[Goanet]Goan caste - some stray thoughts

[Antonio Menezes]

Dr. Cornel da Costa,  all of us know that we are the children of God. 
But it would appear that Lord God wanted to do something different. 
He looked at our subcontinent  and said, why  dont i give my best  to
this region and see what comes out of that ?

And so He created  a super human being and endowed him with 
'superior' knowledge  and called him brahmin after his own omnipotent
spirit i.e. brahman.

And to see that no physical harm comes to the brahmin, He created 
another super human called maharaja whose duty was , besides ruling
the masses,  to give maximum protection to His Hallowed offspring, the
brahmin.

And thus our country became famous throughout the world as the home of
the brahmin and the maharaja..

Dr. Cornel,  the thought  that has been nagging me all these years, is
how come  the British who were in India  for more than 200 years, did
not incorporate  these two terms  i.e. brahmin and maharaja  to
describe the high and the mighty in their own society.  After all,
these two terms  appear in the Oxford English Dictionary.

If you will recall,  in Boston U.S.A.  some WASP families  like the
Lowells, the Cabots, and the Lodges not to mention prominent catholic
families like the Fitzgeralds, the Kennedys are known as the Boston
Brahmins.

By the way, there is a story doing the rounds, that Lourenco Marques
born Portuguese lady Maria Teresa ( of Thierstein Simoes Ferreira
Heinz fame)  wanted to present her Irish Catholic husband John Kerry 
as a Boston Brahmin was told by a segundo grau passed elderly lady
from Pomburpa , who happened to be in Boston  during the presidential
election, that only  catholics of Goa are pure brahmins and the whole
world knew about it.

Coming back to Britain,  dont you thing the British could have used 
expressions like   His Maharaja, the Duke of Ben Nevis or His
Brahmanic Lordship, the Archbishop of Bournemouth ?

May be the British  knew something about our brahmins and maharajas
that we , the mere mortals of India , know nothing much about.

That reminds me,have you made a contact with the Lord Milad of Acton,
may be he could throw some light  on the subject.

Antonio

[Goanet]INDIA : CASTE AND THE FUTURE

[Antonio Menezes]

Our media is full of news that India, in future, is going to be the
third largest industrial power  after the U.S. and China and that, in
addition, we shall enjoy the advantage of having the largest pool  of
working age population as compared to the other two, which is indeed a
very good feel factor.

Let us consult our history. India is not going to be rich for the
first time in her lifetime, period.Her past prosperous times had
attracted the Aryans, the Turks, the Mughals from the north west and
the British came from the south west..

There is , however, one societal factor  that has not changed in all
these past 30 centuries or so.The same upper class forms 5% of our
population, about 25% is the same middle class and the rest 70% are
our poor masses whose lives were and still are so miserable that they
could not have cared less whether they were ruled by the Aryans,
Turks, Mughals,or the British.

So how do we go about changing the hereditary proportion and bring the
majority of our masses , at least, to the level of the lower middle
classes ? Provide them with reasonable income and better health and
eductional facilities ?  These elementary measures can and do work
wonders in the sub-Saharan Africa; but in India we require an
additional requisite of providing relief to the much battered psyche 
of our masses, which today stand totally deformed as a result of
having been subjected  from generations to countless generations  to
slander and calumny, the psychological weapons that were so strictly
and insensately implemented  by the dharmic rules and regulations.

Can our so called 'elites' provide leadership  for the task of psychic
regeneration  of our masses? I doubt very much,  since I am of the
opinion that our 'elites' whether they are RSS wallahs, Congressmen,
Communists ( i.e. the top echelon) are in a way  self afflicted 
victims of the HOG syndrome.HOG stands for  hallucination of
grandeur andhallucination means  perception of  'superiority' 
that has no reality whatsoever  outside one's mind.

The difficult task of restoring the psyche of our masses to a healthy
level thus improving  the quality of our people has to be undertaken
of war footing, otherwise we shall have to look with apprehension,
this time, towards the north east and the south east.

antonio

[Goanet]INDIA - CASTE AND THE FUTURE

[Antonio Menezes]

Mr. Cip Fernandes, many thanks for your reaction (may 24th). Of
course, i could start  the process of psychic regeneration of our
masses, but i think, the job will require, at least,  an effort
lasting for a couple of centuries so as to erase the palimpsest  of
layers upon layers  of not so logical  social doctrines which were
accumulated  on top of each other during the last  30 centuries.

Or it could  be done even  quicker, but then  it would require the
following type of revolutions to happen concurrently:

1. The  French revolution
2. The Lenin's revolution in Russia
3. The Mao Tse Tung's revolution in  China.  
And for better or for worse,  another element  has to be added,
namely, the Stalinist purges,  and  ( i apologise in advance for
saying this ) Adolf H's  cleansing programme

antonio.

[Goanet]Goa's Caste System - of (Church), Gaumkars, Bamons & Chaddis

[Antonio Menezes]

Thank you JoeGoaUk  for many genuine questions. I doubt,  whether you
will  ever receive any reply  from the Patriarch whose office was 
exclusively responsible  for the casteist state of affairs within the
Goa Catholic Church during the last four and half centuries ending  in
the year  1961.

I simply cannot understand  the mentality of the bamon padri (the
chaddi padri  appeared on the scene much later ).  A padri by
profession  is supposed to look after the spiritual welfare of his
flock.  Casteist for 'Les Miserables ' i.e. other than bamons and
chaddis was a devilish scheme  that endlessly tortured  the mind of
the lesser people.  Was the bamon padri aware of this spiritual
suffering ?  Or was this a part  of suffering  that enabled a poor
soul  to approach directly the pearly gates of St Peter without post
burial  mortification called purgatory ?

Joe, if you know a proper office address  in the Vatican, please
request them  to obtain an answer from Patriarch's Office in Goa  to
the following two questions. May be Mr. Cornel da Costa could help you
in this regard.

Question No. 1 How come the Seminaries accepted  young boys  from
   bamon families to be trained as priest
to the exclusion of
   all others 

Question No.2  Why were religious associations  called confrarias
   formed on the basis of the Hindu caste system ?

antonio

[Goanet]Goa's Caste: Church, Bamons and Gaumkars

[Antonio Menezes]

Mario Gouveia, thanks for putting  it so succinctly,  the answer to a
vague idea  and it needs to be quoted again  :   the bamon padri 
failed to understand  the
very fundamentals  of Christ's teachings. perhaps , as a
result  of the
brahmanic  i.e brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of others.

Undoubtedly,  it will be met with deafening silence in the circles concerned.

Antonio

[Goanet]THE DA FONSECA CODE

[Antonio Menezes]

Igorjen bamon teca kelo
ani vodlo bamon to zalo
punn igorz nagoili connem ?
padr vigaran ?
chett !
to devache bhiranticho munis

So how come mostly bamon families prospered during the Porguguese regime.

Is there a symbologist  among Goan catholics  who could crack open a
Pandora's box , I mean  da Fonseca code ?

And what is this code, it is not in a painting but is an old age saying :

   Padricho sermaum  , vhonienc nuim .


Antonio

[Goanet]Willie, a casteist ? What BULL.........!

[Antonio Menezes]

Senhor Alfredo Francisco Antonio Luis
de VASCONCELOS CUNHA  e TAVARES

calls himself  1) an unabashed brahmin
   who is2) determinedly fighting the detriments
of casteism in our society.

para 1)  proclaims to be an abashed one, when all other bamons are quite
unwilling to do so  in our society.

para 2) '' intention to fight determindedly the detriments of casteism in our
society '' is rather doubtful.  Why would  Senhor Alfredo have the 
the lesser mortals know that his grandmother hailed from the 
Vasconcelos family and his mother from Cunha family ?

 The question , therefore, should be : '' Can a bamon ever
 become an anticasteist ? ''

 Antonio

[Goanet]Caste Lineage

[Antonio Menezes]

Mr. Avelino D'Souza  of Bastora/kuwait asks me: could you clarify
where on the caste hierarchy you belong?

I must say it is a very good question. However , therre is no clear
cut answer but I shall try , as briefly as possible,  to tell a story
that has been with our families  for the last two and half centuries.
For your information  I have our family tree chart  that goes as far
back as mid-eighteen century.  You may take with a pinch of salt  but
we do believe it for it concerns our family members.

Let us consider ourselves to be living inthe seventeen century
somewhere in Ponda /Sanquelim talukas of today.Being in the rich
agricultural region of Konkan, there are many temples including those
which were vacated  from Bardez/Salcete region with the advent of the
Portuguese.  The temple poojaris ( i.e. the officiating priests
including the newcomers from Bardez/Salcete ) are living like godlings
on earth.  The temples are also some sort of orphanages  for unwanted
girls  because their husbands to whom they were married ( under child
marriage ) died before they attained the age of puberty.  So the young
widows  are given to the temple to serve as maids.

Some of these nubile girls attract the attention of priests  who
entice them into concubinage.  I don't blame the priests, for it
happens all the time and everywhere.  The children of these  illicit
unions , however, have some problems . To which caste do they belong
to ? not the upper caste, of course.  Hence there is resentment .  If
they continue  living on the outskirts of the temple, they are
considered to be outcasts. So what do they do ?

Let me state, at this stage, that it was a very small number of
children  of such illicit unions  who migrated across the river and
settled down  in the first villages  they came across in
Bardez/Salcete  area  and became catholics.  The young men got married
and  claimed 'high' status no matter in which caste they got married
into, but some young women who did likewise,were, however, not so
lucky.

Antonio

[Goanet]GOA - Tidbits of Geography etc.

[Antonio Menezes]

The Portuguese sailors who were the first people to develop modern
navigational skills reached India ( Kozikhode/ Calicut  in Kerala )on
the 20th May, 1498 under the command of Vasco da Gama.

For the next 12years, the Portuguese traded with India ( spices,
precious stones etc) and were at the same time on the look out for a
permanent safe harbour  for their sailing ships, especially during 
the monsoon months  June to September.

On the 1st of March, 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque  captured a small town
called Ela  (Old Goa )  which was a safe harbour and at least 10 kms
away from the sea coast.  Ela was a port  frequented by Arab and
Persian dhows which brought fine horses  for the Deccan warlords.

Within months Adil Shah  the ruler of the Bijapur Kingdom to whom Ela
belonged  struck back and  threw Afonso de Albuquerque and his men 
back in to their sailing ships. Being the begining of the monsoon
season   Afonso de Albuquerque had nowhere to go except anchor his
ships  in the Bay of Aguada  i.e. opposite modern Miramar, a ward of
Panjim.  It was the villagers of Taleigao  who came to the rescue of
Afonso de Albuquerque and his men, for they provided them with fresh
provisions and water  during the lean months of the monsoon.

Come Oct/Nov  1510 Afonso de Albuquerque  has to make a decision .  He
either  leaves the area  in search of another harbour somewhere along
the west coast  or he goes back to Ela, which he ultimately did.

This memorable decision  of  Albuquerque  truly marks  the beginning
of the history of Goa as it is known today.  Let us face it.   Had
Albuquerque  gone away, todays Goa  would have, most probably,  been
not much different  from say, Ratnagiri or Mangalore.

On the 25th November  1510  Albuquerque attacks Ela ( Old Goa )  once
again and this time it is for keeps for the next 450  years.

Surrounding areas are gradually conquered  and the whole island of
Tiswadi  along with islands of Divar, Chorao, Jua and Kumbharjua now
form part of the Portuguese empire in the east.

In 1543 i.e. 33 years  after Albuquerque entered Old Goa ,  Bardez and
Salcete are annexed from Adil Shah empire.   Salcete in those days 
included  areas of the present day Mormugao taluka. To the best of my
knowledge  Mormugao became a separate taluka  sometime in the 19 th
century. .

For the next 250 years, after 1510  the Portuguese are happy   with
their posession  - Ilhas, Bardez and Salcete.   i.e. IBS region.

During this period, Portugal becomes an economic power  as a result of
trade with the East,  gradually decline sets in, Old Goa is abandoned 
because of plague. The capital is transferred to Panjim  where in 1510
 Adil Shah had a residence called Idalcao Palace.,  which till
recently  served as Legislative Assemblycum  Secretariat.

>From 1510 to 1660 i.e. a period of 150 years, the Portuguese
missionaries converted the population of IBS  region  to Christianity
and later somehow  seem to have lost  the zeal for conversions .  It
can be safely stated that  religious intolerance  was a thing of the
past by 1660s

In 1760 the Portuguese obtained  from the Raja of Sonda ( North Canara
)  the talukas of Ponda, Sanguem, Quepem and Canacona.

In 1780s the Portuguese annexed  Pernem, Bicholim and Satari talukas
from the Bhonsles of Sawantwadi

Goa consists of Ilhas , Bardez and Salcete i.e. IBS
  from 1510 to 1760   
  250 years
Goa IBS region plus seven additional talukas  
  from 1760 to 1960   
  200 years
  
  -
The Portuguese stayed in Goa for  
---450 years.
  
  ===

Antonio

[Goanet] GOA , where ?

[Antonio Menezes]

Re: Frederick Noronha ' query'


The 232 page  index of geographical names attached to  Britannica
Atlas ( 1982 edition )  has the following entries:

GOAa political unit on the west coast of India

GOAthe name of a small township  of less than 10,000 inhabitants
situated in the south of Luzon island  of the Philippines.

GOAN   another small township in the African nation of Mali.

GOANGOA a river in the Central African  Republic near its border with Sudan

Antonio

[Goanet] Goa - A tour of Salcete villages

[Antonio Menezes]

Undoubtedly, there are many young non resident Goans  of 2nd and 3rd
genarations who are keen to know  what Goa of their grandparents and
great grandparents  looked like, especially Goa of the first half of
the twentieth century.

So much development in roads, housing etc.  is taking place  that the
old pristine  Goa  of quaint villages  is disappearing fast into the
history books.

Yet, there is an opportunity today to savour the ambience of village
life. For this, one has to undertake , in slow motion, a tour of
villages along the coastal belt and  see something of  south Salcete
as well.

There are good smooth village roads. One preferably  ought to travel
by a scootie
( a gearless motor-cycle  with only  accelerator and brake ) at no
more than 30 km per hour.

If you stay in Panjim or Vasco, you could come down by NH 17 and in
Verna turn right  to reach Cansaulim, From here travel slowly
southwards via Majorda, Betalbatim, Colva towards Maria Hall junction
in Benaulim. Again proceed soutwards via Varca, Orlim, Carmona  to
Cavelossim. ( In Mobor area there are plenty of good hotels for an
afternoon meal ).

Return by the same route and at Orlim turn right to visit south
Salcete.  After crossing  the Orlim/Deussua bridge on the river Sal, 
you are now in Chinchinim bazaar. Go southwards to Assolna and Velim
up to the fishing trawlers wharf.  Come back  and turn right at
Assolna bazaar to  go to Cuncolim.

Your tour  is now complete.  From Cuncolim  it is all the way to Margao/Vasco/
Panjim and Mapusa  by the National Highway No; 17 via Chinchinim and
Navelim villages.

As a proud son/daughter of the sandy soil of Goa, you have just witnessed 
Catholic Goa at its best.

Antonio

[Goanet] Outsider syndrome

[Antonio Menezes]

There comes a time in the life of a nation, especially when that
nation is on her way up  economically as well as militarily, when Toms
Dicks and Harrys of that nation  think that they have the potential to
occupy the highest  political position of the land.

Then there are pulls and counterpulls galore in the political life and
politicians have little or no time to devote their energies  for the
welfare and further development  of the nation.  They are busy at
intrugue and try to pull down the crab in the basket that has almost
reached the top, not that this particular crab has not used the same
tactics  to reach the top.

It is precisely  at this moment in the life of a nation that nature
blesses the land with a political leader who  is not exactly a native
of that land but circumstances  conspire to make him/her acceptable to
the political  elites.  And lo and behold! the nation under this
particular leader reaches the pinnacle  of power and glory as a result
of all political leaders making peace among themselves and working in
an unison manner.

There are  historical precedents of this kind of  political elevation.

Alexander the Great ( 356 - 323 BC ) , the son of Macedonian king
Philip who became the ruler of Greece and extended her boundaries up
to the river Indus of the Indian sub-continent.

Kublai Khan ( 1729 -1796 ), the grandson of Mongol Genghis Khan became
Emperor of a powerful and prosperous China.

Catherine the Great ( 1729 - 1776 )   a daughter of a minor German
princeling married the Grand Duke Peter of  Russia.  After the
premature  death of her husband ,she became Tsarina, an effective
ruler of Russia  and extended  her boundaries  as they exist today.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1768 - 1821 ) was an Italian speaking  military
officer in the French army from the island of Corsica who became  the
greatest emperor France  has ever had.

Kemal Ataturk (1881 - 1938 ) the father of modern Turkey was born in
Salonika Greece.

Adolf Hitler  (1889 - 1945 ) was born to an Austrian custom official
and had continental Europe  at his feet by 1943 i.e. befor the Battle
of Stalingrad.

Stalin ( 1879 - 1953  himself was not an ethnic Russian.  He was the
son of a Georgian ( a Transcaucasian Republic just north of Turkey )
cobbler who aspired to be a Christian priest but was expelled from the
seminary for indulging in socialist propaganda.  Under his tutelage,
Soviet Union  became one of the only two superpowers of the world.

Has the time come for India to have such a leader ? Only the future will tell.

But at this point in time , this much can be said that in the sixties 
when the grandson of Jawahar s/o Motilal came  to Britain for higher
studies, he met a lovely Italian lass from Torino by the name of Miss
Antonia Maino.  He fell in love with her, married her according to the
Indian traditions  and her name was change to Sonia.

antonio

[Goanet] Goa : The Lusitanian Impact

[Antonio Menezes]

Before November, 1510 Goa was rather an obscure land on the West Coast
of India.  The only place  that was somewhat known around, was the
minor port of Ela (later renamed Old Goa) which was frequently visited
by the Arabian and Persian dhows ( sailing vessels ). They brought
fine horses for the Deccan warlords  and returned laden with the cargo
of spices and precious stones.

Ela was ruled by Adil Khan of the sultanate  of Bijapur.  The people
of Goa were no different from the surrounding areas of the Konkan
region. They were mostly Hindus with a minority of Muslims as the
ruling elites.

On the 25th November, 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque, a Portuguese sailor
with a few sailing vessels under his command, entered the Mandovi
river and captured Ela which he needed to anchor his ships  and rest
his sailors during the stormy monsoon months of june to september . 
Ela was an inland port at least 10 km away from the coast.  The
journey back to Lisbon  via South Africa took almost a year in those
days.  The subsequent entrants in the Indian scene like the French at
Pondicherry and the British at Madras and Calcutta avoiced the west
coast and  concentrated their energies  on the east coast of India.

After consolidating  their hold over Old Goa, the Portuguese  by 1543
( i.e. during the next 33 years ) conquered the surrounding areas  of
Ilhas , Bardez and Salcete ( Mormugao taluka was detached from Salcete
 in 1880 )

>From 1510 to 1760 for the first 250 years  of their stay in India
their influence was  confined  only to  102 villages of  Ilhas Bardez
and Salcete.  ( Salcet - sahtt  60, Ilhas - tis  30 and Bardez - bara
12 ) The remaining 7 talukas Pernem, Bicholim, Satari , Ponda  Sanguem
 Quepem and Canacona ) were annexed between 1760 and 1790.

It would appear that during the first stage of their stay in India ( 
1510 - 1760 ) the Portuguese conquered areas  which could be easily
defended  with a few soldiers they had at their disposal in India. 
They were experts at naval warfare hence their Goa  till 1760  was
bounded in the north by Chapora river, in the east it was Mapusa river
( a branch of Mandovi river) , Canal de Combarjua and Zuari river. 
The south was rather safe with high hills of Quepem region. In the
west the Arabian sea posed no problem at all.

Today it is possible to logically deduce that for the defense of Goa 
( they were  still smarting  from the defeat that Albuquerque had
suffered at the hands of Adil Khan  when he tried to enter  Old Goa 
in March, 1510 )  they may have stationed  their soldiers  in places
like Siolim and Colvale opposite Pernem.  In the east in villages like
Assonora, Aldona,  Pomburpa and Porvorim.  In the islands of Chorao
and Divar.  In southern Ilhas it was the village of Neura.  And in
Salcete,  in villages like Loutolim, Raia, Rachol and Curtorim,
besided their stronghold  Old Goa itself.

antonio

ps. to be continued.

[Goanet] Goa - The Lusitanian Impact part 2

[Antonio Menezes]

After the Portuguese had completed their defensive positions of the
land they had acquired, events took place that were to have an impact
on the socio-religious life of Goans.  Since the cross normally
followed the flag,  the missionaries may have started the process of
conversion first in the boundary villages where their soldiers were
stationed  and they may have moved to central and coastal villages
later.  The conversion of Goans to Christianity took place during the
period  1560 - 1640 after which  the missioary zeal  seem to have
declined.  Here we could safely state  that the impact of the
Lusitanian culture was clearly at its strongest in Old Goa and in the
boundary villages where their soldiers were stationed.

And yet, one would have thought  that the boundary villages ( not to
speak of other less fortunate villages ) would have become model
Catholic villages a la any other village in Portugal where all
inhabitants  lived in spirit of Christian brotherhood.  Alas ' after
450 years of Christianity.the more they changed ( especially in the
mode of worship and wearing of apparel ), the more they remained the
same. The rural society based on the principles of heredity remained
stagnant, ''a grande missao civilizadora de Portugal, notwithstanding.
Is it any wonder that missionaries were so diasappointed that  they
were not keen to continue  with the conversion work.

In the sixteen and the seventeen centuries  sea voyages were dangerous
undertakings  and more Portuguese lives may have been lost in the high
seas than in the battles for the acqusition of territories.  In
Portugal, there may not have been many people who would have
volunteered for these dangerous missions overseas. It is possible that
sailors and soldiers of lower rank  and some missionaries too,  were
conscripts  drawn mainly from the government run orphanages in
Portugal. they were not accompanied by the family members and in most
cases had none.. May be, for this reason , Albuquerque offered a
'magnanimous' gift to his soldiers after capturing Old Goa. The widows
of muslim soldiers who were killed in the battle of Old Goa  were
given in marriage  to his soldiers resulting in the race of mixed
people called mestissos. In the next two centuries to come similarly
place Portuguese soldiers settled down in Goa with women .to raise
their own mestisso families. Thus there is reason to believe that Goa
had  a substantial population of mestissos whose skin hue  was much
paler than that of majority  of Goans.

to be concluded , hopefully,

antonio

[Goanet] Goa = The Lusitanian Impact

[Antonio Menezes]

As stated earlier, by 1760 the Portuguese stay i n India was already
two and half centuries old.  The territories they had occupied so far
were the three talukas of Ilhas , Bardez and Salcete. Wih the
annexation  of seven more talukas  in the late eighteen century two
new terms appeared on the Goan scene Velhas Conquistas ( the three old
talukas ) aand the Novas Conquistas (  the seven new additions )  I
think it would be more appropriate  to call the three old talukas  as
the original Goa.

Around 1757 King Dom Jose of Portugal finally opened his eyes and
decided that something had to be done  to reward the mestisso
community in Goa. After all the mestissos and their Portuguese
ancestors were instrumental in maintaining  Portuguese suzerainty over
Goa for so long.  Hence Portuguese metropolitan citizenship  was
offered to them by the issue of a Royal Edict.  That the neo high
castes  took full advantage of it  is another story altogether. The
original  high castes  had fled to the Novas Conquistas  with their
idols , didn't they ?

Fr. Charles Borges, S.J.  former Director of Xavier Centre  for
Historical Research in Goa wrote an article entitled '' The College of
St. Paul and Jesuit Education in Goa ''  :::   By 1556 the college had
 an international flavour about it  with one hundred and ten students
listed on the rolls as being either Portuguese, Armenians , Mestissos,
Castissos, Keralites, Gujratis, Bengalis and Chinese. :

The word mestisso has already been explained before.  But I thing the
word Castisso  need a bit of clarification .  Even today in the Hindu
society, caste people ( castissos )  mean those belonging  to the
''twice born''castes . But I doubt, whether the missionaries who
arrived in Goa  during sixteen and seventeen centuries, were familiar
with  the theory of re-incarnation on which the caste system is based.
 It ( castisso )  may have  sounded all mumbo jumbo  to them unlike 
the Anglican churchmen and other sociologists  of the nineteen century
 (  collectively known as the Orientalists )  who made a deep study of
the Dharmic literature and translated the Sanskrit works in English
language.  The Portuguese missionaries may have accepted the term
castisso  in their lexicon  without knowing what the term actually
meant.  I am sure,  the ecclesiastics at the Inquisition Office would
not have tolerated  this term either,  had they known  that castisso
reeked so blatantly of heresy from the viewpoint of Christianity.

When sea travel became safe,  the Portuguese brought their families 
who settled down in Goa  and some extended their stay  for 2 or 3
generations to come.  These familie were known as Descendentes and
they were not well disposed towards mestissos   When i was studying in
Liceu, there were a couple of fair looking students who had relatives
on the darker side. They resented on being called Mestissos because by
then  Mestisso had become a derrogatory term.  Towards the end of the
colonial era ,  there were hardly any mestissos left in Goa.

It would appear that nowhere else in India, not even in Varanasi where
old pious brahmins congregate and wish to die on the banks of the
river Ganga in order to escape  the clutches of reincarnation, there
is such a large concentration  of high castes  as it is found in the
original Goa of the Portuguese.  It is possible to avoid the stigma of
being a mestisso, they may have slowly assismilated in the neo high
castes. The latter whose skin  normally wore the colour of midnight
might have accepted as marriage partners  to have children of lighter
shade..  As the old saying goes :  Na natureza nao se perde nada, tude
se transforma  (concluded)

antonio.

[Goanet] The deed of Judas Iscariot

[Antonio Menezes]

Two thousand years ago, there appeared in the sky a rare phenomenon of
conjunction of the planets of Jupiter and Saturn.  As the days passed
by, its brightness grew so much that to the untrained eyes it looked
as if  a new star was being born.

The conjunction  did not go unnoticed by the wise men of the east who
were known as magi. They had especialized  not only in astrology but
in astronomy as well.  They made their calculations about the time and
place where it would have its strongest influence.  So a place  was
chosen and it was Betlehem in Judaea.

Three magi followed the conjunction and at a predetermined  time 
looked for a baby that was born at one precise moment. They found the
baby in  a manger and made the offering of gold, frankincense and
myrrh. The  unusual search for a baby by the magi soon reached the
ears of king Herod who was determined to snuff out the life  of the
future king of the jews.,  The parents fled to Egypt with the baby to
escape the  wrath of Herod  and let us say that magi went with them to
Egypt as well not to loose track of this wonderful child who was born 
under most auspicious circumstances.

In due course of time, the magi could have convinced the parents to
part with their child whom they were anxious to take away with them
back to the east where the unusual child would be entrusted to the
care of the oriental mystics. Nothing is known  about his life  till
he came back to Judaea  at the age of 30.  Obviously,  he was under
intense and rigorous training  all those years and appears to have
mastered the art  of manipulating  not only the karma ( the
accumulation of sins of one's previous lives )  of his own divine
spark but as well as that of others.

He came back to Judaea  and started his ministry of teaching ,
preaching and healing that lasted for about three years.

He healed  people who had all kinds of disease and sickness.
He drove out evil spirits that haunted some people
He made cripples walk.
He restored the sight of bling people.
He made dumb talk.
He raised people from the dead.

According to some oriental scholars, when one performs miracles that
person has to pay the price. The karmas of the beneficiaries of
miracles are transferred  and heaped upon the performer of miracles.

Is it any wonder the young man was so exhausted with the burden of
extraneous karmas that he wished to release the divine spark in him
from the human bondage. The only apostle, Judas Iscariot,  whose
intellect was much above that of the rest of the apostles appears to
have understood him well.

antonio

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[Goanet] Reservation i.e. Demerit vs. Merit

[Antonio Menezes]

When our Bhagwan created the human race, he must have paid special
attention to a corner of earth called the Indian sub-continent. for he
gave it his best from his brain (the brahmin), from his arm (the rajah
) and from his thigh ( the bania ) and endowed them  with the best
qualities that the human race could have ever had.

Qualities like astuteness, ability, adroitness, aptitude , capability,
cleverness,  competency, creativity, dexterity, efficiency,
excellence, expertise, flair, judiciousness , genius, ingeniousness,
mental ability, innovative capacity, merit, intelligence, proclivity,
proficiency,propensity, skill, smartness, talent, worthiness, etc.
etc. etc.

Reservation of jobs and seats in places of learning has, I am afraid,
been with us for a much much longer period.  Let us concentrate only
on the latest millennium i.e. from 950 ad to  1950 ad. when everything
or rather almost everything in India was in the hands of  the
brahmin/rajah/bania complex.

And yet the history of our subcontinent during this particular
millennium  is not something that any human being of any race  could
be proud of .

antonio

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[Goanet] The Da Vinci Code

[Antonio Menezes]

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Mr. Cornel da Costa in one of his posts would like Goanetters to discuss Dan
Brown's The Da Vince Code  as it affects  the symbols, dates and rituals of
the Roman Catholic Church. It should be made quite clear at this stage that we 
are not dealing with the Christian doctrines as laid down by Our Good Lord.

I have gone through this book with open mind.It is a thriller from the 
beginning to the end, but in between there are some profane sections. But what 
struck me most was one chapter only i.e. no. 55 comprising merely of 9 pages.

Here are two quotes:

' The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven'

'The Bible as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman Emperor 
Constantine the Great at the famous Council of Nicaea.

Would very much like to hear from Mario Goveia  about his reactions to Chapter 
55.

Antonio

---
* G * O * A * N * E * T *** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S *
---
Spread the Christmas cheer - even when you're not here!
Send Christmas Greetings to your loved ones in Goa.
2005 Christmas Package - Flowers, Bubbles and Layers of Love.
http://www.goa-world.com/expressions/xmas/
---

[Goanet] A brush with Agente Monteiro

[Antonio Menezes]

Today's Margao Police Station is an imposting building  but during the
colonial regime it was a longish ground floor building known as Quartela
with its many calaboussos  where suspects were interrogated , threatened
and  flogged with chicote.

Right in the southernmost corner  of the quartela where the road splits into
two, one to Loyola School and the other to Fatima Convent, was a room  which
was either an office or residence of  the famous or rather infamous Agente
Casimiro Monteiro of PIDE  (  Policia Internacional da Defeza do Estado ) .

I have a vague recollection of Agente Casimiro who in his white vest used to
lean on the window and watch school children go to these two schools.

It must have been in the early fifties when we as teenagers  used to go to
school in small garrulous groups.  One fine morning right in front of Agente
Monteiro on his window,  I said to my colleagues in Portuguese   ''Arreh '
one day or other, Goa will be free from the colonial rule ''  .  Agente
Monteiro  heard me  ( and at that time, I didn't know  who he was )   and
gave me a sort of wry smile.

On being told of his identity, my carefree trips to Loyola School were never
the same again.

Antonio

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[Goanet] Liberation musings ... the many twists and turns in Goa's long story.

[Antonio Menezes]

--
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| Watch this space for more details  |
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--
An interesting article by Valmiki Faleiro. However , I doubt very much whether 
all the gasbags he mentioned  in the Roll of Honour from 1787 to 1961, with 
the exception of Mr. Tristao Braganca d'Cunha , were  really interested  in 
the welfare of the people in general.

VF: "In 1862 came, noble Sashti - Navelkar Francisco Luis Gomes'
inspiring call for Goa's integration with motherland India."

Motherland India, in 1862, was either British India or Princely India of 
odious Maharajahs.

Mr. F.L. Gomes, I believe, had made a speech in the Portugal's Parliament,
stating that he hailed from a land which produced some people who were 
100% "superior". ( but nevertheless of zilch achievements ).

No wonder, F.L.Gomes finds a place in the pantheon of "original" freedom 
fighters.

Antonio.

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[Goanet] Midnight Mass

[Antonio Menezes]

--
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| Attending...drop a line to [EMAIL PROTECTED]|
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We live in a building where residents belong to various religious communities.

A non-Christian neighbour of mine wished 'Merry Christmas ' and added that he 
saw me on the previous night in the Church ground.

On enquiring further, he told me he had been attending midnight mass for some 
years now and he always stood at the end of the ground so that he could watch 
the whole ceremony.

I said, please be frank with me,  and tell me  what is it  that attracts you 
to midnight mass.

Something that may seem simple to you, he said. Feels a kind of joy to be with 
a congregation of hundreds  with hardly an audible whisper and besides, the 
carols and hymns in the stillness of the night he would not miss for many 
years to come.

Antonio

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[Goanet] QUO VADIS ! Congress Party

[Antonio Menezes]

--
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Most of the time when the Congress Party wins elections in Goa the Chief 
Minister is chosen  by the Congress party cabal from behind the curtains.

The Congress party stronghold is always Salcete and the adjoining areas of 
Mormugao, Ilhas , Ponda and Quepem talukas from where 14 out of 19 present 
Congress MLAs come from and yet as consistently the Chief Minister always 
comes from the areas which voted either MGP or BJP.

Come next elections, I shall not be surprised  if the same cabal  is forced to 
wail like 'raand bailo ' breaking their bangles.

Antonio

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[Goanet] An open letter to Mr. Filipe Neri Rodrigues - Velim M.L.A.

[Antonio Menezes]

--
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Congratulations Sir, upon re-entering Goa's Legislative Assembly and
also being made a Minister.

This is a request regarding a  minor one km stretch of a road from the
bazaar area through Sincream vado  onwards.

This road has been in a state of disrepair for  many years now. Would
it be possible for you to give instructions to get this road repaired.

After all  both these wards  vote for you not to mention  your sister
in law who walks daily  over the pot holes to be with her ailing
mother.

Antonio

PS. I believe even Luizinho Bab  has some relatives in this area

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[Goanet] Quo Vadis ! Congress Party

[Antonio Menezes]

--
||
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--
Thank you Dr. Jose Colaco for your comments which are well appreciated.

However, I shall restrain myself to the following two definitions

Britannia - Webster Dictionary
Cabal - a small group of persons working together to promote their
self interests especially by intrigue.

Hutchison Encyclopedia
Cabal - a clique of scheming politicians;  applied particularly to
King Charles, the second, ministry (1667 - 73 ) whose initials made up
the word. C(lifford), A(shley) ,B(uckingham) , A(rlington)  and
L(auderdale).

Remember King Charles the Second, who married the Portuguese Princess
Catherine of Braganca  and received Bombay as dowry ?

It is to be noted  that Salcete is the Uttar Pradesh of Goa .  UP 
with its large chunk of 85 MPs  was the home of the following Prime
Ministers:
Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Behari
Vajpayee, Viswanath Pratap Singh, Chandrashekar and Charan Singh.

Antonio

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[Goanet] Re: Waking up in non-Goa

[Antonio Menezes]

--
| Wishing all Goanetters |
| a Prosperous   |
|  and   |
| Happy New Year - 2006  |
|Goanet - http://www.goanet.org  |
--
Often, one comes across  signals lamenting  about the influx into Goa 
of labouring classes mainly from Karnatake and Andhra.

It has been rightly said that economics abhors vacuum which sooner,
rather than later  has to be filled no matter how.

The educated and others  of the Goan catholic society are of the
opinion that sooner one  leaves the country, the better it is  for the
future of their children.  These are, I am afraid, the more governing
our society today.

Let us pause for a moment and ponder over the difficulties facing a
Goan who has a house  with a few coconut and mango trees.

Come, rainy season,  water leaks through the roof, because of a broken
tile or a wooden beam that holds the tiles.  One can go his knees  to
beg the local Goan labourer who could hardly be bothered  about your
exigency.  ''Aiz yetolo, falleam yetolo, pavon , pavonc na.''

At the end of the rainy season, grass grows tall  around the house. 
Coconuts ripen  and fall to the ground  to be picked by the passers
by.  And so is the case with the mangoes.

It is the non-Goan labourer  who is at one's back and call and does
the job to one's satisfaction and rather cheaply too, so that  one can
enjoy a glass of chilled beer  sitting cozily in the balcao  after the
sunset.

Antonio

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[Goanet] Goa - the privileged of yesterday

[Antonio Menezes]

Of late, it has become fashionable  to cast aspersions  on politicians
 who do not happen to belong to a certain social category. They are
accused of corrupt practices  and lack of moral fibre.  Admitedly,
they are not from a comfortable economic background and hence were
denied the fruits of higher eduction.  But nevertheless , they try
their best , within the limits of their capabilities, to serve the
population as best as they could  and if in the process  they help
themselves,  they are not doing something extraordinary

During the colonial regime , there was an agreement  between the
Portuguese government and the Catholic church.  It was known as
Concordata.  Under its terms ,the persons who ''had direct line to God
'' enjoyed complete immunity from persecution under the civil law, and
which naturally resulted in great prosperity  for you know who.

Antonio

[Goanet] A Goan Village circa 1961

[Antonio Menezes]

Today, let us have a good look at one typical  Goan village, say
Navelim or Chinchinim .  It is served by , atleast,  one good main
road together with other minor roads which give access to the bazaar
area or the church.  Telecommunication facilities   like local and
overseas phone calls are available. There are many private cars, motor
cycles and scooters;  piped water supply  to almost all households,
electricity though sometimes erratic,  cable tv where one can see 
English/Hindi movies as well as European football matches live,
cooking gas cylinders  are delivered home ( yes, I am still talking
about village life ) .  Drainage facilities like sceptic tanks are a
must for any village home.  Houses are a mixture of concrete and
laterite stones, the floors are often of marble and modern furniture
go by.

There is , at least  , one high scholl with  English language as
medium of instruction.  general physicians , pharmacies,  shops in the
bazaar stock almost  everything so that there is no need to go to
either Mapusa or Margao.  Fish, beef, chicken,  fruits, vegetables,
and bakery products are in plentiful supply .  There are bars,
restaurants and ice cream parlours.

And yet, one sees modern buses  full of mainly of womenfolk 
travelling to towns , bedecked with gold ornaments. Why ?  Simple, 
they are a bored folk who frequent Udupi restaurants in towns to
regale themselves with idlis, dosas, bhaji puris, wadas with
sambar/chutney etc.  and above all to watch what other women are
wearing. They also  take annually a direct train to Potah in Kerala to
attend the retreats.  Konkane plays are  staged at regular intervals.

And so what one does think  made all this possible in a village.
Freedom and democracy and its representatives like panchayat members,
MLA s and MP s who tried to provide the infrastructure.

Now a question  to all those Goanetters who had lived in a Goan
village  during the Portuguese regime  in the late forties and
fifties.  Do you remember what village life was  like and if so, 
compare it with todays  burstling life  of any Goan village.

Antonio

[Goanet] A Goan village circa 1961

[Antonio Menezes]

Muitissimo obrigado Senhor Gabriel de Figueiredo for reminding me of mangoes.

Reminiscences of  the month of May when we used to go back to our
village for holiday  that fish was a scarce commodity  in the hot
season.

Breakfast was usually  katream pao  stuffed liberally  with mangada 
made from moosrad/monseratte mangoes.

Lunch was however, a problem.  In the pre fishing trawler's age 
instead of fish we relied on mangoes.  The dilemma was, if we had two
plateful of rice/sorrak with misskoot  or follantle tor made of tender
raw mangoes. then there was  no room for dessert  of slices after
slices of  luscious  malcurado mangoes.

Antonio

[Goanet] REPUBLIC DAY 2006 : Need of the hour : a lady or a man with VISION

[Antonio Menezes]

If one looks back at the last 58 years of our independent existence ,
one is bound  to say with a little pain in his heart that we are yet
to produce  a political leader with vision who is acceptable  to all
the sections of our society.

Jawaharlal Nehru came close to being one of them  but his vision was
limited  in the sense that  he thought he could raise  the standard of
wellbeing  of Indians  by extending economic benefits as per the
socialist ideals.  His cardinal misjudgement  was in assuming  that
the average Indian was as good as average East European  of the first
half of the 20th century.  His upper class upbringing  had partially
shut his eyes  from the fact that  not all Indians are par  with each
other, that the caste system  had wrought, for a millennium or two, 
immeasurable havoc on the psyche of the  millions and millions of
innocent Indians.

It has been said  that the eyes are the window of the soul,  but as
Emerson  aptly put it  '' People see only what they are prepared to
see  '' Drakensberg, yes, Himalayas, what's it ?

Therefore, on the 56th anniversary of the Republic Day ,  let us pray
to the spiritual power that be,  that India may be blessed  with a
political leader with vision, who with her/his  immaginative insight 
into the innards of the Indian society, statesman like foresight, and
political sagacity will lead our subcontinent to a bright and
prosperous future.

Antonio

[Goanet] The Solar point formula

[Antonio Menezes]

All human beings on earth have their own individual  solar points.

A Solar point  is a point within the tropics where the sun shone
directly( the noon time )  at the precise moment of one's birth.

To understand  better the individual's solar point ,  one has to know
the movement  of the sun from one  tropic to another.  At this stage
it is worth remembering  that sun can shine directly only within the
tropical zone i.e.  between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
'Capricorn

The sun shines directly  on the equator  on the 20th of March and on
the 22nd September each year, these dates being called  the equinoxes
. The sun is on the Tropic of Cancer  on the 21st June  and on the
Tropic of Capricorn on the 22nd December  each year,  the dates being
called  the summer and winter solstices.

An individual, if he knows the time of his birth, can easily pinpoint
the exact location  of the sun  ( noontime )  at the time of his
birth.

It does not matter in which part of the world  an individual was born,
what is important  is the local time of one's birth e.g.  a person was
born in India  say at 12 noon on the 21st of June, 1934.  At this
moment , the sun shone directly in the Jabalpur area i.e. latitude 23
and half degrees north and longetude 80 degrees east ( actually it is 
82 and half degrees  east, but for the sake of easy calculation it is
taken as 80 degrees east. )

>From this moment  in time, this particualar  individual 's solar point
 will move north to south , and south to north latitude wise and  from
east to west  longetude wise.

On the 22nd December,1934 his solar point was on the Tropic of
Capricorn at longetude 77and half degrees east, and on the 21st June ,
1935 it was on the Tropic of Cancer at 75 degrees east i.e.
longetudewise the solar point moves 5 degrees west each year.

Since the total longetudes number360  on earth and the solar point
moves 5 degrees west longetudinally  every year,   in 72 years ( i.e.
the allotted span of one's useful life )  on the 21s June, 2006 his
solar point will be back in the Jabalpur area i.e. at 23 and half
degres east  of latitude and 80 degrees east longetude where it all
started.  The 360 degrees longetudes  divided by the yearly movement 
west of 5 degrees  gives exactly 72 years of  bib lical span of 3
score and twelve.

The earth' tropical zone, like the rest of the earth,  consists of
land mass and the seas.  The individual's solar point  moves freely on
over the land mass and over the seas.  However, there are two periods
in one's life when the solar point moves entirely on the land in
Africa for about 4 years and  also completely  over the waters of the
Pacific Ocean for about 20 years.

An individual can easily calculate these two eventful  periods in his
life i.e. Africa and the Pacific Ocean and arrive at some vague
outlines  of his past and the present life.

Good luck and happy hunting.

antonio

[Goanet] Thank you and sorry

[Antonio Menezes]

It has been said that  ancient sage Parashurama stood on the top of a
peak in Western Ghats and shot an arrow  in the Arabian Sea. The sea
retreated  backwards to a point  where his arrow fell i.e.  on the
modern coastline  of Banavali ( Benaulim)  and the land came to be
known as Gomantak or Goa.  To be geographically  more accurate, the
sage claimed Salcete from the sea  and hence Salcete could be  the
mother  of all Goa.

When Cornel Sahib , who is a son of Benaulim  says that in Konkani
language  there is no equivalent of  'thank you' ( and I add  the
expression of 'I am sorry' as well ) he too like Parashurama shot an
arrow that hits the bull's eye  of the Indian culture.

After all, our cultural elites Brahmins and Kshatriyas ( Maharajas ) 
of pre Mughal and British era , never owed anything to others. It was
always the duty of others  to feed the brahmins  and to pay taxes and
provide the cannon fodder for maharajahs , in short there was never a
quid pro quo. Hence, there was no need  for expression like 'thank
you' and 'sorry'.

antonio

Please correct me if I am in the wrong. in which case my apologies in advance.

Why Cornel Sahib?  simple, it was a British military officer  of the
rank of Colonel who was in charge  of a military cantonment in India. 
Hence Colonel Sahib was a popular expression in the colonial years.

This could be late  indeed. Soon after the WW2  when Goans landed in
East Africa , the first white official  to meet in the harbour was 
the Immigration Officer.  When  they started migrating to London.
Toronto etc.  the last thing on their minds was  to obtain the
Emigration Treatment , i.e. the approval  of Central Bank  to take
away  with them their hard earned savings.






antonio

[Goanet] Goanet's 11th anniversary, Aug.25, 2005

[Antonio Menezes]

As a retired person living in an urban centre in India and having access only to public computers in cyber cafes,  I hope I am not late  in wishing Goanet many more years of service to the Goan  Cause.
 
It was a fantastic idea of Herman Carneiro and his band of associates that made it possible for Goans to express freely their thoughts without undergoing cuts from editorial assistants.  Some may call them  ramblings and others a testimony to free speech, but nevertheless Goanet is a very very good forum  to say the least.

 
Antonio

[Goanet] GOA - A tour of Salcete villages

[Antonio Menezes]

Clinton,   many thanks for your vivid description  of some aspects of the village life.  Here is bit more.
 
Barade khuris  -  on a hill near Cutbona.  If you happen to be there at full tide , one can see an unforgettable view of the mouth of the Sal river and also see Mobor complex of hotels etc.
 
Khorpam khuris  -  on the khareaband bridge to varca road inBenaulim.  In the month of May  there are busloads of people who come to pray there i.e. rosary and ladainha followed by snacks and cold drinks.  But what is more interesting is that these khorpam  (  
i.e. whitish grey  rocks jutting out of the earth and on which a cross stands - a mini Golgotha )   appear to be a rather unique occurrence in coastal GOA.  Could any geologist  please explain this rock formation ?
 
Monte de Margao  -  As a student in the early fifties, I used to go up there to enjoy the sight  of the long seashore from Mobor to Velsao which was clear on a less humid day.  The entire  coastal belt of Salcete looked like a  giant coconut plantation.

 
 
The football T-shirts that village youngsters wear are of Brazil national team and of AC Milan, Juventus , and Barcelona football clubs.
 
Antonio   
 
 
 

[Goanet] Is Goa "liberatable" further ?

[Antonio Menezes]

By 1975 Goa would have become free from the Portuguese rule along with other 
colonies like Mocambique, Angola, Guinea etc.
 But then the regedor and padre vigario would have continued with their 
capricious ways. Indeed, Goan catholic masses would have had to be 
"liberatable" further. How long would this have taken ?
 Let us deal , for the time being, with on aspect only i.e. education.
 Goan villages are brimming with life especially womenfolk and children. The 
males are either in Bombay or on the board of ships earning their livelihood 
and sending money back home by postal orders.
 The womenfolk are, however, worried. They want their children to be 
educated to secure better lives in the future.
 The brown clergy of Goa are having field day for three centuries ( 1661 to 
1961 ) with their sunday sermons. They were in a good position to bring 
education to catholic masses by opening at least primary schools if not 
secondary ones. But they did nothing of the sort for reasons which are not 
hard to imagine.

 Antonio

[Goanet] GOA -- Tidbits ......cntd....

[Antonio Menezes]

1. Santo Antonio was born in Lisboa in 1195 and died in Padua ( Italy ) on
the 13 of June, 1231. He was baptized as Fernando de Bulhoes

 2. Santo Antonio is the most popular saint in Goa. Among the many shrines
built in his honour , the most prominent in South Salcete is the St.
Anthony' s Chapel at Deussua in Chinchinim where for Tuesday's masses it is
filled to its capacity by the devotees. This Chapel has been beautifully
designed by Achitect Sarto Almeida, brother of Architect Tony Almeida of Dar
es Salaam.

 3. In 1543 , when Bardez and Salcete were added to Ilhas ( i.,e. islands in
portuguese language ) the members of the Franciscan Order were entrusted
with the evangelization of Bardez and the Jesuits were allotted Salcete for
the same purpose.

 4. In 1758 there was an unsuccessful attempt to assassinte King Dom Jose of
Portugal. The members of the Society of Jesus ( which was Spanish in
character ) were implicated in the plot by the Portuguese Prime Minister the
Marques de Pombal ( full name: Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Melo ) who
ordered them to leave Portugal and colonies.

 5. It is said that almost 200 years later the Jesuits returned to Goa . They
took over Union High School behind Margao Police Station and renamed it
Loyola High School.

 6. When a plague descended upon the inhabitants of Old Goa , the
Portuguese were toying with the idea of transferring the capital to Vasco
but in the end decided on Panjim.

 7. In 1661 Princess Catarina was given in marriage to King Charles the
second of England. As a dowry the Portuguese handed over Bombaim to the
British.

 8. Bombay in those days was not a continuous stretch of land as it is today
but a sort of a cluster of eight islands with swamps in between them. At
full tide the swamps were flooded and it looked like an extension of the
sea. The British were to fill the swamps later probably with the earth
scooped from North Bombay . The resultant shallow depressions were flooded
with stagnant waters as a result of excessive rains on the 26 July last. The
names of islands are: Colaba , Girgaum, Malabar Hill, Mazagon, Worli, Parel,
Mahim and Sion.

 9. During the Napoleonic Wars, Goa was briefly occupied by the British
troops from 1797 to 1813.

 10. This occupation led to the discovery by the British that Goans knew how
to bake bread, the skill which was then unknown to Indians of British held
territories.

 11. Goans began emigrating to Bombay to establish bakeries. Goans
introduced a rare delicacy . at that point in time, i.e. hot bread laced
with butter Mhaska/pao which degenarated in maka/pau.

 12. It is said that Goans started emigrating to Zanzibar sometime in the
late 19th century. In those days Goans travelled by dhow, i.e. sailing
ships.

 Antonio

[Goanet] Goans and Portuguese citizenship

[Antonio Menezes]

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from Antonio

  The following are some excerpts from a long article by Mr. Paulo Colaco
Dias on Portuguese nationality which appeared recently on
goanvoice.org.uk.
They deal mostly with long history of Portuguese citizenship as it affects
former Portuguese Indians i.e. Goans
 Please note this information is for the benefit of Goanetters as a matter
of historical curiosity.
 Paulo Colaco Dias ( PCD) writes: Under the government of the Prime Minister
, Marques de Pombal, around 1757 by a Royal Decree signed by King D. Jose I
, all Portuguese Indians ( Goa, Daman and Diu ) were granted Portuguese
Citizenship , and equal status under the law , with the Metropolitan
Portuguese.
 It is to be noted that Portuguese citizenship was not granted to the
inhabitants of other colonies from Cabo Verde islands to Macau, in cluding
Angola and Mocambique.
 [ my note: Around 1757 , Goa under the portuguese rule, consisted only of
Ilhas, Bardez and Salcete.The remaining seven talukas joined Goa between
1760 and 1790, It can be suggested that around 1757 the population of Ilhas
Bardez and Salcete was 99% catholic ]

 PCD: When Portugal became a republic in 1910, the new constitution granted
the Portuguese Indians ( not so to African colonies ) exactly the same
prerogatives and status as Portuguese citizens.
 The racist Colonial Act of 1930 passed under the dictatorship of Salazar
discriminated Portuguese Indians who became sort of second class citizens
from 1930 onwards/

 In 1975, after the Portuguese Democratic Revolution, full Portuguese
citizenship was extended once again to Goans under Decreto-Lei n. 308 - A
/1975 dated 24th June, 1975 Article 1 Clause (e) which clearly states that
all those born in the Antigo Estado da India before 19 December, 1961,
who declare their intention to retain the Portuguese Nationality, are
entitled to do so.

 The Portuguese Nationality Law also granted citizenship to descendants of
Portuguese citizens .

Therefore, a person even if born after 19 dec 61 and anywhere else in the
world , had a father or a mother / a grandfather or a grandmother who was
born in Portuguese India before 19 December, 1961, this person can apply for
the Portuguese Nationality

--
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--

[Goanet]goan catholics - who are they ?

[Antonio Menezes]

many MRGs i.e. non resident goans who come to goa on holiday during
the christmas season from the u.k. and canada ask me the same quesion:
 who were we , before we became catholics.

the answer is:  a minority of todays catholics  has  a hindu ancestor(
non twice born hindus, the brahmins  having left the area with idols
in their hands ) who lived in the velhas conquistas i.e. ilhas,
bardez, salcete and mormugao at the time of the portuguese conquest. 
(  original gaumkares ? )

the majority of the goan catholics are, however,  descended from the
non twice born hindus  who had made a decision , for better or for
worse, to leave  their homes and settle down in the velhas conquistas
.  this migration  took place in the 17th century.

it could be unequivocably  said that by the end of the 17 th century, 
the population of the velhas conquistas was 99.9% catholic

from 18th century onwards more hindus started  migrating to velhas
conquistas but they did not have to change religio n  as the
portuguese has lost the zeal for conversion  and more because they
were being constantly harassed  by the british, dutch and french
navies in the indian ocean.  the portuguese were so busy trying to
safeguard  their profitable trade in spices that they had no time  to
get involved in the missionaries' cause.

but why did the hindus who later became catholics  migrate to velhas
conquistas  in the 17th century and hindus who remained hindus from
the 18th century onwards  did the same ?

the answer is simple.- for economic reasons.  in the 17th and 18th
centuries lisbon ( in smaller scale, though ) was what today  new york
is, a commercial captital of the then known world.  but the prosperity
of lisbon  depended upon their golden emporium in the east i.e. goa. 
as the old saying goes : ' if one had seen old goa, there was no need
to see lisbon '

now the time has  come for us to pay tribute  to our distant ancestor,
a humble hindu  ( say, from somewhere  near the sanquelim area )  who
made that difficult decision  to move to velhas conquistas  in order
to provide decent support to his family members but also to escape 
the manusmriti prescribed  indignities  which were his lot, from the
womb to the tomb.

i simply shudder to think  of my fate, had my hindu ancestor decided
to stay put  in sanquelim area.

his descendants gradually improved their lot and he has teachers,
doctors, lawyers, priests, engineers, IT professionals, etc.,  to
honour his memory not to speak of thick wallet carrying  shippees,
gulfees, and  NRI s.

antonio

[Goanet]XCHR - U.S. southern catholics & segregation - Oh my God !

[Antonio Menezes]

as Dr. Cornel da Costa rightly said it, let the catholic church of goa
 be governed by the dictum that charity begins at home.

why not dissect the behaviour of the  'superior' entities of the patriarcado.

or would it be coarse, as  '' a sua delicadeza ''  puts it ?

antonio

[Goanet]Goan catholics & non twiceborn hindus

[Antonio Menezes]

joe, it would appear that the use of the term 'non twiceborn hindu' in
my post dated jan 24 has created a bit of confusion in the mind of the
goanetters who are not familiar with terms normally used  whilst
discussing the hindu caste set-up.

the word twiceborn is, indeed, associated  with the cycle of births
and rebirths i.e. reincarnation.  in the  hindu scheme of things,
there is no heaven or hell hereafterwards, instead there is this
reward called  reincarnation or moksha the ultimate end.

a hindu who has led a pious life is rewarded with another birth:  a
very good but not yet a perfect life leads to rebirth as a brahmin; 
and in decending order one could be born as a kshatriya or as a vaisya
.  these three castes  are collectively known as twiceborn castes.

whereas for some mysterious reasons  known only to the good old
bhagwan other persons  are born as sudras, outcastes and untouchables.

since the word sudra has a derrogatory connotation,i thought it would
be safer to use instead the words  ''non twiceborn'' to describe this
overwhelming majority of social class  before their conversion to
christianity.

antonio

[Goanet]cuncolim - patriots, freedom fighters, etc.,

[Antonio Menezes]

i would not say that armstrong has used strong arm tactics but it is
possible to look at cuncolim's past from an entirely different angle.

to recapitulate:   by the end of the 16th century, all arable lands of
velhas conquistas were in the hands of christian gaumkares or
comunidades which were also controlled  by the same gaumkares.  velhas
conquistas were not heavily populated in the 16th century hence there
was room  for new farmers to move in as there was much  surplus
uncultivable land.

the european missionaries who insisted that there was a place in the
sun even for the dharmic lowest of the low, started pressurizing the
gaumkares  to part with the surplus paddyfields for the use of the
impecunious neo christian farmers coming from the surrounding areas of
the velhas conquistas.

gaumkares from siolim in the north to cuncolim in the south had  no
other option but to meet the demands of the european missionaries. 
for they could not afford to disobey as they were surrounded on all
sides by the portuguese troops, sea in the west and rivers in the
east.   but cuncolim was an exception.  it is bordered by the jungles
of quepem  in the east and south and in the north they had river sal
as a barrier.

so the cuncolim gaumkares who enjoyed  a sort of tactical advantage in
military language could afford to vent their anger  upon the hapless
missionaries resulting in the shedding of blood of unarmed  priests.

antonio

[Goanet]goan catholics ......who are they ?

[Antonio Menezes]

hello cip,

thank you for taking time off to read my post.   i think you and all
other goanetters should not take this caste business seriously, which
is in any case, in this modern electronic age , is nothing but arrant
nonsense.

interested, may be,  for the sake of intellectual curiosity and may
be, more for the entertainment  it provides.

the word twiceborn ( in sanskrit - dwija , actually meaning more than
once ) is rather a misnomer.   a soul (i.e. divine spark that escapes
from god's energy) roams  all over the universe having many many
births, deaths, and rebirths not only as a human being but in animal
form as well from an ant to an elephant.  the divine spark rejoins
god's ethereal form once it becomes free from all world impurities
i.e. moksha.

as to your other queries, i append below few quotations from
manusmriti which are self explanatory

in para 4 chapter10 :  the brahmin (priest) , kshatriya ( ruler ),
vaisya ( trader/farmer) are the three twice born castes, but the
fourth  caste the sudra has only on birth and there is no fifth caste.

para 6 to 10 : children born out of mixed caste marriages

 1) brahmin man and  kshatriya  woman
 2) brahminvaisya
 3) brahmi  sudra
 4)kshatriyavaisya
 5)kshatriya sudra
 6) vaisya sudra
children begotten by these 6 marriages are traditionally regarded as
outcasts which is the fifth class (not caste)

para 11 to 13  then there is the sixth class that of untouchables.; 
these children are from marriages in the opposite casteist direction
 1) vaisyaman  and kshatriya woman
 2)  vaisya  brahmin
 3 kshatriyabrahmin
children ( although technically untochables ) of these three marriages
are treated rather delicately as they happen to be from the males of
the higher castes.
 4) sudra  man  and   vaisya woman
 5) sudra   kshatriya
 6) sudrabrahmin
children of the ( 4-6 ) marriages are considered to be untouchables
and the child of the sudra man  and brahmin woman  is considered to be
 the worst untouchable of them all.


antonio
 
ps. dear goanetters,
please give some more time to answer your queries

[Goanet]goan catholics .......who are they ?

[Antonio Menezes]

dear gilbert lawrence

let me begin by saying that i do believe that there were forcible
conversions in the 16th century and that only the original inhabitants
of velhas conquistas were subjected to the fiery ordeal.

the descendants of those  16 th century goan catholics are still there
today but they are in minority as compared to the descendants of
catholics  whose ancestors migrated  to velhas conquistas in the 17th
century very much out of their own free will.

it is believable that the late entrants in velthas conquistas had
changed their caste and who wouldn't )  and was not velhas conquistas
a genuine melting pot ?

after all, what is history ?  it is an account of what happened in the
past mostly seen from the view point  of the influential, the powerful
and the rich.

in our own case,  could we say that our history is well documented by
facts and figures, and even if they were they could easily be
manipulated in favour of the  so called higher echelons of the
society.

a historian, not only believes in the past records, but also tries to
find out from the gut feelings of those who have been largely  ignored
in the past so as to arrive at a sensible conclusion.

could there be anything wrong in that ?

antonio

goanet@goanet.org

[Antonio Menezes]

thanks to Dr. Cornel daCosta, the debate on goan casteism seems to
have been revived all over again. the last time goanetters were
engrossed with this insidious topic was in october last which was a
rather intellectually exciting period.

i wish i could offer my support to Dr. da Costa. but whichever way i
look at it, it would appear that is not the caste system as such, but
its effect on the mind of  indians as a whole ( including goan
catholics )  which is the crux of the matter.

the caste system has been with us  for over three millennia and during
this period , have you ever come across  an era in which indians
shined to the rest of the world?

i do hope i am proven wrong. so herewith  i am putting my head on the
block to make the following statement:

  from the brahmin, the so called purest of the pure creation
;of the lord
  god whom he graciously bestowed ONLY  upon india  to the lowest of 
  low , all of us suffer from a disease which doesnt exist in
the rest of
  world.  this disease  has no name but it could be called
  disease of the mind/psyche.

the brahmin is so smug that he is born "great"  that he has actually
achieved nothing .  in other words  he has not contributed anything
worthwhile in the world's journey towards a better civilized life for
the humanity  as western scientist and technologists have done.. 
after all , why  should he,   as  he was born 'great' and nothing else
matters to him.

on the other hand , we have the pariah, whose existence  is almost to
the animal level  such as one would not  find anywhere else in the
world.  his tortured mind/psyche  has been subjected, thanks to
brahmanism,  from generations to generations  to religiously
sanctioned  slander and calumny, that one could almost say  that he
has a  deformed mind/psyche.

antonio

[Goanet]Goan Catholics & Caste

[Antonio Menezes]

 Mr. Teotonio R. de Souza writes:  ''could each one writting
  on the caste indicates what caste he belongs to ? ''

Senhor Teotonio,  what good will it do ?  you know it, i know it  and
all of us know  that catholics of celestial goa could be classified
into three distinct groups.

1)  men of god and their family members

2)  bhatkars, gaumkar/jonnkars , morador/jonnkars and other chardos

3)  the labouring class like landless farmers ( mundkars), tailors,
caterers, carpenters , masons, fisherfolk, saltpan workers, toddy
tappers,coconut pluckers etc.

why would you Sir, condescend to know  what goes in the minds of  our
humble folk.   if you happen to(  and i assume you do) belong to god's
highest creation in the whole universe namely the brahmin, then you
are subjecting  your flawless atman  to unnecessary pollution  by
getting involved with the shenanigans of the labouring classes.

while on the subject of caste, i think,  the average goan would very
much  or rather  anxiously like to  understand the
genealoge/pedigree/ancestry/lineage of our glorious brahmin catholic
and especially to know from which house of the sun, their hindu
brahmin ancestors i.e. both father and mother, are descended from.

so Senhor Teutonio, please oblige us with your reply.  also comments 
from other goanetterts  like messrs. Gilbert Lawrence and Basilio
Monteiro on the subject of the pedigree of brahmin catholics would be
most welcome.

antonio

ps. Phadtes, Helekars, Gadgils etc. please  excuse us as this is a
purely internal  matter of goan catholics.

why would you, Sir, condescend to know  what go

[Goanet]Goan catholics & Caste ( chardos )

[Antonio Menezes]

since i have been accused of writting exclusively about the brahmin
catholics, i now request for a little more space on the goanet from
messrs. Herman and Frederick  to deal with the chardo catholic

these two gentlemen together with their associates have created a
wonderful medium  where goans can express themselves without fear of
being subjected  to harassment by the powerful sections of the goan
community.;  it is the experience of this writer for over thirty years
that anything that is even remotely  agains our two 'upper'castes  was
immediately thrown in the waste paper basket by the scribes of our
newspapers obviously to please their bosses.

manusmrti, the vade mecum  of casteism consists of 12 chapters out of
which only 3 chapters ( 7 to 9 ) are devoted to hindu ruling classes 
i.e. maharajahs and rajahs and who rightly belong to the kshatriya
caste and the remaining 9 chapters  belong to brahmins. this vade
mecum   makes only passing references to the other two castes i.e.
vaisyas ( traders and farmers ) and sudras. you will be surprised
to know that besides the four castes there are four more classes in
the hindu society i.e. outcasts, untouchables, outlaws and aliens.

i dont know from where  the word chardo originated, but it would
appear that it sounds more like a portuguese version,   the word that
is commonly used by goans is chhaddi, but i have a feeling that the
well to do among the chardos like bhatkars, gaumkars, and jonnkars do
not like this term as it is closely akin  in pronunciation to a swear
word in konkani.so i shall stick to the word chardo

the land owning farmers whether the big ones in india like zamindars
or small ones like  goan bhatkars are known as jats in hindi heartland
and as marathas in maharashtra and they are all vaisyas by caste.  to
the best of my knowledge no jats or marathas  have ever claimed to be
kshatriyas  by caste.   if i am not mistaken  vaisyas are not even 
entitled to the thread ceremony that exclusive ritual  confined only
to the higher castes.

the exception was shivaji who hailed from landowning class of
marathas.   he freed maharashtra from the mughal rule  and proclaimed
himself king and hence became a kshatriya.  but marathas in general 
were never given the status of kshatriyas  except in our beloved goa.

the chardos approached the patriarch and requested him that their
confraria should be treated as that of kshatriya and gave the example
of shivaji's coronation as king.

the patriarch readily agreed  and so it came to pass  that goa has a
substantial population  pseudo-kshatriyas  who along with the
pseudo-brahmins  had for four centuries formed the backbone  of the  
pax iberum

antonio