Dear Friends
In olden days people worked in fields.There was no proper jobs for anyone
in Goa.Those who had a portuguese background and were fluent with portuguese
and had done their education in Portuguese were lucky to get government
jobs.Some of our goans landed in Bombay and got jobs in various companies
and they made their abode in homes known as Kudd in konkani.Each village had
their home in Dobitalo.There was the ucassim club, saligao club,quitula
club,cuncolim club etc.It was a flat with a kitchen and the toilet was
outside.You had to be a member of the club.Some of them had a big hall which
was actually a multi purpose. They ate there sitting on wooden boxes and
slept there.Then there was a kitchen where some of them cooked their food
and a big tin drum to store water.There was a gallery where they sat and
chatted and at the end of it was the toilet which was common for the whole
storey.Some of the old fogies who had no jobs and did not want to join their
wives in Goa stayed there and did a little odd job like filling water and
cooking the food and most of the time was spent in spinning yarns.They might
have been on board the ship for sometime.These clubs provided unity of
villagers or other people where many cooked,ate,and shared their precious
life.In the evening those who were at home would sit together before the
altar and recite the rosary.In the month of May they would come down to Goa
and join their family and if the men folk had a good job there was happiness
on the face of the wife and children or else "Vo kiteac aila amchem jeunk?"
Those who were in Goa (I mean the men folk) managed to survive with some
little job.Many of them had their own fields and had plenty of rice to
eat.They also grew vegetables.Some sold rice and vegetables to fetch the
important diet the fish .Meat was not eaten in plenty those days.Beef and
pork was kept on the table only during the feast days.People kept fowls and
used the eggs and cut them for meat too.People worked very hard, had a very
big family of sometimes even fourteen to eighteen children and yet the
mothers looked young and healthy.Many of the deliveries took place at home
as all the deliveries were normal.Diabetes,hypertension was mostly not heard
of.There were very few doctors and they were mostly medico circumgio or
something like that.The doctors prescribed some medicine which was called
mixture.This medicine was very difficult to take and had to be forced down
the throat of youngsters.Medicines like "Cups, sangrixek " was common during
cold and fever.cups"- empty glass was taken and at the end little cotton was
placed and this cotton was burnt and the burning glass was placed with force
on the back. The burning cotton would go off and the flesh was seen rising
in the glass.This glass was later removed or would fall off.The second one
was terrible.Water was boiled at a very high temperature with onion rings
and salt.This boiling water was poured in a mud vessel and one had to place
hands first and then legs into the boiling water.Someone would be there to
wipe your hands and feet as soon as they were out of the boiling
water.Terrible.Then for two or three days we had to remain indoors and roam
with our head covered.Psycologically we were very sick and serious the way
we had to go about.Cunji was served as food with either sugar or water
pickle.
Those were the days.
Albert
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