MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
Vijaykumar DESSAI
CUNCOLIM: Gilem Dias is a blacksmith in his sixties, running a Kamrasal (blacksmith workshop) out of his home in Comba-Paricotto, Cuncolim. Gilem and his brother are keeping the family business alive, an occupation that has been passed down through generations. They repair kitchen tools like adolis, scythes, choppers, fish cutting knives, and even make farming tools like sickles, shovels, plows, axes, etc.
At one point, there were more than 20 blacksmiths working in Cuncolim, getting good jobs from farmers and common people. In fact, Cuncolim's history reveals some interesting episodes. When village heads decided to set up the village, they invited all traditional occupations like kumbhars, messans, cobblers, blacksmiths, kansars, copper utensil makers, chakors, and others. They provided exclusive areas for these traditional occupation families and even provided a piece of agricultural land to sustain them. All these age-old traditional skilled artists were part of the village, and the kamar (blacksmith) was one of the important skilled artisans.
They were known as the farmer’s friend, as they made all the tools farmers used, including horseshoes for bullock carts that were an important mode of transport. In fact, the blacksmith was the main artisan and skilled person who would assemble bullock carts by providing iron rings to the wheels at his workshop. During olden days, there was a great demand for these artisans, and they were making a good income. However, since modernisation and mechanisation came, there has been very little demand for blacksmiths, and most have switched to other professions, except for Gilem. He says, “I know nothing else than this art, so I'm stuck with it.”
Gilem Dias is the only Goenkar blacksmith who is still involved in his ancestral occupation. He says his grandfather, Caitan Dias, and father, Bosteao Dias, taught him this trade. When he was just five years old, he would hammer hard metal, and he hasn't done anything else since. “My children and grandchildren are not interested in this, but I’ll continue doing it till my last breath. I get some jobs repairing kitchen tools or making some other tools, but my family cannot survive on this,” he says.
Gilem still lives in a small house with his family, receiving no support from the government. He belongs to OBC, but none of his children have gotten government jobs because he does not have political pull or patronage. His children are doing small private jobs, and his family is struggling to survive. Unfortunately, the government has failed to recognize and help these real Goenkar artisans. Modern society might have forgotten these artisans and their trade, but they will always be part of history.
