The poder came honking early evening with his poyees,
undos, his routine through the lanes of Fontainhas. He did speak broken Konkani
and was most comfortable in hindi with a bihari twang. Most of Fontainhas’
traditional inhabitants, who think and converse in Portuguese and now English,
are getting used to a hindi speaking poder from a land extremely alien-
Jharkhand
In the evening at
the main little square which leads into other by-lanes of Sao Tome and Fontainhas,
enroute to Mala, a group of poders on a cycle display their Goan breads with
the bangle shaped kankonns, showcased prominently. They speak hindi with a
bihari dialect too. We will soon have a kannada or even bihari speaking toddy
tapper or coconut plucker and perhaps someone enterprising may even come up
with a app on which you can book your renders and paddekars or padellis (women
coconut pluckers some of whom have undergone formal training) on app .
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When these changes
reach the bylanes of Fontainhas, a change is accepted as inevitable with signs
of the times available in small bakeries, and restaurants in this Latin
quarter. The other day, during a weekend amble to Confeitaria 31 January Road,
originally called and still is, a Cotre De OiterioRua 31 de Janeiro Cortin
Panaji, to pick up some breads cakes and more, and have a conversation, yours
truly found the place very quiet with a few folks resting in the afternoon.
When one gingerly asked is anyone was around, pat came the reply “Kya mangtahain”.
The rest of India had truly entered and settled here.
The beauty of these
invasions, intrusions or assimilations is the willful acceptance of the influx.
From our coconut palms to our paddy fields, you hear a different dialect and
see folks who do not belong to our land, in professions which were so Goan.
Cut to Assagao, the
nerve centre of the Goan vibe, imbibed and orchestrated by non-Goans. From
restaurants to cafes, to theatre groups to clothes and artifact stores, coffee
and conversations are all over the Goan way of life espoused by non-Goans. From
filmmakers to painters, to writers and poets, to fashionistas to responsible
fashion divas are living the Goa life with many of them running cafes, bakeries
and other places, in turn drawing people from all over India to soak in the Goa
vibe.
Therefore even as
the World Goa day is celebrated across different days around this time the
world over, Goan-ness is now a sum of all things Goan, with more than a fair
share of non-Goans who have made all things Goan. And probably one of the
finest ripostes against the insider vs outsider brigade, are the success
stories spanning from the poder from Jharkhand at Fontainhas, to the lady from
Delhi whose café in Assagao is drawing huge numbers.
Here’s another
thought. When a trainload of migrants alight at Tivim or busloads of migrants
arrive fromMargao to Verna, after getting off from a train coming from Karwar
or Hubli, they are joining a workforce need by Goa. They are not necessarily
taking jobs from Goans. They are in the factories and in your fields and in
your bakeries because you are not there. And those of you who still remain in
Goa, you need your bread and cakes, your factories still have to run and your
cafes still need to cater to tourists.
But to the delight
of many of us, some things and some villages do not change. My little Loutolim
for instance. From the patrao at Marlett bar, to Gundu at his grocery store,
the sausage and vegetable seller, all have served Loutolim. Loutolim and his
characters remain ensconced and evergreen, with few outsiders intruding.
Early on Saturday
morning, the ‘world famous in Loutolim’, Valentino, sat outside Raju’s shop
near the church in a haze, a condition normally achieved after consuming
copious quantities of interesting liquids.
He became a cult figure after once bitten by a cobra, he brought the
cobra to Marlett bar. Valentino is hale and hearty, but we do not quite now
about the cobra.
The moral of the story is this. Yes let the
outsider come in to do what Goans no longer want to, but to retain the
character of Goa’s villages, you still need the real characters. Viva Goa
