------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.goacom.org/casa-de-goa/noticias.html -------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mervyn,Cecil, cecil's explanation is more in keeping with the nickname aspect of this thread although also the konkani for thunder is Godgodo. The dice itself is Godgodo. Imagine if the THUMS UP ad was to run in Konkani, it would be " voy, chokk re Godgodo" (O,Yeah! Taste the Thunder!) Godgodo is indeed a dice game commonly played near village tiatrs, nataks,festas etc. But as a nick name it seems to be quite common in Goa. Perhaps it has something to do with Goa being an insular place, was conducive to harmless gambling and it gave to many unknown 'Godgodes' an identity! I knew at least two godgodes in Panjim. One had a Panjim-Bombay bus service, and the other I am rather unclear about at the moment, but yes, Godgodo is a common nick name in Goa. Other nick names for gamblers are thaptee,mutka king,tooroop,ekko, etc. Girmit, too, is a name suggestive of hera-pheri or double dealing, meaning, usually, a con-man. Other is "tronk". And that goes with a gesture, like that of an off spinner spinning the ball. Very curiously, these names are so apt when you consider how keenly they describe the person or a habit of the one to whom it is given. For instance, a friend of ours being busy at the shop could not always join us in time for our evening "copp" at the bar. Our beat used to be as uncharted as irregular. In other words, we had not one particular bar that we friends frequented. If today it was 'Chachacha', tomorrow it would be Venit's or any one of the many Aunty's bars all over Panjim, or the famous "Juzechia Bollant" ( in Jose's barrel) behind the National theatre. There were days when we would be in Santa Cruz, Merces or Caranzale or Dona Paula, but a visit to a bar was almost a must. And we used to be our regular 'clique' of about six seven friends. But wherever we might be, our above mentioned friend would find us, a bit later of course, after he'd closed his shop. How he knew our exact whereabouts was a mystery, so someone from our group called him Alsatian! German Shepard are famous for their olfactory sharpness and are often employed by the Police force as sniffer dogs. "Icecruts" or 'iceprates' have many variations. There was a muslim vendor who called it "icecroad". I have heard many variations on the theme: "icerood", "iceroot", "Aissryedye","icecrotye", "aishreet"...I'm sure there are more, but they are variations-like a dialect. There is a certain vital component in heavy vehicles which is a kind of a pin. Lorry drivers all over Goa call it "Gujjen-pin". I don't know why, but that, I'm certain, even remotely, is not its original name. Shock-absorbers are called "Tchokkopssors"! Lapyao, Budkulo, agutto,Tambyo, popott, "fithreeg", boile, buyao... there are a tri-zillion nick names. Often people get named due to some physical defect: Sathko,Tirso, Kuddo, Zoddo, "beak"...! Or some misfortune may win someone a nick name in Goa: There was a guy who, on a particular day, had a bad stomach. Even then he ate a Patoll-bhaji-pao, as a result of which, he had to relieve himself almost immediately by the roadside. And the one who saw him doing it began calling him "Patoll-bhaji" for obvious reasons!! The bhaji he'd eaten was purged;the name stuck. Girls also get names: "Kullam" is a name given to a girl who does much with her curls. Noti, Hema - Malini, etc. are very common. A person with excessive sex drive is called "Khazz". A cobblers son was called "Zaat". A sentence like "hay Zaat, kadd re ti kaat" ( Hay Zaat, remove that pelt) Someone I knew forgot to clean his ears once and his friends saw him with a blob of ear-wax. He was Christened "Amttannicho Gullo" !! This is different from the more civil "Amttann", which is a name given to any whiney fellow - someone who always complains. There was known to me another chap whose house was built on a rock. (It was a hillock) And this man was perhaps the most un - musical person of his era. And yet, he would insistently sing standing up on the rock in front of his house, watching the passing crowd. He came to be known as "khodpavelo hero". I had names too! and recently Selma tried calling me "Chacha". Until then I thought I could take these nick-names in my stride, what with all those names given to me almost from the time of my birth. But I could not take Chacha! Something in me felt a sense of shame. By the bye in ref. to you recent post Selma, I had seen a docu on these traditions of American Indians. I believe they have a festival every year somewhere in the USA, where all different Indian tribes come to perform their ritualistic dances etc. Sun-dance is perhaps one of the more famous ones? They also have these sweat ceremonies, don't they? Most of them are such ruthlessly handsome fellows, and sinuous like no Goan I have ever seen (Abs et al!). Their skin is so beautiful. There is a hue that is named after their skin colour. It is called Indian red. It is a peculiar shade of red-brown and is very useful in Portrait painting in particular. Aslyar mog asundi, na tor "kator re bhajee"! Charudatta Prabhudesai, Khoro Goinkar! _________________________________________________________________ Shaadi.com Matrimonials. Register FREE! http://www.shaadi.com/ptnr.php?ptnr=mhottag ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------
