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5th Annual Konkan Fruit Fest
Promenade, D B Bandodkar Road, Panaji, Goa
16-18, May 2008
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073789.html
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Club class
Radhika Raj
Sunday, May 18, 2008 03:40 IST
The Goan clubs at Dhobi Talao's Jer Mahal have been around for over a
century, but now their crumbling rooms face the threat of demolition,
finds Radhika Raj
Praxis Remedios pulls out one coin after another out of thin air and
then makes them disappear within a blink of an eye. His black jacket and
a magician hat hang from a rusty hook on a chipped room wall. Above it
lies a broken wooden board that says Guirim Club. Remedios is one of the
residents of a Goan club at Jer Mahal in Dhobi Talao. "These clubs are
boarding houses for people from Goa," he explains. "Every village has
club for its residents here. It is a mini-Goa in Mumbai." Remedios has
been living in his club for over twenty years, but still has a difficult
time explaining his address. "If I tell people in the city of our club,
they ask if there is a swimming pool there," he smiles.
Sandwiched between city stalwarts like St Xaviers College and Metro
cinema, Jer Mahal bears the distinction of being one of Mumbai's most
beautiful chawls and a Goan cultural hub, accommodating 50 Goan clubs in
its premises. Jer Mahal however is facing the threat of demolition
because of its location. "Jer Mahal is a Grade III structure and hence
can be pulled down if proven that it cannot be restored," says
conservationist architect Abha Lambah. "It is necessary to list Jer
Mahal as a Grade II structure as it is one of the most culturally rich
chawls in city. We must protect it from turning into another concrete
tower".
With over 104 years of history tucked away in its crevices, notice
boards with Konkani scrawls, chapels in each of the clubs, posters of
Jesus Christ (and occasionally white women in skimpy outfits) this bulky
structure is indeed a world in itself. The oldest Goan clubs can be
traced back to 1857. Later, the second world war and an acute food
shortage brought people to the newly developing city of Bombay. Goans,
with their Portuguese backgrounds and knowledge of the Roman script,
could easily pick up the English dialect. They were employed as cooks,
clerks, musicians and seamen. Most clubs were set up at Jer Mahal at
Dhobi Talao, since it was near Crawford Market and convenient for the
cooks. Government offices at Fort and the docks for seamen were close
too. Even today, most residents here work as seamen for the navy,
musicians in Catholic orchestras or waiters at five star hotels. "This
is home away from home. All the people here go to the same church, most
of them have grown up together," says Joel Fernandes from the Majorda
Club.
Dinshaw Mahal, one of the wings of Jer Mahal, where Fernandes stays,
contains Goan clubs all the way up to the top floor. Each floor
accommodates 3-4 clubs, along with a single kitchen and a bathroom. The
rent or the baddem is as low as Rs200 per month. "These clubs are so old
that some traditions have been followed for a century," says Vitthal
Aranjum, accountant and member of the United Club of Assondra. For
instance, due to space constraints, mattresses were not allowed at the
clubs in the 1950s. Despite the number of residents reducing by almost
half, this rule is still religiously followed and every member picks a
spot on the floor at bedtime.
These days the clubs are characterised by broken walls, protruding cable
wires and worn out arches. "A decade ago there were 14 people at our
club, but today there are only four," adds Aranjum. Four clubs in the
past few years have merged to form one United Club of Assondra. Most
clubs at Jer Mahal have downed their shutters while others have been
lent to locals.
Change has trickled into these stolid old structures. Football and
cricket have taken over the annual feasts and the Goan DJ brought in
every year during Christmas also plays Himesh Reshammiya songs. There
are also some constants, like the resident ghost who allegedly haunts
the terrace. As Anthony Fernandes cooks pork vindaloo, someone at the
neighbouring club plays a popular Goan classic. Residents at the Durga
club dig out an old frame. When they they find it, they look at it with
amazement. 'Established - 1908 it says in Konkani. "Oh my god, our club
turns hundred this year," they exclaim. "We must celebrate".
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1164975
~(^^)~
Avelino
