What an amusing subject which brings back so many memories of my childhood days in Goa. I don't think my brothers and I ever escaped the DISTH ritual on our annual holidays in Goa. To us, it was a bit of fun. Whenever we complained of 'suddenly" feeling unwell,the immediate diagnosis of our elders was "this MUST be disht - the evil eye of so and so". My brothers and I couldn't help giggling during the 'ritual' as the rubbing of the chillies against our bodies left us with a ticklish feeling. Not everyone seemed 'qualified' to perform this ritual. There were those among our villagers whose hands were more effective or, as the Konkani expression went, "Taso ath patha""(pardon me if I've got this wrong, but this how I remember it, phonetically speaking!). I had my DISHT "taken out" with plump chillies(oh, what a waste I think now!) and salt, alum and, if I remember rightly, a wettish paste made with some leaves, which were then sprinkled on your face! Be interesting to hear what other goanetters have been through.
Mervyn Maciel -- Mervyn * * * How were the 1950s, East African Goans and British Overseas Citizenship linked? Which Kenyan-Goan was one of the world fastest sprinters in the 1960s? What did the 1878 London-Lisbon treaty mean to Goa? Find your answers in Selma Carvalho's *Into the Goan Diaspora Wilderness*. Buy from Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph +91-9822488564] Price (in Goa only) Rs 295. http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ * * *
