Title: Who the bleep cares about Africans in Goa? By: Selma Carvalho Source, with photo : Goan Voice Daily Newsletter 6 Feb. 2011 at www.goanvoice.org.uk
The most amazing stories come from the quiet of Goan villages. In the silence that falls between night and dawn, trail stories from the lips of grandparents which would rival those of noteworthy fiction writers. Had I not been told this story by Mervyn Maciel, long known to me for his adventurous life as a young District Clerk in the interiors of Kenya, I would have said it was straight from the fictional pages of a Margaret Mascarenhas novel. Sometime during the 1920s, Mervyns paternal uncle in Mozambique adopted a young African girl, Marie. In those days, the role of a posken was not necessarily to become that longed for child; it was more of a charitable act towards an abandoned child, whose status in the household would hover rather painfully, between that of a servant and a poor relative. She would be expected to help with chores, take care of the young and the elderly and, in return she would be fed and housed. Marie was soon taken to Salvador do Mundo, Goa, where her prime responsibility was looking after Mervyns grandmother. Marie was possibly eight at the time; of Mozambique she remembers little, save for her Portuguese. But in Goa, she quickly learnt Konkani and assimilated into her new surroundings. She grew up every bit the Goan. Poskens were neither educated nor were they expected to marry. There was a certain stigma attached to being a posken, and marriage proposals for such adopted children were indeed rare. Marie, as per convention, was expected to spend the rest of her life in the Maciel household. But inside the heart of a woman, resides the need to love, and Marie became pregnant with the child of a Goan neighbour. Goan society might have been conservative in these affairs, but it has always been a conservatism tinged with compassion and humanity. Maries son too was raised in the Maciel household. Goa is no stranger to Africans. By the 17th century, the markets of the old city near Ponda did a brisk trade in African slaves. The Portuguese were notorious slave-traders, and with the coming of the Portuguese to Goa, came the slave-trade. Many households and even religious institutions kept slaves. The Monastery of Santa Monica, for instance, had about 30 African servants and slaves. The recently released book, Beyond the Beach: the village of Arossim (2011, Goa, 1556) by Dr Themistocles DSilva reveals some fascinating insights into the lives of slaves in the quiet village of Arossim, south of the Zuari river. His research into parish archives revealed a number of slaves or household servants living in the village. Vicente (cafre) 25 years, Quitera (negra) 35 years, Alexandre (cafre) 40 years are just some of the names that appear on the Registry of Death. Many of these Africans died young, not surprising when one reads of the atrocities they endured. As a youth, Dr DSilva had often heard stories of the mysterious night sightings of rising and disappearing heads in the ponds. These sighting which were thought to be ghostly encounters were in fact, slaves who deprived of food would dive into the ponds using a hollow stalk as a snorkel, to catch fish. Slaves often fled to villages in Karnataka, where pockets of their descendants still live, having taken on the name Siddi to identify their community. But it isnt just in death their lives are recorded but also in birth. Baptism registers record the names of their children. Most of these were illegitimate as the names of the fathers do not appear. One of the interesting stories, Dr DSilva tells of, is an African named João, who along with his wife and son lived on the periphery of the village, and was thought to possess occult powers. His services were sought often by Goans, who wished to rid themselves of the much dreaded evil eye or disthi. João had skilfully combined some indigenous practices with those from Africa. Perhaps, when we weave every strand of what it is to be human, whatever our colour, whatever our status in life, whatever the creed we believe in, there are only three things that have meaning; the desire to live with dignity, the desire to procreate and the desire to believe in and propitiate a God. Photo at www.goanvoice.org.uk - Daily Newsletter, 6 Feb. 2011. ----------- For UK residents (only). Your chance to win a copy of Modern Goan Literature (ed. Peter Nazareth) - For those who love literary stories from Goan authors this is a unique compilation of stories with a forward by editor Peter Nazareth. Buy a copy of Into The Diaspora Wilderness anytime between now and 30th March, 2011 and your name will be automatically put in the draw. Do leave your feedback at [email protected]
