THE FORGOTTEN TRIBE MHAR PART 14 (FINAL)
BLACK Generally, the Mhar were black in complexion; some as dark as charcoal. They were compared to a crow, which is not only black in color but it is also a scavenger. The Mhar was clubbed in the same category. The whole world despises the crow because it is black in color, yet it has beauty of its own. There was a time when black was considered a bad omen but now black is fashionable and everyone wants black. In the days of yore, black was worn at funerals but now it is worn at birthdays, weddings, parties, etc. black has now become a fashion! Even girls find black boys attractive and vice versa! Come to think of black, we practically cant do anything without precious darkness which falls in the black category. For example, we cant watch a movie in a theater without darkness. We cannot sleep soundly if there is no darkness there may be some who can sleep with the lights on. In the past, people made love in the dark; now we need the lights on! People who used to despise a crow appreciate it now despite its color - black. Similarly, today, black people rule the world in almost every field sports, music, politics, you name it. The fastest man on earth is and was black Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Carl Lewis to name a few. West Indies, a nation with black people, ruled the cricket world for many years. Pele, the king of the football, is a black Brazilian. The boxing legend, Cassius Clay (Mohammed Ali) is a black American, and so were Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson. The king of the Pop, the late Michael Jackson, was a black. That he tried to become white is altogether another story. Martin Luther King, the principal leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, was a black. The current President of the most powerful nation in the world, Mr. Barack Obama, is a black. Even the world-renowned Abade Faria, who shook the world with his hypnotism, was a black from Goa. In the days of yore, anyone whose skin color was black was suspected to belong to the Mhar community. They didnt spare even their complexion. Additionally, people tauntingly remarked thus: To/tem mhar/mharinn koso/koxem dista! (He/she looks like a Mhar.) Many high society and well-to-do people have been despising Mhars but these days those very people stand in queues to avail of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes quota benefits in educational fields, jobs, etc. The result: Genuine backward class people are deprived of their daily bread and benefits of such schemes while the well-to-do walk away with the cake. Who is a Mhar now? Goa has around 19 Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and demands for inclusion of more communities keep pouring in. Initially, Gavddi, Kunnbi, Velip and Dhangars were the first communities to be included in the list of Other Backward Classes, but recently the first three, Gavddi, Kunnbi and Velip, have been included in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Goa! They are considered the original settlers of Goa. The Scheduled Tribe population is said to be about 1.5 lakhs while the OBCs comprise about 4 lakhs (around 25% of Goas estimated population.) The issue of granting the status of Scheduled Tribes to Govly community or Dhangars, as they are referred to, has been hanging fire for some time. Their inclusion in Scheduled Tribes list was opposed by some sections on the ground that they are migrants from neighboring state and not a Goan tribe. However, some say that Portuguese records, which refer to Goan people's life styles, indicate that they belong to Goa. Therefore, research on the community has been undertaken to determine their status. In conclusion, there was a time when nobody wanted to belong to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes but now people are ready to move mountains to belong to it not just ordinary people but even the high class and educated! Do I need to say any more? There is a Konkani saying: Bekar thovoi, furnem taxi, which is equivalent to English saying: Idle mind, devils workshop. This is exactly what happened in the past in the villages. People did not have much to do; so, they gossiped about families and their castes. Nowadays, everyone is so busy that there is hardly any time to think or gossip about the caste. But there are still some who have nothing to do but gossip, and they belong to the above-mentioned class of people. DISCRIMINATION Unlike today, there were very few benches in the Anjuna Church in the Sixties. Those benches were donated by bhattkars and well-to-do people; they had their names affixed on them; some still do that. Elite people found it difficult to kneel down on the wooden plank attached to a bench. Therefore, they fixed cushions/padding on them and covered them with velvet cloth. The Mhar community members were not at all allowed to occupy a seat on the benches in the Church. There were instances when bhattkars offended and even slapped them for occupying a seat on a bench in the Church. I witnessed one such incident when I was about 8 years old. Although the Church had extra rooms, none of the pede was given a room to live in. During the day, they slept in the niches below the main staircase leading to the choir. The pedo on night duty slept in the little room by the entrance of the cemetery. The Mhar community members could not easily enter a house. They were not allowed to enter through the front door; they were always called (not called in) at the back door. Actually, they knew their standard; hence, they never knocked on the front door they always knocked on the back door or called out from backside. The Mhar community maids who worked in houses were strictly instructed never to enter or exit the house from the front door but only from the rear door. The Mhar were served food in separate vessels. If at all they were served food, they had to wait for others to finish eating before they could eat. They were also expected to wash their plates after eating. As a matter of fact, they were served in separate plates, mainly aluminum or enamel plates the type of which people use for their pets like dogs, cats, etc. They were also not served water in glasses but in a kotti (coconut shell.) Some poured water directly into the cupped hands of the Mhar for drinking instead of giving it in a tumbler. Similarly, the Mhar males were not served liquor in a kals (cup) but they were served liquor in a shaven kotti. They could not wear sandals and walk in front of a dominant caste member, and they had to walk with folded hands and also had to stand up in respect. As soon as a person was dead, a messenger obtained a death certificate from a doctor, and the same messenger then proceeded to the Church along with the certificate, which was essential because a person who committed suicide would not be given a Church burial; things have changed now. The Padr Cur or the curate usually wrote down the details of the deceased and questioned the messenger: Tumi taka khuimche classint purunk sodtat kopelmarant, poile classint, dusre classint vo tisre classint? (In which class would you like to intern him/her in the cemetery chapel, in the first class, the second class or the third class?) For readers convenience, there were four classes in the cemetery and this is how they were segregated: The top class was located inside the kopelmar (cemetery chapel.) The first class was located on the left and right of the kopelmar. The second class was almost in the middle of the cemetery. The third class was located on the left and right of both extreme inside corners of the cemetery entrance. In between each class a little fatranchi mer (stone ridge) was fixed to differentiate between classes. As far as the Mhar community was concerned, they were directly assigned the third class without even asking them the above question, but not after the Seventies, when they began to prosper! In the third class there was an extreme corner where the destitute were buried and for whom a bhaddeachi kaixa (hired coffin) was used. In Anjuna, this kaixa was always kept on the funeral carriage in the outside room at the right entrance of the cemetery, which has now been converted into a cemetery. Unfortunately, many Mhar community members were buried using the hired coffin. Come to think of it, a person comes in this world naked and should be cremated or buried naked as is done by Hindus and Muslims (they wrap the body in a white bed sheet.) Per the Holy Bible, a person comes from the dust and to dust they must return. In this regard, I would say the Mhar community fulfilled the Holy Scriptures partly, if not completely, in as much as they departed this world in the way they should, half clad, leaving no worldly wealth behind to fight for - at least the olden-day generation of the tribe did so. Didnt we read in the Holy Bible that the first shall be the last and the last shall be the first? I hope the Creator will apply this rule to the Mhar community who were denied justice while on this planet. During bhattkar shahi (landlord rule) days, men from the elite society got friendly and even had sex with low society girls, including the Mhar community girls but when it came to getting married, they would wash off their hands by pointing out to the caste. Some bhattkar heirs even had children from the Mhar community female servants working in their homes but they would not marry them. At the most, they allowed those children to live in their properties. Wasnt that outrageous? Does this mean that caste does not matter when one has sex but it matters only when one is required to get married? The Mhar community members were taunted at every step and made a prey of mockery in the eyes of Goan society. Even tiatrists used the words mhar, chamar in their songs and plays and insulted them publicly. Wherever they went, people remarked sarcastically: Arre tum mhar murre the same was said of a chamar, as both belonged to the lowest caste of the Goan social fabric. The Mhar community was considered so downtrodden that whenever the rich and the affluent cursed, they would say: Hanv mhoji girestkai vattevoilea mharak, chamarak ditolom/ditelim punn tuka kednanch divchonam/divchinam. (I would rather part with my wealth to a roadside mhar or chamar but not you.) But it was only a figure of speech; I heard many say it but did not witness anyone fulfill it. By now the caste has been dissolved into the society. Gone are those days when students and friends used to be restricted from talking to or mingling with low caste peers. In fact, nobody knows who is who now, and the caste system is the least subject anyone would be interested in, except, of course for a few demi-gods, who are always interested in it. Many from the Mhar community have come up in life and left Goa for greener pastures in foreign countries where nobody is interested in the abominable caste system. Yes, they have chosen to settle there permanently and never to return to their place of origin, which means nothing to them but a nightmare! We humans have a tendency to name, brand, categorize, smother, discipline, demark, label, as if multitudes of varied human beings could be contained under monolithic ideologies of caste or religion or nationality. We must refuse to be labeled like a product in a mass-production factory with its contents, nutritional value and price written on a label. For Gods sake, we are human beings; let us not become branded items! We all belong to one God, who is the supreme Creator of this wonderful universe, and His message is love Love your neighbor as you love thyself. So, let us love each and every human being on this beautiful planet. Over the years, especially post-liberation Goa, education has played a vital role in eradicating the caste system in Goa, but there are still a few holdouts for whom the old Konkani proverbial saying is apt: "Sumb lasta punn entto urta" (Rope burns but the twist remains!) (ENDS) Thank you all for making time to read this series and for the feedback that I have received thus far. Please continue to email your feedback to [email protected] or [email protected] Moi-mogan, Domnic Fernandes Anjuna, Goa Mobile: 9420979201 All rights reserved
