On 4 July 2010 18:34, augusto pinto <[email protected]> wrote: > Selma Carvalho wrote: "The history of Goa written by those who wore > those imported hats, is quite different from the history of Goa as > lived by my parents in the villages. > Their history belongs to the cooks, clerks and tailors that made their way > to Africa and set up a Saint Francis Xavier's Goan Tailors' Society in > Mombasa as early as 1905." > > Comment: The various Goan clubs of Kenya are one of the features of > the Goan invasion of that land. Teresa Albuquerque in her, 'Goans of > Kenya' devotes a chapter - 'Formation of Goan Institutions' to these > clubs. The Goan Institutes of Nairobi and Mombasa, The Goan Gymkhana > of Nairobi, the Goan Tailors' Society of Nairobi and Mombasa, the Goan > Overseas Association were among those Albuquerque mentions. If I am > not mistaken there also was a Railways Institute that was founded by > the Goans. > > Does anyone really need to know why the Goans needed so many clubs? > > Cheers > Augusto > -- > > > Augusto Pinto > 40, Novo Portugal, > Moira, Bardez, > Goa, India > E [email protected] or [email protected] > P 0832-2470336 > M 9881126350 >
REPLY: If you don't know now, you will never ever know. Obviously you read Albuquerque's book and know why Goan Gym was formed....it was for 'aesthetic' reasons, to retain purity of form -:)) Why did the town boys go and form the Crusaders football Club to which your late brother belonged? What did the name imply and signify? I may be wrong but the Railways Club could have been even older than the G.I. - formed with financial aid from the Railways to cater to the vast number of Goans who worked for them. Next door there was a Railways Club which catered to the rest of the Indians - primarily, I think the Gugeratis. We also had a Sikh Union Club and the Sir Ali Muslim Club. The Europeans had their own very exclusive Clubs like the Muthaiga Country Club - the in charge Chefs were all Goans! The Nairobi Club and more. http://www.mcc.co.ke/, The Scots had their own Caledonian Club, the Italians the Juventus Club and the Ismailis had their Mosque! We Goans who migrated to the U.K. were rather fortunate, in that we had Churches already built to accommodate us and Catholic Schools for the children - else we would never have been able to get our act together to build one. One Club with beautiful grounds we had and we couldn't hold on to it, how sad. The man came in on a ticket to take over conditionally, only if the Club House and Grounds were sold; believe it or not...this is for History. You know on reading Albuquerque's book that the Cooks and Butlers also had their own Club - small house called Santa Cruz Club. Tailors and cooks and butlers were excluded from the G.I. never mind the Goan gym. It was later on, when Manelie Fernandes cooked for Princess Elizabeth of England that he was honoured and feted at the G.I.! There is an older generation who know more about this but unfortunately they are not on Goanet - some have gone to rest in peace. Here some links:- http://www.goacom.com/culture/biographies/rgi/rgi.htm http://www.goacom.com/culture/history/timeafrica.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/princesselizabeth/6617.shtml -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
