Heartbeatgoa.memories -TIME ERODES MEMORIES: REDISCOVERING THE GOA WE ALL FORGOT By Victor Hugo Gomes

The author is in the process ofsetting up a new museum inBenaulim, called the GoaChitra. It looks at the Goa ofthe yesteryears, and what madeit so different.While collecting the agricultural implements that forms themajor display at Goa Chitra, I realized that Goans werelosing much more than historical artifacts -- they werelosing evidence of their forefather's wise lifestyles.Our heritage, just not our culture, had a system of self-rulecalled the gaunkaris, which is thought to have originated inthe 1st century B.C. These were primarily agrarian societies. The principal role of these local governing bodies was to maintain and upgrade land quality, protect fishing ponds and waterways, and maintain an intricate system of embankments (bunds) that protected reclaimed land known as khazans, from inundation by saline tidal waters.This system produced not only an effective means toadminister the communal lands but developed intricate andecologically sound system of agriculture. It utilised bothfertile and barren lands for the benefit of its people.Farming methods were based on the prevailing season and thequality of the soil. Agricultural activities and techniqueswere adapted to suit the soil, rainfall, level of solarradiation and other elements of nature, a process referred toas gott and loosely translated as photoperiodism.Farming implements were carefully and intelligently developedto suit soil types and with a healthy respect for theenvironment and animals that ensured that the system wassustainable and ecologically sound. Over the years the gaunkari institution went through various phases of transition and its evolution in each phase was dependent on the ruler of that time. But never in our history was this system ever tampered with. During the Portuguese colonization it came to be known as Communidades.Being part of this rich heritage, it saddens me that todaythe Communidade system is completely undermined. Landconversions both illegal and legal have led to largedevelopment projects with scant regard for sustainability andsevere degradation of the eco system. Lesser recognised butequally devastating is the loss of hundreds of years ofaccumulated wisdom in agrarian practices, the rich traditionof implements, tools, arts, crafts and heritage of ourancestors and their sensitivity to the environment.The conception of Goa Chitra -- a museum that is currentlytaking shape in Benaulim -- is based on many dynamics. Oneamongst them is my love for Goa. The other is combating dailycriticism whether my investment has been futile. Whatenergies the project are stories that I encountered while onthis sojourn. Each implement has a tale woven with the fabricof our rich history.FROM THE DHANGAR OF NETURLIOn my many visits to Neturli (Netravali), I encountered animplement with the Dhangar community that looked like asieve. It was beautifully crafted and had seen many years ofwork. It lay in a corner near the Gotli, a fence made fromsticks called Corvam.I was instantly drawn to it. I wanted to acquire it.Following my gaze, the dhangar Baburam, who was proudlydisplaying his herd, seemed reluctant to part with it. Oninquiry I learnt that the cane woven basket was known asDhali that was used to heat Nachni (Millet) during monsoon.It was kept on a wooden frame called Ottu to heat nachnebefore processing. This implement was last used in the early 60's.Dhangars are nomads who travelled and camped near hillyareas. They would clear a 50 to 100 sq mts patch of naturalforest and then burn it on site to provide natural manure.The land was then cultivated, usually with coarse grains likezonlle and nachne (millet), their staple food, for a periodof one to three years. Than it was abandoned and thecultivators moved on to another patch of forest. They would return to cultivate the same area only after a period of 15-20 years, which would give the land sufficient time to regenerate. This is referred to as kumeri farming. Many of the implements they used for such harvest were indigenously designed keeping in mind the land, environment and their animals.Though the Portuguese wanted to stop this practice in Goa,their policy remained largely on paper as no alternativearrangements were made for the rehabilitation of the kumericultivators.Kumeri was banned again after Liberation in 1961 but thegovernment then decided to allow the practice in certainareas of forest because it had no alternative livelihood tooffer the cultivators. In 1964, the government banned kumeri altogether without making any alternative arrangement. The government felt that such farming was a devastation of the environment and they banned it under anti-deforestation law. The government also felt that in order to protect the environment this land would be best given for mining, making a few people very rich and other hopelessly poor. Of course, excavations due to mining would mean that there would be less land to protect!What I saw in Baburam's eyes that day was hope that somedaythe law may get reverted and they would cultivate again. Itravelled back to Neturlim many times before finallyconvincing Baburam to sell me his implement only with apromise that if ever he needed the implement, it would beimmediately returned to him. Incidentally nachne is no longer cultivated in Goa and what is available in the market today comes from outside the state, grown with chemical fertilizers.DATA AND FACTSWhile collecting and later restoring the implements andartifacts on display at Goa Chitra, I realised the need forcollecting data and facts to support my histology as there isa dearth of research on our ancestry.Changes in the Goan economy and society had rendered themobsolete. All this information, knowledge and wisdom of ourancestors were going unrecorded. I was scared of the threatthat these implements were being replaced by things, modernor imported, as being true depiction of Goan material culturefor posterity.So, I consulted elders, some of whom were familiar with someof the implements and had actually seen them being utilised.These trips also helped to widen and complete my collection,especially of farming and household implements. Our ancestors had a keen knowledge of indigenous materials, and were self sufficient using material found in the vicinity of their settlement. Each implement was premeditated keeping in mind suitability of the substance which was environmentally friendly.Most of the ropes used in agriculture have a distinctivefeature of being woven using various natural fibers of treeslike kivann, sutachi/redeachi-anas (wild pineapple) and amedium sized evergreen tree known as komai, kombio or komyo.This tree is found in shade and wet sites near streams in theforest, up to 500 mts in elevation. The trunk is often flutedwith smooth or rough and scaly bark, crown conical withspreading branches and leathery, dark green leaves. Leaveswere used to make rain covers called kondo.The fiber of this tree is soft and cooling and is woven todesign ropes for different tasks; shale used by fruitpluckers, davon used during thrashing, canni used to tiepaddy sheaves, davem and zupni used as a halter andcollar for animals.This craft is almost extinct and I was thrilled when one ofthe Dhangar demonstrated his skill at making ropes with thesenatural fibers. One theory why kombio and not coconut fiber was used to make rope could be, simply unavailability of the coconut tree in these parts; coconut proliferated more along the western coast. Today this fibre has been replaced by coir made from the coconut tree and more recent the invasion of plastic culture, the nylon rope, that has wiped out eco-friendly technology, thanks to hard core promotion by the nylon lobby.While I was gathering pictorial evidence of the kombio treein Sanguem Taluka, I could hear at a distance enchantingmusic that felt very soothing. Some moments in your life areunforgettable; this was one such moment in mine. I followedthe sound and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw.A Dhangar named Zumo Dhaku Varak, in his 80's, was gatheringhis herd playing on something that looked like a hugeup-right flute. It is made from a hollow velu bamboo, havinga reed made from shirat (a small hollowed bamboo branch).The notes have a calming effect on the listener. This instrument is known as konpavo and is indigenously designed to calm aggressive and disturbed animals, or to gather the herd. Today there is a lot of research evidence (Peretti & Kippscludi, 1991) to point that certain pitch and sounds effect animal behavior, something that Dhangars knew a long time ago!It is not just love. This knowledge comes from anunderstanding about animal behavior and their sensoryperception. Dhangars were inventors; they tilled, toiled,lived and loved their land, their flock and their material.Thanks to Zumo Dakhu, the konpavo, davon, cannio, kondo,davem or zupni and shale, are prized pieces on display at GoaChitra. But it is all fast dying. What I saw perhaps, arethe last lucky glimpses of the Dhangar way of life. Today, their mainstay, the cows and buffaloes and goats have depleted in numbers. Their grazing grounds are being either cleared for developments or have been converted into mines. A dear friend who visited us at the museum opined that we should not hope to go back in time instead move to the future. The essence of Goa Chitra is to highlight the wisdom of the ancestors that we have taken for granted. It's not about retreating but using this storehouse of knowledge to answer questions that are of global concerns and leading a healthier lifestyle.ARTIFACTS, NOT ANTIQUESBenaulim's Goa Chitra museum does not contain antiques butartifacts that manifest the social creativity of skilledgroups to contemporary society. Most of the implements at GoaChitra have stories woven around them. These are tales of abygone era. An era when wisdom accumulated over generationswere passed on and evolved. Every skill was a specializationwith trade secrets and respect!For instance, the jaggery implements on display at Goa Chitrahave one such tale:Once on my way to Agonda, I met an interesting personality, a70-plus Amaral Pereira, at one time a much sorted afterjaggery producer. He seemed excited with my project andshared with me valuable information that would otherwise havegone unrecorded like most trade secrets.He would go from ushel (sugarcane plantation) to ushel withhis gano (sugarcane grinder), a bodvonno, a heavy woodenhammer used for installing the gano, and other implementsused for making jaggery. They worked on site till thecompletion of production. Often they would camp on site.They found indigenous methods to cope with various hazards.For instance, when there was no crockery, they would takefresh banana leaves, warm them over a fire, then dig a holein the ground. This pit was layered with these banana leavesand used as a canso (bowl). The pez (rice gruel) or ambil(nachne dish) was eaten from this pit! Jaggery production is a lengthy process. Freshly extracted sugarcane juice is filtered and boiled in a wide cail, a shallow iron pan. It would be continuously stired with a dhai (spatula). Simultaneously soda or bhindi juice is added as required. While boiling, the brownish foam coming on the surface is incessantly removed with a chalno (sieve) to get golden yellow colour of jaggery. After the juice thickens it is poured into a bed called van, a shallow square pit lined with lime and rammed with a wooden bat called a petni.The thick jaggery paste is spread with a small wooden spadecalled pavdi and after sufficient drying, it is cut intosmall blocks with the help of a wooden trowel called athappi. This van was later replaced by small or medium sizediron or aluminum cans where blocks of jaggery are formedafter cooling. Size of the blocks varied from 1 kg. to 12kgs. Finally, these blocks were packed in gunny bags. From100 kgs. of sugarcane, approximately 10 kgs. of jaggery wasproduced.Getting clean golden yellow ushichem godd (sugarcane jaggery)is an art. Since every occupation was a inheritedspecialization, most of the trade secrets were handed overfrom generation to generation. A trade secret developed overyears of working with given material.So what was Amaral's secret? It is not easy for a man whoselivelihood had to be given up for love, to smile so veryoften, but his eyes sparkled as he said, "While boiling thejuice I would drop a couple of sea shells into the pan. Ithelped to draw dirt and brownish foam in one place to make iteasier for scooping."That same year, he lost his wife. An accident before his veryeyes took her away. He quit jaggery production. She was hisgreatest support. The demand for jaggery declined since sugarreplaced it. Simultaneously most sugarcane farmers fell for afalse dream sold to them by the palm oil lobby. Ushels becamepalm oil farms.... Every implement now on display at the Goa Chitra -- gano, bodvonno, cail, dhai, petni, thappi and chalno -- has a tale to tell. I saw myriad memories in the tears which trickled down Amaral's face while parting with those implements. I promised him that I would keep his implements and his vast knowledge for posterity as a testimony to the agonies and ecstasies of the simple jaggery producer from Goa.THE HOWS OF COCONUT FENIThe sap is extracted and collected by a tapper. Typically thesap is collected from the cut flower of the palm tree. Acontainer is fastened to the flower stump to collect the sap. Palm toddy also forms the base for a drink popular in Goa, known as Goan Feni. In Goa, toddy (sur), the sap of the coconut tree spadix, is distilled into liquor, made into vinegar or used for making jaggery. One coconut tree yields about 432 litres of toddy a year, and collecting it was the chief occupation of the Bhandaris, Komarpaik and toddy tapper (rendeir) communities.Tapping toddy involves various stages and implements. The sapof the coconut palm is collected in an earthenware pot calledzamono or damonem, which is fitted over the spadix (poi) thatgrows out of the base of each coconut leaf. In order toproduce toddy, the spadix is tightly bound with a rope(gofe/gophe) made from filaments (vaie) cut with a smallknife (piskathi) from the base of the leaf, while remainingattached to the pedicle.The spadix must then be tapped all around very gently withthe handle of the kathi (a flat semi-circular sickle) everyalternate day, until it becomes round and flexible, a signthat the sap is ready. The tip of the spadix is then cut offto let the sap ooze out into the damonem.Toddy is collected from the damonem in the morning andevening and carried down the tree in a gourd-shaped containercalled dudhinem, before being poured into a clay pot called kollso.The spadix is sharpened at noon by slicing a small piecehorizontally off the top, called cheu, so as to reactivatethe flow of sap.Incidentally, the kathi was sharpened on a plank (follem) oferound wood with marble powder. My collection of toddy-tapping and distillation implements was incomplete since I had trouble tracing a dudhinem, also called dudhkem.Originally made from a konkan dudhi (sponge gourd), like somany other implements over the years it has disappeared andbeen replaced by containers made from non-biodegradable plastic!I grew up in the neighbourhood of many toddy tappers but mysearch for an original dudhinem took me far from home and allalong coastal Goa, once the habitat of toddy tappers. No one had preserved a dudhinem nor knew how to make one. This bothered me because it meant that we had lost yet another piece of traditional knowledge. I was finally lucky enough to not only acquire a dudhinem but also find out how they were made, thanks to an accidental encounter with Baba, a farmer in Sanguem.I met Baba while documenting a metal-smith's tools inSanguem, a taluka where many toddy tappers had settled fromCanacona specially Agonda. Agonda is known for the bestquality of distillation of palm feni or madel.When Baba showed up to have his plough repaired I asked himabout possibly finding a dudhinem in the area, and he told meof his experience years ago while ploughing his fields."Very often," he said, "my plough would get stuck in gourdsthat were buried in the fields." By chance I had stumbledupon a trade secret! In the olden days you could tell a toddytapper's house by the dudhi creeper growing over the roof oron matov, a bamboo framework.It seems that once the dudhi had matured and dried, they wereburied in the fields till the inner flesh rotted away andonly a hard shell remained -- and this was used as thereceptacle for toddy.--This is part of a series that the author has been writing forthe Weekender/Gomantak Times each Sunday.THE WRITER, Victor Hugo Gomes, can be contacted at House No.498 Pulwaddo, Benaulim Salcete, Goa 403716 M: +91 9850466165 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 9850466165 end_of_the_skype_highlightingP: +91-832-6570877 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91-832-6570877 end_of_the_skype_highlighting victor.h.gomes@hotmail.com