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Hi Cynthia!
Congratulations on this brilliant piece of writing; I thoroughly enjoyed
every paragraph of the article. In fact, I had made some notes and this was
going to be one of my next articles but you saved me the trouble.
To me, travel by a steamer from Goa to Bombay and vice versa still remains
the most enjoyable journey. As a bachelor, I traveled on those steamers on
the upper as well as lower decks. I also traveled in a cabin which could
accommodate four persons it had two bunk beds. Food was brought in at the
press of a button and served on folding tables, and so were drinks.
However, cabin occupants mostly spent their time on the decks because thats
where all the fun took place, and it was from there that one could enjoy the
view of the vast ocean and the skies above you. The only advantage for
married people was that they could have their own privacy and fun in the
cabin while children went out to play. In those days, newly wedded couples
chose to travel by a steamer, booked a cabin on it and enjoyed their
honeymoon trip to Goa/Bombay!
I also traveled from Bahrain to Bombay by Matsyagandha cruise liner in
1975; it was yet another 7-day experience in the sea for me!
The jevonn (food) served on the Konkan Shakti, Konkan Sevak and Sarita
steamers was good; I liked it. They served Goenkaranche avddechem ukddea
tandullanchem xit (Goans favorite boiled rice - Bombay people called it
fat rice) - they also served suroi tandullanchem xit (raw rice) - with
delicious pamplitanchi koddi (pomfret curry) and/or dall (lentils),
little pickle and papad; for afternoon tea, jam slice cakes in plastic
covers were served.
Children fixed their eyes on the water to catch a glance of a shoal of
fishes appear and disappear in a flick from the surface of water. For
Bombay children, the surf and green water looked like sugar cane juice! The
height of excitement was when the captain of the ship would allow children
into his cabin and let them have a turn at holding the steer. Wow that was
a life experience to each one of them! They would rush back to their
parents and say: Mummy, mummy/daddy, daddy, tum zannaim matso vell adim
konn agbot choloitalo to/tem? (Mummy/daddy, do you know who was steering
the steamer a while ago?) Mummy&daddy: Anik konn choloitolo kopit!
(Who else - the captain)! Na-a-a-am mummy/daddy, hanv
choloitalom/choloitalim! (No mummy/daddy, I was steering the steamer!)
They would then narrate the whole experience to their parents and again take
off to explore the ship from top to bottom. For children, the journey by a
steamer was fun world on waters; they hardly slept.
While most people enjoyed the journey, there would be some who would be
moaning and groaning because they were suffering from sea sickness. For
them the journey was too long; they wished the ship made an emergency halt
and disembarked them. The only thing that they did soon after the journey
started was vonk, vonk, vonk ani zav tonk (vomit, vomit, vomit and get
exhausted)! Sometimes, they could not even make it to the lavatory they
would throw up on the wooden floor and on the bed sheets which were spread
out as bedding throughout the decks with hardly half a foot space left for
walkway. Some of them would be so sick that their relatives/friends had to
hold them in their lap and keep a watch on them throughout the journey. I
never came across any men suffering from sea sickness; it was mostly girls
and women; at times, little children complained of severe headache. The
suffering was so much that they would frequently question: Baba/bae,
puta/dhuve, agbot kednam Goeam/Bombaim pavteli re/gho? (My son/daughter,
when will the steamer reach Goa/Bombay)? Reply: Faleam sokallim pavteli
ghe maim; fokot visuch horam urleant)! (It will reach tomorrow morning
mummy; only twenty hours are left)! Sufferer: Vis horam urleant! Titlea
mhunnosor, hanv mortelim)! (Twenty hours are left! I will die by then)!
The sea sickness sufferers did not just suffer for themselves but they also
spoiled the journey for the whole family/friends. Whoever suffered from the
sickness, vowed never again to travel by a steamer for them it was the
last journey of their lives!
Most people kept awake until around midnight when the steamer would reach
Ratnagiri where they let off some passengers and that was an interesting
sight. We hung on the rails looking down at the white boats that lowered
the passengers and watched them get into smaller wooden boats to take them
to Ratnagiri.
Besides mangoes and jackfruits from Goa, the two things that got imported
and exported from Bombay and Goa, were Bombay ducks and Goa fenni; both left
their stinking mark on the whole steamer. Speaking of the Goa fenni, Mr.
Alen DSa, currently the Deputy Superintendent of Police, who went on to
become one of the bravest inspectors in Goa in his heydays as far as raids
on drugs and liquor are concerned, got his first break as a Hawaldar when he
raided one of the steamers and caught a big haul of liquor destined for
Bombay. From thereon, there was no looking back for him; his promotions
came in quick succession.
When our steamer passed another on its way to Goa/Bombay, both steamers
would honk PONK, PONK, PONK" as if they were greeting each other and
bidding goodbye in a friendly manner!
The end of the journey was marked with the release of anchor which would
roll out with a rattling noise, cut through the water and settle in the
silt.
Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA
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