I've always been very curious to know how one could tell the "caste" of a person. I'm reasonably fair, with light eyes. I speak English with a British accent, Konkanni with a Goan accent and quite a smattering of French (if my life was at stake). How would someone be able to "identity" me at a dance or anywhere else? Is there a tattoo on my bottom perhaps that I've not noticed all these years? This is a serious question.
I'm so glad I grew up in the Gulf. There, second generation expat Goans were oblivious to the caste system of Goa. Initially there were so few of us Goan families, that we banded together just for friendship and cultural comfort, regardless of caste or creed. We had Goan clubs for all Goans, wonderful dances and football tournaments, and most of us went to a school run by Italian nuns and affiliated to the University of London. That de facto became a Goan Catholic school. It was only when I returned to Goa as an adult, that the hideousness of the caste system in Goan Catholic families became apparent to me. Elisabeth ---------------------------- --- Tony Barros <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > As for the Goan Gymkhana Club in Nairobi, membership > was restricted > to the "cream" de "creme"- the "Touchables" > Brahmins. And after > membership was opened following Kenya's December > 1963 independence, > subtle forms of prejudice by brahmins continued to > prevail. As > also stated in my previous postings on the same > subject, it was > very apparent at dances when brahmin girls would > refuse to dance with > non-brahmin boys, and brahmin boys would not dance > with non-brahmin > girls- even though they studied with them from Grade > 1 thru > to Grade 12. > > > Tony Barros. > Union, New Jersey. > U . S . A . > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org