, within
one week. We will award prizes of ~300, ~250, ~200, ~150
(Top, clockwise) A view of the Korlai Fort, the Korlai village and its inhabitants who speak Creole, a mix of Purtuguese and Marathi PHOTOS BY THE WRITER
Christianity, thus giving birth to a new
generation of Indo-Portuguese Catholic
community. The Korlai Fort and its sur-
roundings was one of such settlements.
Gradually, Creole emerged as a lingua
franca between the Portuguese men and
the native Marathi speakers. In 1740,
when the Portuguese were defeated by
the Marathas at Korlai, a handful of Indo-
Portuguese families settled on a nearby
hillock, and continue to live till date at
the upper Korlai village, keeping alive
their culture and language.
Different narratives
In Korlai, there exist a variety of narra-
tives about the history of Creole. Many
youngsters feel the language came
directly from Portugal. On the contrary,
many elderly claim it came from Goa.
“Some families speaking this language
came from Goa and settled in Korlai,”
says an elderly Veronica. Interestingly,
the factors that contributed to the suste-
nance of KCP are in contradiction with
the factors that led to its origin. KCP orig-
inated as a result of the need for social
interaction between people from two dif-
ferent communities who were later
joined by matrimony. Conversely, Creole
evolved and survived because of the
social and geographical isolation of this
Indo-Portuguese community. Prof.
Clements suggests that strong barriers
created by the caste system, religion and
occupation led the Indo-Portuguese
community to remain isolated from oth-
er communities residing near Korlai. It
has been a close-knit community and
marriages strictly happened within the
community, with the exception of Por-
tuguese-speaking Christians from Vasai,
Daman & Diu and Goa. Further, this
community solely relied on agriculture
for sustenance, unlike the nearby coastal
villages where the fishing-related activi-
ties were the primary livelihood option.
PHOTO: PRATIBHA SINGH
and ~100 to the best five captions published. Each caption
must be accompanied by a cutting of the caption contest
and number. Photocopies of the caption photo will not be
accepted. Please mention the pin code in your address.
Language
Pahari could
Even today fishing is considered a
menial job by the inhabitants of upper
Korlai. Albert D'Souza says: “Our ances-
tors had purchased land in nearby areas,
since then we are into agriculture only.
Fishing is done by Kolis and others, not
us.” These factors resulted in the contin-
uous cultural transmission from one
generation to the next.
Winds of change
Things have started to change, though.
Urbanisation and aspirations of the
younger generation are posing a threat to
this centuries-old way of life and cultur-
al transmission. Despite the dependence
of the majority of households on agricul-
ture, better access to transportation and
good roads are paving the way for the
younger generation to aspire for better
education and employment opportuni-
ties outside Korlai. The recent trend of
inter-community and inter-faith mar-
riages, non-existent till the end of the last
century, is further threatening the exclu-
sivity of this community. Exposure to
Marathi in a local school has hastened
the linguistic shift from KCP towards
Marathi. Today, the majority of the reli-
gious ceremonies are held in Marathi.
Till 1960s, Portuguese was the official
language of the Church, but now even
the Parish priests speak either Marathi
or English. For those settled outside, the
lure of learning English and urban
lifestyle act as disincentives to speak
KCP and maintain traditional values.
Such developments are creating a more
diverse cultural and economic base in
Korlai, where the functional use of KCP
is gradually losing its relevance.
Holding the fort
The older generation, though, is making
efforts to conserve its culture and lan-
guage. It is ensured that a woman from
other community/caste marrying into a
Selected entries for Caption Contest 1212
May 5 issue (see photo)
■ T(rain) on the way — Kompal Malhotra Chandigarh
■ Miles to go before I sleep — Pravneet Kaur, Mohali
■ Track to horizon — Vishal Jaswal, Ropar
■ A journey to Aurora — Ashish Ranjan Bajaj, Sangrur
■ Next Stop, Cloud 9 — Archanaa, Chandigarh
You have a camera or a phone camera? Make use of it,
send us a picture for the just-launched photography contest.
Even better, selected pictures from the week will be used for
caption contest. So click, swipe and send your best to
captionpics@tribunemail.com
Korlai household adheres to the commu-
nity's religious and cultural practices,
which includes learning KCP. “Every
time my grandchildren visit us, I teach
them a few words and sentences of Nau
lin,” says Phelomena. Children from the
new generation who are being raised out-
side Korlai get exposed to the language
only during their short stays during vaca-
tions, and the short-term learning easily
fades away from their memories. The
younger generation is keen that their
cultural heritage, KCP in particular, be
preserved, but the pressing needs of
their career leave them short of time and
ideas to take any initiative.
Gone already in Kerala
Short-term solutions to keep KCP alive
may provide a ray of hope. Simultane-
ously, they also pose a big question mark
on the future of Creole. The Portuguese
Creole of Cochin died in 2010 with the
death of William Rozario, the last fluent
speaker of this language. It had come
into existence in the last 15th century
from the contact of Portuguese with
Malayalam. So do we really assume that
a similar fate is awaiting this dialect as
well? Efforts made by the likes of Prof.
Clements have brought KCP and other
Creoles to the world view, yet their work
is primarily an area of interest for acade-
micians and linguistic scholars. Since
KCP is not an officially recorded lan-
guage, in order for it to survive for many
more centuries, more concerted efforts
involving government agencies and lin-
guistic experts are required. If the moth-
ers at Korlai continue to speak KCP with
their children, we can hope that some
years down the line when children from
next generations visit this small, quaint
community, we may again find a new
generation of Rekha, Anthony, Sweenal,
Phelomena, Albert or Thomas convers-
ing with each other in KCP.
CROSSWORD
Across
1. Famous art gallery in London
3. Fruit of a deep purple colour
7. The vault of heaven
8. Napoleon’s great Marshal
9. The 'I' of self of any person
12. Outward aspect or appearance
14. Damayanti's great lover in Romance
15. The game that Yudhishthira lost
5
go downhill in
upper Shimla
Vipin Jishtu
W
HEN a dialect dies, it doesn’t die
alone. Along with it goes the folklore,
age-old customs and traditions, and
existing social and cultural life of that
particular area. Facing this threat in not too dis-
tant future will be Himachal's upper Shimla area,
the erstwhile Simla Hill States or the Mahasu
region. Why? There's no script to sustain the
Pahari dialect, spoken with minor and significant
variations across this mountainous expanse, at a
time when modern lifestyle is exerting tremen-
dous pressure on it. Of course, the Tankri script is
there, but little work has been done to document
the social and cultural life of the region. The
dialect, folklore, ballads... have been passed on
verbally to the next generation for centuries now.
The arrangement worked fine until a few
decades back. But with the migration of people
from their native places to urban centres for
work or better education gathering pace, the
signs of strain on Pahari have begun to show
up. Also, the decline in apple business over the
years has been pushing more and more people
into the service sector, far away from their
native places. So, a huge chunk of the current
generation is not exposed to its native dialect
and culture, hence the bond is weakening. With
no written word and little exposure to spoken
language — Hindi and English have become
the preferred medium for modern parents to
converse with their children — the dialect is
gradually heading towards extinction.
The growing reach and impact of social media
could also be listed as one of the reasons for push-
ing Pahari out of our conversations, especially
among the youth living in rural areas. As English
and Hindi are the preferred languages on social
media, it almost instinctively makes them omit
their language from their everyday conversations.
Cultural threat
As people are losing touch with the dialect, the
corresponding impact on the social and cultural
life is profound and easy to notice. For instance,
the social and cultural life of the people here
revolves around local deities. The deities are
invoked on almost every significant event in one's
life and for guidance in matters deemed extreme- For the lack of a
ly important. The medium of conversation viable script,
between the deity and the devotee through an ora- Pahari could go
cle is the local dialect. With people losing touch out of use in
with the dialect, at most places only a handful of times to come
TRIBUNE PHOTO:
elderly know how to converse with the deity.
AMIT KANWAR
Clearly, if the dialect is lost, we will lose the only
link we have to converse with our respective
deities. And if that happens, the existing social
and cultural set-up is going to change beyond
recognition. As it is, we've already lost much of
our cultural heritage. At weddings, for instance,
many unique musical instruments were played
and traditional songs were sung but the DJ sys-
tem is replacing them fast across the region.
The music is fading... Is there a way to keep it
going for longer. First up, our traditional songs,
instead of relying on re-mix and Bollywood influ-
ence, should use original lyrics and depict our
culture. Besides, the influential people of the
region should take pride and lead in conversing
in the local dialect, and participating in cultural
events. It will go a long way in keeping the
dialect alive and kicking.
KARUNA GOSWAMY
Down
2. Delay; to be tardy
4. Solution resulting from leaching
5. Short term for one of the great Museums of New York
6. Aeronautics factory based in Bangalore (inits.)
7. Enthusiastic devotee or follower
9. Feeling of weariness; boredome
10. There is one on the Grecian Urn
11. One who sits in a state assembly in India (inits,)
12. Surya, in our terms
13. __ Brooks, great comic actor