In the good old days, people did not use bells to beckon the pigs at feed
time but they used empty tins and coconut shells as bells. They beat a tin
with a stick, and hit coconut shell against an old ghonddsunno or a carved
stone which were used as dhonnanchi koinn. The moment pigs heard the
sound, they obediently returned to their eating place as fast as they could
where a sumptuous meal a mixture of dhonn with kunnddo, pennd, left over
canji and xit-koddi, mango/banana/pineapple/papaya peal, spoiled fruits,
etc., awaited them. Upon reaching their dining place, they immersed their
mouths in the koinn and began to eat the dhonn by making that unpleasant
chak-chak-chak sound. At every bite, solid food remained in the mouth and
the liquid rushed out from the sides. Whenever children ate by making pigs
eating sound, parents immediately questioned them: Tum dukor re/gho,
chak-chak-chak avaz korun jevpak? Tondd dhamp ani avaz korinastannam jev.
Sozmolo/sozmolem mure/mungho! (Are you a pig to eat by making
chak-chak-chak sound? Close your mouth and eat without making such sounds!
Did you understand? This is how our parents taught us eating manners during
our childhood.
In the past, there were fewer houses in a ward and most people beckoned
their pigs in the old fashioned verbal call ie, ie, ie, ie only a few
used tins/coconut shells to beckon them. Each one of the pigs knew how to
distinguish between calls of their masters and others. Once they had had
their meals, they wouldnt pay attention to tin or coconut shell sounds that
came from other pig owners, as their stomach was already full but there were
a few gluttons who vazta te vatten danvtalet (would run in the direction
of the sound) and became a nuisance to their neighbors.
As written in my article Dukor ani Dukrachem Mas (Pig and Pork), many
people think of pigs as just fat, stupid bacon on the hoof, but pigs are
intelligent and the above fact of responding to a sound is proof enough that
they are indeed intelligent. Pigs usually graze around their dwelling
they do not cross their domain except for a barranv who may leave his
place/ward in search of girlfriend(s) and sometimes even become a temporary
zanvuim (son-in-law) in the adjoining ward and spread his pedigree there.
Pigs enjoy playing, and can easily be trained. In addition, they generally
get along well with other domestic animals. The hen would always remain in
the vicinity of a pigsty and she and the crow would peck at his food, but
there were times when a hen would be seen riding a pigs back just as a crow
did. We would also sometimes watch a cat play with a pig and even the dog
didnt mind playing with it. Pigs are clean pets which will stay tidy if
they are bathed and groomed!
Here are the lyrics of a subject-related song titled DUKOR taken from Jose
Rods cassette Adeus, sung by Comedian Phllip; music by the late Chris
Perry:
DUKOR
I
Goenchim festam ietokoch, hanson-khellon uddta
Festachea adlea disa, ekloch babddo roddta
Mr. X: Konn re to?
Mr. Z: Goencho dukor!
Mr. X: Whos that?
Mr. Z: Arre Goencho dukor!
Chorus
Goenkar dukram postai, Goenchea ek-ek gharanim
Sezareank dusman kelim re, amchea Goenchea dukranim
Goencheo bailo dukrank lagon kit kon zogoddtai zannam? Listen ham!
Tras kaddun hanvem mojem xet roilem
Mujea xetan tugem dukor eilem
Xetan ievun mugem xet khailem
Dekun dukra tugea hanvem ik ghailem.
Woman #1: Agho tuj dolle hoddleai mungo amgea dukrak choupako; tujean
choupa
zainam dekun tum ik ghalunk sodita.
Woman #2: Agho ghaltelim gho hanv; faran martelim (tujea dukrak)
II
Danddeak bandun khandar marun, adim voro Goencho dukor
Atam motcyclir dukrak vortai, choieai dukracho valor
Ie, ie!
Dukor einam
Bor einam
Dukor dhonn hainam
Chorus
Batizmank, festank, kazarank, ami khuxen hatai poku
Konn melearui dukrak martai, sang koslem re amkam duku
Bomboichim cheddvam dukoru mhuttlear kit munttai zanam? Listen ham!
Goencho pig akko ganv dirtying, to kumanvakodde fokot waiting
Dukrachem mas I am hating, chevrisam Bomboikaram eating
III
Aitarak sokallim igorjen, kabar zatokoch missu
Tinttear ami voitanv re, haddunk dukrachem massu
Mas kobar
Kitem tor!
Rokddoch khopta Goencho dukor
Dusrea ganvcho lok dukram hatai titlei dukor barranv
Punn amchea Goenchea dukrank ami rokddech kortanv kapanv
Punn kiteim sang ham, Goencho dukor to Goencho dukor
Chorus
Chinancho von bor zata
Russia gostan salad hata
Madras idli-sambar korta
Goencho dukor havpan umed ieta
Kiteak? Goencho dukor tem hat num?
Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA
From : Jim Fernandes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To : "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <goanet@goanet.org>
Sent : Monday, June 12, 2006 3:05 AM
To : goanet@goanet.org
Subject : Re: [Goanet] Pigs... in the village
Very interesting post Fred ...... I can clearly see signs of progress in
Goa.
Not long ago, when I was growing up in Goa, people in my village would
beckon
their pigs with the old fashioned verbal calls ... "Ghe yo .... Ghe yo ...."
at
feed time. Does anybody remember that?
In today's world, Goa is progressing technologically - and the pigs say,
they
aren't going to be outdone either! Did you know that even the pigs are
displaying signs of progress?
Well, now-a-days, the locals in many parts of Goa, use a bell instead of the
verbal calls. So when the bell rings .... the pigs scoot back to their homes
....
knowing very well, that its time for food !!!
Now, if everybody in the villages use similar bells ... that would create a
helluva confusion among the pigs socializing with other pigs belonging to
different families. The pigs, probably would have to gain some intelligence
to
distinguish one bell from the other ...
But think of the good side .... this would create more jobs ... lets call
them
"pig trainers", to train the pigs to recognize the pitch of each family's
bell
.... and as usual ... there won't be any Goan takers for these jobs .... its
going to be the non-Goans !
As demand for pork picks up ... think of all the additional skills that
would be
needed ... such as castrating male pigs - even the Goa University would be
tempted to start a 'Diploma in Castrating Pigs' ... you get the point .....
don't you?
Jim F.
New York.
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Frederick Noronha" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
When you talk to others from a diverse background, you often get
another perspective into how things work. A villager, my neighbour
Magdeline, today mentioned that all her pigs had died recently. Was
this, I wondered, a kind of disease that had hit the region without it
getting the attention deserved?
Anyway, she said she was keen to restart keeping pigs. And she
insightfully pointed to the growing number of people staying in
rooms-on-hire in the region. Obviously, the pig in the Goa of the past
helped to maintain local sanitation. While many still don't have
toilets ('sulabh sauchalayas' don't cover all), the pigs have been
vanishing.
Incidentally, the Government of Goa has a Government Piggery Farm at
Curti (Ponda). They're officially promising to sell piglings for
breeding purposes -- at the rate of Rs 40 per kg of live weight
subject to revision, at the farm premises.
Those interested in procuring piglings are asked -- in a thick
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