The Goan Club
With our current times filled with anxiousness as to what is happening around us coupled with our freedoms being curtailed in the United Kingdom, I am responding to Selma Carvalho’s article questioning whether there was a need and place for a Goan club to maintain our Goan culture in the present times. The first point is what constitutes Goan culture and how did Selma come to the conclusion that admiration needs to go to our ancestors who managed to achieve preserving it. I beg to differ to her learned observations, to me it was quite the opposite. Let’s look at the different aspects of Goan Culture and Heritage: Language – Here an important observation needs to be made. There are a number of us, though not all, who were born and brought up in East Africa who cannot speak, write or understand Konkani. Without this skill this whole generation will not be able to pass it on to their children and children’s children. In my case, I understand limited Konkani but it is quite difficult for me to speak it fluently. For this limited knowledge, I owe it with gratitude to my grandmother who stayed with us when I was young. My parents always conversed to me in English as did the rest of our extended family, our teachers, my fellow classmates and for that matter everyone else. As children we did put up a few songs on stage in Konkani but these were few and far between, I can remember it happening only twice. Of course I could correct this lack of Konkani today by learning it now but who would I speak it with, in my family and friends circle no body is interested in doing so. In my opinion, the Konkani language is one of the most important part of our culture. So the question here is how did our ancestors in East Africa preserve Konkani, one of the most important fabric of our culture and customs? What prompted them to actively promote English and not Konkani during this period? And what part did the Goan club play in promoting Konkani. The majority of our social functions, including tombola, were in English, with the exception of some Konkani music heard now and again and visiting tiatrists. Food – Another important observation needs to be made here too. In East Africa, at our parties, bhajis, samosas and other Goan snacks were never served, These was seen to be beach food in what today is referred to perhaps as “street” food. For parties we served English/French hors d oeuvres. Vol au vents, triangle toasts topped with a fish paste, cheddar cheese straws, ribbon sandwiches etc with the centre piece of whole pineapples or melons pieced with cocktail sticks of cheddar cheese, olives, pickled onions, grapes and cherries for colour. The main meal comprised of salads which included tomatoes fancy cut in half with ridged edges, beetroot, curly cucumber, salmon or tuna mayonnaise fish sculptured in a metal fish dish and turned out to resemble a huge fish. Sometimes a biryani or pilau was served with roast beef accompanied by home made selection of carrot pickle and balchao. On a china plate with fork and knife. The pudding was usually a trifle made with apricot swiss rolls, topped with fruit jelly, custard and colour sugar sprinkles. Followed by tea or coffee. So when it came to entertaining, this mirrored a European style which I can only assume meant to present an upmarket, stylish and sophisticated experience. These were also served at our Goan Club House for social functions with occasional Goan food element. Food for the beach was scotch eggs, ham sandwiches and for the drive in cinema there was always popcorn and candy. My mother always treated us to cream horns from the bakery and to this day I cannot pass by one and not buy it! Goan food was an everyday cuisine and Goan sweets were made only at Christmas time when it was customary to exchange these with your family and friends. Even here the Christmas tray of sweets always contained a home made Christmas fruit cake, a plum and a satsuma, another Western tradition when a clementine orange was given out to workers in the United Kingdom at Christmas time. Sorpotel was served mainly at Easter and Christmas. At Easter time, as Easter Eggs were so expensive we still remember being gifted these by our neighbours. These were small eggs in an egg cup, not the large and fancy ones from Cadbury you get today. So many of us who lived in East Africa (the countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganika) did not totally follow Goan food at all times and in fact did adopt a fairly Western palate in case their European employers turned up. We also indulged in African food, Arab and Hindu specialities. I remember as a child we took tins of cheese to Goa and these would be served to guests at the house, cut in thin pieces and served with a colourful garnish on top. You had to be a “special” visitor to get one of these biscuits. This again mirrors a European tradition. The new Goan generation live in a multi-cultural environment where they are also privileged to taste different foods but usually have none of their own to exchange with. Luckily we do have U-Tube where Goan chefs have shared how to make our dishes and this may be a useful tool in preserving some of our Goan delicious food in the future. I don’t remember any cookery demonstrations at the Goan Club in Mombasa but I understand in the past there was a Curry Club in our Beckenham Goan Club House in the UK on a Sunday where you booked a table, learned to cook and enjoy Sunday lunch organised by the late Anton De Souza. Fashion – In East Africa the fashion was mainly Western. Designs filtered through magazines, material bought accordingly and sown by in house or by tailors. Most young men and women definitely favoured the designs from London and Paris. As a young child, I remember wearing smocked dresses, these had tiny roses in between the smocked rows. These tiny roses were also sewn on matching socks. Today these smocked dresses can only be found in the most expensive and fashionable shops in New Bond Street and Oxford Street. They were very time consuming to make and shows that we were very advanced for our time. The men too adopted the Western style of dress with suits, bow ties, very in-fashion for that era. The late Wendell Rodriques from Colvale did a grand job in blending European and Indian styles. This could have been attributed to the Goan Club if our people did not look down at the tailors of yesteryear. We could today on the High Streets before Wendell have had Rebellos, Rodrigues, Costas, etc. as famous brands other than Versace, Chanel, etc. So where did the Goan Club fit as a custodian of Goan fashion? Dance & Music – Our people have always been privileged to having musical talent within our community which has kept us entertained then and now. Again, most of the dances in our Goan Club in Mombasa predominantly had Western music with the odd Goan mando session when men would dance with handkerchiefs. There was the occasional tiatr but I don’t remember there being that many. Neither do I remember too many films in Konkani. We went very often to the drive in cinema just outside Mombasa but it was to watch Western films featuring such actors and actresses as Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. In the United Kingdom today thanks to Greg Carvalho and other organisers, we have a tiatr nearly every week, this was not the case in East Africa. We also have a Konkani radio show run by Roque and Bihula Vaz in Southampton which they run from home, along with Frank from Melbourne and Silvano of Radio Mango in Toronto that we are aware of. These pilots of the radio waves keep us connected around the world with the technology of today. So why do we need to look with admiration and awe at past generations, it is those of today who are really working to promote the Goan dance and music bringing it to a wider audience. Festival – In the United Kingdom we had at one time over 50 Goan organisations and 50 presidents. In the search of identity and promotion of excellence the Standing Conference of Goan Organisations (SCOGO) was formed. The idea behind this was to give the opportunity for various village organisations to come together and showcase themselves to fly the flag for Goa and ignite a flame in the younger generation. Initially, this was a good idea, each village had a showcase tent or stall, for example, Saligao had a tent with an exhibition of photographs from Saligao village, we sold Goan sweets donated by our Saligao members and a leaflet was prepared on what was happening in the village. However in the UK in later years, this concept was dismantled and thrashed, I can only assume through egos and grandiose. Today the Goan festival that takes place annually in Cranford although it provides an opportunity to meet and greet does not attract many of the past attendees of SCOGO including myself. Education – I don’t remember our Mombasa Club as being a centre for education, most of its members were already well educated and articulate. In today’s world, we are fortunate that most of the younger generation of East African Goans are well educated, professional and hold good jobs or their own businesses. Goan Clubs – Around the world, I am pleased to see with good management and dedicated volunteers, the Goan clubs are evolving to not just meeting the needs of Goans but integrating and being part of society in which they live. There is an enormous need for preserving our culture but also making our own valued contribution to the world in which we live. You may wish to research whether this is the same in the United Kingdom with our present Goan club as a specific case history, what happened in the past and what is happening now? This may provide you with some of the answers you are seeking and hopefully you can engage in filling in some of the gaps to foster a good Goan future for all by walking the talk. I am copying this reply to Selwyn Collaco, President of the Goan Overseas Association in Toronto who has already done a detailed response to you of what activities he, his management team and members have achieved. We also admire the efforts of the Goan Institute Nairobi, the Mombasa Institute, the Arusha Club, New South Wales in Sydney, the Perth Club and various clubs around the world in keeping our Goans connected. Rose Fernandes Thornton Heath, United Kingdom 2 April 2020
