The "Good" Indians of Kampala By Daryl Martyris dmarty...@post.harvard.edu
When I first arrived in Uganda, on hearing that my family was from Goa, one of my Ugandan colleagues surprised me by exclaiming, "So you are a good Indian!" He explained that the Goans who came to Uganda in colonial times were mainly teachers, priests and administrators who were trusted by the white man (the British colonial masters), but "got run out of town by the Patels." I learnt that Goans were the only community that allowed the African elite to join their clubs, which encouraged social interaction between the communities. The first president of independent Uganda, Milton Obote, is reputed to have said, "I'd trust Goans with the keys to the safe -- but not with a bottle of whiskey." The tiny community in Uganda consisting of about eight families, and a few bachelors, is a shadow of the thousands who once called this home. Indeed there are a significant number of elderly people still alive in Goa, the UK and Canada who were born here. Goans arrived in the then British protectorate in the early 1900s to seek their fortunes. After the entire Asian community was expelled in 1972 by Idi Amin, who described them as "bloodsuckers", they were invited back by in 1985 by President Yoweri Museveni, who was desperate to revive the economy that lay in ruins. Most Ugandans were glad to see the Indians leave, so it was galling to see the "muhindi" to be given back their properties, and regain their former economic dominance. The old divisions remain -- outside the workplace, Indians and Ugandans keep social interaction to the bare minimum and assimilation through intermarriage remain extremely rare. Though having a Ugandan girlfriend or Indian men marrying Ugandan women happens occasionally, an Indian woman marrying a Ugandan man is practically unheard of -- which contributes to the widespread perception that Indians are racist. In 2007 this simmering tension erupted into violence in which one Indian was killed. Long-time resident Alex Ramos, whose family is originally from Chorao, came to Uganda in the early 1990s. Reflecting on the challenge of assimilating socially with Ugandans, he says, "We probably don't try hard enough to socialize with them, but the youth are more free -- in school they all hang out together. Colour, tribe no bar." As it happens the Goans were not exactly "run out of town", but the Patels and other Indians came back to claim their businesses, while the Goans had nothing to come back to -- their jobs having been since filled by Ugandans. While most Goans left in 1972 during the Asian expulsion, some never did. Professionals such as teachers were allowed to stay. Jonathan D'Sousa, who was born in Uganda, and left only as an adult in the 1980s, is from one of the few Goan families who stayed behind throughout the Amin years. He recalls, "There was a lot of racism against us in those years, but we were able to survive because our Ugandan friends helped us find essentials at a time when the economy had collapsed and shops were empty. I didn't think we'd ever leave." There are still traces of Goan influence in Kampala, such as the landmark Norman Godinho school in old Kampala (the school's alumni in Canada fundraised for its renovation a few years ago), and the ubiquitous national dress for women called the Gomesi after the Goan tailor M.C. Gomes, who designed the first one as a school uniform, and was then adapted as the wedding dress of the Queen of the Baganda kingdom, gaining wide acceptance. There's also the occasional Ugandan with some Goan ancestry. According to Alex Coutinho, a prominent Ugandan doctor, who had a Goan grandfather, there are at least 25 Ugandan Coutinhos! The heart of the community was the Kampala Goan Institute. According to an article in the Daily Monitor on the occasion of Uganda's 50th Anniversary by writer Vali Jamal, one day in April 1905, the 30 souls of the community in Uganda unanimously resolved to form a club, with one half of a month's income as entrance fee. The institute's activities were legendary, and included dances, sun-downers, and housie. All community weddings were held at the club, a beautiful colonial structure. As an interesting aside the group that started the Institute being mostly those who traced their origins to the Brahmin caste, excluded the tailors, cooks, stewards and others "not of high social standing." So the tailor class started the St. Francis Xavier Society of Tailors in 1930 and till the 1970s the two coexisted in a spirit of friendly rivalry. The Goan Institute was reincarnated in Canada by the Goan-Ugandan diaspora, and exists to this day. Though they were able to reclaim the property from the Ugandan government, the miniscule Goan community was unable to hang on to it. The focal point of the community these days is the Church -- to be precise Christ the King Church -- which is fitting, since it was built with subscriptions from the Goan community in the 1930s. There is a "Goan Mass" at the church once a month where the community provides the choir and music. The community also gets together on special occasions such as Christmas, the Bandra feast, and to bid farewell to people leaving. Almost all of the remaining Goans are "new arrivals", having arrived in the 1980s or after, as opposed to the "old" families, most of who have migrated. They are mainly professionals working for Indian-owned businesses, and a couple of entrepreneurs, such as Jerry Pacheco, originally from Benaulim, who runs the popular Coconut Shack restaurant -- the only place that serves Goan food in Kampala. In a recent paper titled 'Migration, Identity and Post Colonial Change in Uganda: A Goan Perspective', Margaret Frenz explores the different perceptions of the country between these two groups, with the older Goans recognizing it as home, and having closer ties to the indigenous population, while the newer ones view it mainly as a temporary business location and having closer ties to the broader Indian community. Indeed, most of the children leave Uganda to go to college in India or other countries, and their parents follow once they retire. The Goan community's heyday in Uganda is undoubtedly over, but it lives on in the memory of the Goan diaspora scattered across three continents. Among the handful of Ugandans Goan who return here, the nostralgia for the old days is palpable. Valerie Remedios whose family left for the UK in the late 1960s when she was a child, returned recently to work in Kampala. She remembers it as "an idyllic place to grow up." The remnants of the community, though tiny in comparison to the other Indian communities, retain a strong sense of their identity, and proud contribution to this country; tenaciously preserving age-old traditions of faith and culture. Daryl Martyris is an American of Goan origin who lives in Kampala. Please send your feedback to dmarty...@post.harvard.edu and discuss this article via goa...@goanet.org PHOTOS Norman Godinho School now Buganda Road Primary School. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/10511963825/lightbox/ Members of the Goan community outside the Goan Institute Kampala http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/10511964395/lightbox/ Other pics of Uganda http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=uganda&w=17364099@N00 Old Kampala map http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=kampala%20&w=17364099@N00 Miscellaneous Goa-related Africa images http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=africa%20source&w=17364099@N00 NOTE: Some of the above photos have been generously shared from the albums of the families involved. Goanet Reader is edited and compiled by Frederick Noronha. Goa-related articles are welcome, and will be widely circulated online if interesting enough.