Dear goanet readers Although history was not my favourite subject at school, recollection from photographic memory is that civilisation began on the banks of the River Tigris and River Euphrates. At the Oral Histories Project of British Goans at the Nehru Centre in London which ends this Friday there is a photograph of the humble Arab dhow (Karachi) which plied the trading routes from Karachi and Bombay to Zanzibar, an island off the East African coast.
The word POSH comes from the shipping route from England to India it stands for Port side Out Starboard Home. It was fashionable at the time for the British to employ or loan cooks and ayahs (housemaids) who were mainly known as Goanese. These people in turn looked down upon our people coming from Goa but later went on to East Africa and employed cooks and ayahs from the local African population.. Our rugged men took their potlos and without travel insurance traveled from Goa to Bombay where they were unwelcome by our people forcing them to seek opportunities elsewhere one of them being sailing on Arab Dhows to Zanzibar where it appears a small Goan colony was formed and those who were in dispute with the Portuguese authorities were imprisoned. From here word had it that opportunities were opening up in German Tanganyika and British East Africa and hence the onward journey to these lands where some lost their lives with the hostile Khapri spear which was more effective than the Goan khoitos used for plucking coconuts. The project reminded me of a Roman archaeological dig in the early 1970s in London where the layers of soil were a bit like bebic with each shade of colour covering a period in time. What is fascinating is our people resemble the humble clay pot that for generations cooked our dishes over a wooden fire and got covered in layers of soot. This project team have now jet washed the soot of the pot to reveal the original design, texture and fabric of our society - a once perfect claypot. Today's Goan generation tend to make cracks in the claypot just for the hell of it. What is the cause of this behaviour? There was a "Filling in the Cracks" claypot session organised by the learned young London Goans recently - perhaps through goanet the organisers can share their report and enlighten us as to what has been achieved since then. Perhaps modern day educators may consider adding ancient Goan in addition to ancient Greek as a subject for further study. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 12 June 2013
