[Goanet] "MUNZ" (GIRDLE)!

[domnic fernandes]

Dear Goanetters,

This article was posted on Goanet on October 23, 2005.  I am reposting it 
for the benefit of those who may not have read it.

Moi-mogan,

Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA

[Goanet] "MUNZ" (GIRDLE)!
domnic fernandes jyodom at hotmail.com
Sun Oct 23 02:33:34 PDT 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our ancestors, who were basically farmers and fishermen, did not grow up 
wearing underwear; they grew up wearing a “kashti!”  It may be hard to 
believe but that remains a fact, and we shouldn’t be ashamed to accept a 
fact just because we now wear underwear!

The main purpose of a “munz” (girdle) was to wear a kashti.  In the olden 
days, regardless of a child’s gender, parents placed a “munz” in his/her 
waist in the form of a black thread, which later on many would change to a 
silver piece at a christening ceremony.  This practice is still prevalent
with poor masses in some remote areas in Goa.  The “munz” was also meant as 
a decoration piece on a child’s bear body.

While men and boys wore a “kashti”, pre-sanitary pad era, females also used 
“munz” in order to secure cloth padding during a monthly course.  However, 
in the olden days, a female child wore something called “togodd” (waist 
pendant) until she matured.  As a six-year old child, I found a metal object 
while playing which to me looked very strange.  It was shaped like a heart 
with a little curve and had two holes.   I rushed to my wise man, Simao, and 
asked him:  “Vhoddlo pai, hem kitem gha?”  (Respected elder, what is this?)  
He answered:  “Zannaim mure Duming, haka ‘togodd’ mhunnttat; tem cheddvachem 
pepet dacunchi vost.”  (You know Domnic, this is waist pendant; it is meant 
to cover a female’s private part.)  I then asked him:  “He don burak kiteak 
gha?”  (What are these two holes for?)  He explained:  “Dhor eka togddachea 
burakan munzicho ankddto xirkaitat ani uprant tem togodd justuch cheddvachea 
pepetaka samkar umkaitat.”  (Each one of the girdle’s hooks is fixed into 
the pendant’s holes and then it is suspended exactly before a girl’s private
part.)  Satisfied with his answers, I threw the pendant away; I wish I had 
saved it!

Women may have done away wearing the ‘munz’ from inside but they still wear 
it from outside.  Those who wear the Indian sari, especially the ones with 
slim waist, still wear a girdle made of silver or gold around their waists 
as a fashion, and it really looks good on them!

From Dom’s antique shelf!

Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA

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