During pre-liberation period, most houses in Goa did not have cement/tile floor. The floor was then made of a mixture of mud and gravel, and cow dung was used to keep it tidy. It was a practice to treat the floor with cow dung at least once a month but it was repeated whenever there was an occasion like blessing of a house, a birthday party, relatives� visits, feast celebration, wedding, etc.
The poor class did the job themselves but the middle class mostly hired workers who were experts in the job. Cow dung has to be fresh. Usually, people would reserve cow dung with cattle owners and collected it early in the morning. Those who tried to steal dung from stables got charged/kicked by cows/oxen and suffered injuries. There were three modes to apply cow dung to a floor:
1) �Sarnichea futtean dortorek xennancho lep kaddop� � Application of cow dung to a floor with the help of a worn out broom. In this process, cow dung is placed in a container/bucket and mixed with water with hand or a stick until it becomes quite thin. The mixture is then placed on the floor and evenly applied to it with a broom.
2) �Hathan dortorek xennancho lep kaddop� � Application of cow dung to a floor with hand. In this process, cow dung is placed on a floor and mixed with hand but with a little less water until it turns into a kind of loose paste. The mixture is then evenly applied to a floor with the side of a palm.
3) �Bottanim dortorek xenn kaddop� � Application of cow dung to a floor with fingers. In this process, cow dung is placed on a floor and mixed with hand but with much less water. The mixture is then evenly applied to the floor with fingers making sure fingers remain a little apart from each other in order to allow flow of dung through them. The application result in this case is thicker layer than in mode number one and two and the process also leaves behind small, protrusive circular layers thus making the floor rough in nature. In this process it takes longer for dung to dry up. The charges for this job were also more than the first and second modes. Many people added a little �damor� (tar) in cow dung in order to give a darker look to the floor.
Cow dung was also used on temporary �nachachem angonn� (dance floor). Whenever a wedding was to take place, people hired workers and prepared a dance floor. The workers would pour water on the proposed ground area until it was quite soaked and then beat it with a heavy �pettnnem� (a flat wooden piece shaped like a cricket bat but much thicker and heavier). When the floor dried up, they would apply cow dung through mode number one. The whole process was to avoid dust from the floor.
Next, cow dung was also used to make temporary �khollem� (a place arranged to dry paddy, chilies, etc.) A khollem was prepared in the same way as a temporary dance floor but in this case a small border was added around khollem. Here again, the final touch involves application of cow dung through mode number one.
Furthermore, those who raised and owned cattle prepared �shenni� (cow dung cakes) and sold them to people as firewood. Some people in Goa still make shenni. A cow dung cake is made by pressing dung on ground or on a sloping mud compound wall until it takes round shape with a diameter of around 8 to 10 inches and about an inch and half thickness. It is left in that place until it fully dries up. Once dried, it is slowly removed, piled up and sold to customers on the spot or stored away. Just like "sonnam", "shenni" too produces mild and long lasting fire. People in olden days used shenni to warm water for bath and also to make "pez" (canji), etc.
In recent past, cow dung has also been used in the production of �Gobar Gas�. I did not have a chance to observe the process. Hence, I am unable to comment in detail.
This is Goa�s past which we cannot wipe off, however advanced/rich we may be!
Moi-mogan, Domnic Fernandes Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA
COWDUNG HAS MEDICINAL VALUE: Dung of cows of Indian breed not only can be used as organic manure but also has medicinal properties, according to Govindyan Anusandhan Kendra, Nagpur, which is doing intensive research on the subject. Director of the Kendra, Sunil Mansinghak told a press conference in Panjim that there is a high content of medicinal properties in dung of cows of Indian breed and expressed the need to take a patent of the same. (H)
RESPONSE:
First preference will be given to the Doctors of Goanet. You will be allowed to carry this back with you, without let or hinderance to your foreign distination, for distilation and further refinement. May your patients enjoy good health.
cheers,
Gabe Menezes.
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