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St. Mary's Convent High school, Mapusa is staging a play titled "Lion King"
December 1, 2007 - Hanuman Hall, Mapusa
to fundraise for a false ceiling for the school hall
& upgrading the school playground
Headmistress Sr. Namika A.C. / Teacher Mrs. Sonia Noronha
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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GOAN BUSINESSMEN
By Valmiki Faleiro
Whilst Goa rages over SEZs and polluting industries, let’s talk business.
Rather, about
Goan businessmen. Best we begin at the beginning.
Indo-Aryans arrived in India from North Central Europe, via Babylon. The sage
Manu
categorized them, broadly, into three castes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.
Business, said Manu, was the preserve of Vaishyas, locally called Vanis.
Knowledge
and Soldiery (read that as Brahmins and Kshatriyas) took precedence.
In Goa, however, Brahmins have traditionally dominated business. Goa’s
Brahmins, one
of five (‘Pancha’) Gaud Brahmins, the ‘Saraswats,’ – called so because they
once lived
by the River Saraswati, hence the term ‘Gaud Saraswat Brahmins’ (GSBs) – were
first to
arrive here, centuries before the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.
Saraswats subjugated the Dravidian tribes that were already settled in this
part of
Parashuram’s seven (‘Sapta Konkana’) Kshetras. The pioneering Saraswats,
naturally,
controlled most forms of human endeavour, including business.
Saraswats originally were one, worshipping Shiva, the Dravidian god they
tactfully
adopted for better integration into the local milieu. Shaivaite Saraswats
(a.k.a. Smartas),
who apply ashes horizontally on the forehead, hence locally known as “aadhve,”
traditionally excelled in matters of knowledge. Enter the Udipi seer,
Madhavacharya
(1238-1317), who stayed in Benaulim and preached the supremacy of Lord Vishnu.
The
Vaishnavite sect of Goan Saraswats was born. Vaishnavites wear ashes vertically,
hence known as “ube,” and are the ones who excel in business. If details
matter, each
sect looks down on the other. A debate of ‘knowledge’ versus ‘money.’
You will seldom find a Shaivaite (“aadhvo”) engaged in business. Of course,
there are
exceptions. But, generally, you would find them as teachers, professors,
researchers,
academicians, clerks, accountants, and the like – forever in the pursuit of
knowledge,
bearing true allegiance to their Saraswati, the goddess of learning. I don’t
think their Mutt
at Kavlem, which originally was in Cortalim, would be half as rich as that of
the other
sect at Partagal. Cortalim, incidentally, of Salcete’s ‘Sashasht’ (sixty-six)
villages, was
traditionally considered the most superior, intelligent and learned village of
all. The
Saraswats from here, known as ‘Shenvis’ or teachers, were the ones who taught
the
other Saraswats of Salcete to read, write, and count.
On the other hand, one seldom finds a Vaishnavite (“ubo”) not engaged in
business or
some form of pursuit of money. There sure are exceptions, but the rule:
Vaishnavite
Saraswats generally engage in business.
Think not that only Hindu Saraswats are good at business. The few Goan
Catholics who
got into business invariably were converted Saraswats! Divar, the idyllic isle
off Old Goa,
perhaps provided the largest share of Catholic businessmen – almost all are
Saraswats.
Goan Catholic Saraswats did well in business – in Goa, other Portuguese
settlements in
India, notably Calcutta, in Africa and in several other parts of the world.
Why, they sometimes even partnered – Hindu and Catholic Saraswats, I mean –
even if
such partnerships, for whatever reasons, never lasted too long. Those of my age
will
remember the famous Dempo-Souza mining company… Those younger will recall the
famous construction firm, ALCON, partnered by an AL-buquerque and a COuNto.
Hindu Saraswat businessmen are too many to talk about. Over the next couple of
weeks, I shall take two instances of highly successful Catholic Saraswat
businessmen of
the late 19th / early 20th Centuries … Pedro Paulo de Souza and Guilherme Dias,
both
Bardezkars. One traded in tobacco, the other in wines-‘n’-spirits. Stay tuned!
POSTSCRIPT: Did you see the picture on the front page of one of Goa’s English
dailies
(Nov 20 edition) of a little girl crying, her leg sunk into a RCC gutter slab
at Miramar?
I almost shared her tears. Did Digu or any of the 39 honourables see it? Are
any of them
any longer sensitive to anything other than the quest for power and the
quickest means
to make money?
Will my friends Digu or Churchill (PWD Minister) or Joqozinho (Urban Dev.) pick
this up
as a fit case to straighten out the irresponsible contractors who execute such
grossly
substandard work, and the engineers who certify the MB and approve payment?
Else,
what kind of ‘Aam Aadmi’ administration are you guys talking about … when an
innocent
five or six year old is made to cry on a public pavement? Honest, if I were the
child’s
father, I would sue the State for exemplary damages and punishment of the
guilty.
PPS: On this day in the year 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque finally liberated
Hindu Goa
from Muslim oppression. Pray who will now ‘liberate’ us from our own? (ENDS)
The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at:
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330
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The above article appeared in the November 25, 2007 edition of the Herald, Goa
