Much has been written about the Bombay kudds, but this compilation by a city history buff Prasad Khadye adds to the information without much overlap except understandably in core items.
Source: The Cudd System: A Study of Goan Club life in Bombay by Olga Valladares Article by Humaira Ansari in Hindustan Times THE KUDD LIFE IN BOMBAY... A Kudd is a dormitory-style club where Catholic migrant workers from Goa can stay for just a few rupees a month, while they look for work, or if they’re just passing through Mumbai. Incredibly, these century-old spaces are still in use, with rules that include compulsory rosary, lights out at 10 pm. Each kudd is named after the Goan village it serves Despite a drop in users kudds still allow only one trunk per member. The Goan men were members of a unique system that came into existence in Bombay about 150 years ago, with the formation of ‘kudds’ or Goan clubs — dormitory-style spaces that would offer shelter and a little rough guidance to the Goan migrants flocking to the commercial hub in search of work. At their peak, there were 450 kudds in the city, concentrated in Mazgaon, Dhobi Talao and Chira Bazaar. Only 160 survive, according to the Federation of Goan Club (Kudd), and most of them are in embattled buildings torn between the demands of what is now prime real estate, and the stubbornness of old tenants from the pagdi system. But they are, intriguingly, still in use.The over 100-year-old Club of Carmona costs lodger Rs 100 per month. Staying at the club is not only cheaper, it also allows lodger to catch up with fellow villagers. Jer Mahal Estate, a six-building complex, is still home to about 23 kudds, each named after the Goan village it serves. Here, the daily 8 pm rosary is still compulsory. Lights out is at 10.30 pm. And every year sees a feast celebrating the patron saint of the village. The luggage allowance is still only one trunk per member. These metal crates are lined along the walls in rows, storing the belongings of young men identified only by their first names — Noel, Freud, Wilbon. It’s a place where migrant workers can keep their belongings while they sail, a place they can come home to for some rest on their shore breaks. Most members still come from low- and- middle-income families — kudds are open only to Christian men from the same village. They are armed with little education and few skills. While earlier most found employment as seamen, working on ships as waiters, mess-men, cleaners and cooks, with a handful serving as cooks and domestic help in the homes of rich Parsi and European residents of Bombay, now some hold senior ‘shippie’ positions like that of a chief cook, crew in-charge, officer and even a captain. Since most kudds came into being in the Colonial era, they have tenancy, not ownership rights. Now, with landlords striking lucrative deals with builders, the pressure is built up on the management of kudds to register as charitable societies to avoid eviction and keep the tradition alive. The Club of Ponda in Jer Mahal, which has 400 members but has not seen more than 20 members living here at a time since 1995, down from 40 members in the years before that. It’s the same across the clubs. Despite rents as low as Rs 50 to Rs 150 a month, the number of residents is dwindling — mainly because there are now direct flights from Goa to most places where Goans work, so the need for an overnight halt, a stopover, no longer exists. There are other reasons for the dwindling numbers too. The kudds played a great role at a certain time, so the older members are obviously nostalgic about them,but for the later generations of educated Goans coming to Mumbai, living in a dormitory came to be seen as a sign of failure, especially when they could afford better and when they saw little dignity in living out of a suitcase or a trunk, in a place which didn’t traditionally allow them to build a social network outside the kudd.” The kudds’ greatest appeal now lies in the fraternal atmosphere it offers bachelors back from months at sea, and the inexpensive family quarters it offers members, depending on availability. Kudds have offered a landing to many Goans in an expensive city like Mumbai. Staying in clubs, people have made their careers a success in life.In her 1958 thesis, The Cudd System: A Study of Goan Club life in Bombay, former journalist Olga Valladares writes how kudd members would return from work in the evenings and go for walks or sit around ‘smoking, chatting with fellow-members, till it was time for Rosary and bed’. Most kudds still have a carom board.Back then, members would also play football, and wait in queues to play carom or the noisy traditional Goan game tabblam, where you flip sticks in the air Skipping the rosary would invite punishments like cleaning the toilet and watering the huge flower pots near the kudd area. With eight airy dormitories, six family rooms, three toilets, three bathrooms and a kitchen, this club that has each member pay Rs 50 a month is among the few kudds left that is standing firm. But the memberships, contributions and upkeep are fuelled more by nostalgia than relevance. Kudds emerged and evolved as a necessity, a system and a way of life at a time when landlords would just put up ‘To let’ signs and wait for tenants to show up.Now when real estate values have shot up, people are eyeing kudds for profits. While some members are active and interested in keeping them up and running, others are indifferent. The Kudds were seen as ‘unofficial employment exchanges’. It was where people began hunting for jobs in packs; and members were considered duty-bound to help newcomers find work. The Goan immigrant of the mid-19th century was very different from the Goan migrant or immigrant of today."Today, kudds are all about nostalgia,” adds Martins, editor of Bomoicar, a book on Goans living in Mumbai, which has a chapter dedicated to kudds. “Nothing is happening there, but a lot could happen. Culturally, kudds need to be put to better use. The space can be used for book readings, for theatre, or it could be even hired out for community feasts.” On a Sunday afternoon, in the main dormitory at the Club of Paroda in Matharpacady, some clothes hooks and a letter box jut out of a flaky wall, a TV and a discoloured model of a tanker ship lie in one corner, and the club rules, in Konkani, hang by a rusty frame. Two members wile away their time reading newspapers. They would have played cricket, they say, if there were more members around. IN A NUTSHELL.... WHAT IS A KUDD? * The word kudd, also spelt ‘coor’ or ‘cudd’, literally means ‘room’ in Konkani. Kudds are also referred to as clubs. * Simply put, these are dormitory-style accommodation spaces that first cropped up in the late 18th to early 19th century, to house Goan migrants who were flocking to the commercial hub of Bombay in search of work. * Each kudd is named after a Goan village and is open to Catholic men from that village only. Members can stay at the club indefinitely, for a monthly rent that now ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 150. * The kudds evolved from rooms let out by landlords under the pagdi system and, as such, have no owners. Instead, they are run by a committee of older members. * Most kudds are concentrated in the Mazagaon, Dhobi Talao and Chira Bazaar areas. (The city is also home to a few Mangalorean clubs formed on the same model.) Since these areas are now prime real-estate, many kudds are finding themselves embattled as landlords seek to sell out to builders. LIFE IN A KUDD * Structurally, all kudds more or less the same — a common room with a large altar in the centre, dormitories, family rooms (used when wives, parents and children visit), shared toilets and a kitchen. * Members still follow the same rules — the daily evening rosary is compulsory, bedding must be rolled up by 8 am, lights must go out by 10.30 pm. Drinking is allowed as long as no nuisance is created, and most kudds allow card games on certain days. * When the kudds were set up, most Goan migrants came from low-income, agrarian families and had little education and few skills. The kudds helped them find their feet, offering a home away from home while they looked for work, and helping them network with other Goans in Mumbai. * Most Kudd inhabitants ended up working as seamen, waiters, mess-men, cleaners and cooks on ships. They would halt at their kudd in Mumbai before starting each voyage, or would spend a few days of shore leave there before heading home to Goa on breaks. Often, they would leave belongings behind in a trunk with their name or membership number written on it. * In their heyday, kudds were so crowded that members jostled for place to spread their mats out and sleep. Today, most Goan migrants are educated and skilled and prefer not to join kudds or use their dorms. * Shippies from lower-income families still drop by, though, and even today the functional kudds have trunks piled up against the walls — though only one crate is still allowed per member. * Of the 450 kudds in the city, only about 160 remain, according to the Federation of Goan Club (Kudd). * Most members still while away their time playing music or carom, though the traditional Goan games like tabblam have been replaced by TV. * As they always have, members either get their meals at local eateries or pool their cash and cook fish curry and rice or vindaloo. Today, pasta and pizza also make an appearance. Roland. Toronto.
