2008/8/20 Hartman de Souza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 1: JC, whoever you are, salama! 2: .... you brought this 'ghatii' bit up and more importantly , that it's Marathi word equivalent to 'Pahadi' and 'Hill-Billy'. 3: Actually my grandmother told me that the word used to describe her family was 'ghatan' people who crossed the ghats.... to barter beyond the ghats and returned with buffalos and cattle. 4: JC tell me, what *is* an ethnic Indian
Dear Hartman, re 1: jc is the average, run of the mill Juze(konkani), Ze (Portuguese), or Joe (English). Greetings to you too. re 2: Yes, Ghati is a Marathi word to denote what the Maharashtrians city dwellers considered primitive, uncouth and uncultured folks from the hills who would travel to the cities of Maharashtra to do menial work. They are the ones who, for instance, dug (with primitive hand tools) the Mula-Mutha canal which diverts water from the rivers and provides irrigation water for the formerly dry parts of Maharashtra. But, they were considered primitive, uncouth and uncultured because they plonk their (zhopdis) huts and themselves just anywhere, speak poor Marathi - that too ...in a rough manner, copulate, micturate and defecate wherever, steal when the opportunity arises, and importantly (at least in the recent past) kidnapped and killed a nearby child to fulfill their (human sacrifice) superstition, especially when building a culvert or bridge (or "Pool" as they would call it). re 3: I normally try not to respond to 'things which anyone's grand-mother" may or may not have said - but this is an exception. I submit to you that there is a significant difference between those who live in the Ghats and those who traverse the ghats for purposes of trade; just as much as difference there is between Dubaikars and those who travel to Dubai for work and business. re 4: I do not know the meaning of the phrase "ethnic Indian" or for that matter "pure Indian". But I do see that phrase bandied about, hence I asked the questions. As far as I am concerned - the only possible "ethnic Indians" are the Adivasis and the tribes that were discriminated against for thousands of years by the residents of the subcontinent ...as Untouchables or "Achut". ( I am not so sure that this discrimination has ended. If anyone knows better, please advise). The rest, as far as I am concerned, are just a bhel puri between all kinds of foreigners (or Bhaille) who pretend that they all belonged there from before the land mass came into being. If you look at the DNA of these so called "gaumcars" or "Desis", you will find all kinds of genetic material from the very "white" people they claim to hate. These same ignoramuses shout about Independence and Liberation. Just ask them when they plan to liberate the land grabbed by their invading firangi forebears of 3000 years ago, and give it back to the real gaumcars of the subcontinent. The least they can do, until they do that, is just accept the past for its good and not so good ...and move ahead with the understanding that ALL of us have forbears had who sinned (most often with religious sanction) against poor, unarmed and defenseless people ....and called it Vijay (victory). I suggest that we remember this: The aggressors will always provide a justification for unprovoked invasions and deaths. Only the naive and nutty will not challenge the hollowness of such bogus & hypocritical hypotheses. The real answer to ALL unprovoked invasions is found in the words.... Greed, Envy and Vengance. Not good attributes, if I may add. jc further reading: http://www.colaco.net/1/caste.htm
