I remember very fondly our next door neighbors in our flat in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (then Tanganyika). From birth till the age of 12 and a half when my parents returned to Goa, I spent a lot of time with my neighbors who were all tailors. In a single bedroom flat there were about 9 men, who I gather had left their wives behind in Goa. Their beds were placed every where they could, with a few sewing machines between the beds, where these men continued sewing late in the night. They were employed by clothing shops mostly run by Indians during the day, and picked up additional work which theyperformed late through the night. Despite my mischeivous ways, they were a tolerant lot. I remember them as being devout Catholics with pictures of the Sacred Heart with a oil lamp burning day and night, and also a picture of the Blessed Joseph Vaz. I did not know what it all meant but their simple devotion was inspiring. While our family had a very cordial relationship with them and even exchanged "kunswar" at Christmas, it was obvious that there was something different. We did not socialize with them. While we attended social functions at the Goan Institute, these men did not. I assumed that this was because they had so much work to do. I remember in the days leading up to the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, they conducted a raffle, to which my Dad always subscribed, though I did not recall ever having won anything.
When I returned to Tanzania(Tanganyika) in 1959, I re-acquainted myself with the children of some of these tailors. The children had all studied at least through high school and had become clerks in the Government and nearly all of them had become members of the Goan Institute. Whether membership of the Goan Institutes in East Africa was denied to their parents because they were Tailors, I do not know. I do know that Education was the great leveler. I always remember these simple men, with their diligent work ethic, and thrifty ways, Some of them invested their money in property and were economicallybetter off than the clerks !
