They are a community of Bombay Christians who were the original (relatively) inhabitants of areas in Bombay like Mazagon, Sewri, Wadala, Dadar and Mahim and in suburbs around the north of the city like Kalina, Andheri , Versova and countless other wards, hamlets and towns.
These places are located on the West Coast of India, puzzling any newcomer with their ‘East Indian’ misnomer. Their explanation is that due to rapid spread of education among Bombay natives by the missionaries, their literacy was prized by the British and they were given jobs in the East India Company. To complicate things further, Goans once derogatively and dismissively called them Norterres. This probably referred to them being residents of northern territories. I used to wonder why the northern reference to them, until the article I have posted about Bassein that indicated the Portuguese referred to their settled lands north of Bombay Islands as ‘Northern Territories’. The East Indians have two major ancestral occupations or castes. The farmers or agriculturists and the fishermen. Being staunchly Catholic the single (unmarried) inheritors of properties and houses bequeathed them on death to the local church, in all piety. What became of those, is another story that would disgust faithful churchgoers. The East Indians of Bombay owned almost all the land and houses until very recently, say the 1980s, when they sold out their properties and fields, their villas and bungalows to the big builders for a song. Being a fun loving but sincere people and hardy tipplers just like the Goans, it was easy to make them part with their only meaningful assets. Today 20 and higher storey buildings can be seen where once lovely villages with quaint houses stood and narrow winding lanes meandered. Over the past few decades, they have woken up, somewhat like locking the barn after the horses have bolted and organized themselves under the association name of the Mobai (Mumbai) Panchayat to get some of their rights back from the pillaging criminals, politicians and municipalities, but that’s a losing battle because they have no political clout. Goa is a story that follows the history of the East Indians. Goans have a lot in common with them and like them the Goan in Goa will be a very rare and unprotected animal in a short while. The only difference is that outsiders robbed the East Indians, while Goan politicians rob their own. Roland. Toronto.
