The Rêjdôr (Goa's One-Time Equivalent to a Sarpanch) ------------------------------------ By Bennet Paes https://www.facebook.com/bennet.paes Via Goanet @ Facebook ------------------------------------
During the Portuguese rule in Goa, the Rêjdôr (for regedor in Portuguese) used to enjoy a lot of street-cred among the villagers. He was respected by them, although some discordant voices muttered under their breath that their rêspêth was more out of necessity than otherwise. His job was to oversee the maintenance of civic amenities and keep the villagers living in an orderly fashion; as also to keep their cattle grazing farther afield, lest they polluted the village roads and other public places. Should these animals be found straying from their allocated grazing areas, they would warrant the Rêjdôr's 'goimb' -- a pound, where the animals were held captive and released only after their owners paid a fine. Sometimes, a 'ganthon' (parcel) of fish to the Rêjdôr would suffice to keep him winking at the 'goimb' until the next parcel arrived. The Rêjdor, with the approval of Delegado de Saúde (health inspector), was responsible in approving the slaughter of cattle at the village 'vaacari' (a small abattoir-cum-sales house). The stamp of approval was called the 'shaap' -- created by a hot, branding-iron pressed hard into the hide of the animal. In today's world, that process would tend to torture the animal-activists more than the animals themselves. The villagers, barring the ones who venerated the cow, would rush to the 'vaacari', specially on the days preceding a 'fest' or a 'cazrachem-jevonn' (a feast or a wedding banquet), to lay their hands on the best portion of the 'vaac' (a concoction in Concani, meaning beef). But much to their disappointment, they used to find that such cuts, like the 'lômb' (tenderloin) were reserved for the village hierarchy. At the top of this pyramid, was the Rêjdôr himself, in collusion with his extended families. Some among the lower echelon grumbled about such a discriminatory practice, and had to be contented with the leftovers, the last grade of which was the 'aad-mass' with a lot of 'charbi' in it. A 'raath' (a pound by weight) of this mix cost much less. But with the chunk of 'charbi' painfully consigned to the bin, the rest was cooked in a 'tikkó-fôg' (hot-as-fire) gravy. It was then turned into a 'forhégant' (teeth-shattering) side-dish, which was eased down the gullet by sip after sip of 'vinho tinto', a Portuguese red wine. Nonetheless, they felt belittled having to be seen as also-rans to the vaacari. Not just at the vaacari, even at the villaget 'tiatrs' featuring the formidable trio of the time -- Miguel Rod / Kid Boxer / Young Menezes -- the front row seats were synonymous with the 'birth-right' of the Rejdor and his family. As this story unfolded, it was obvious that the Rêjdôr had his finger in every 'gravy' in the village. No wonder then, those disgruntled voices ranted as they did! -- Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha. If you'd like to share a Goa-related piece of writing with the Goanet cyberworld send it to fredericknoron...@gmail.com