Are Posquems not Slaves?

[bmenezes bmenezes]

Re: Recent comments on "Possquems", I though some GBC members may find this interesting reading:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/?utm_source=fbb

cheers

Braz

www.matatabooks.com

[Braz Menezes]

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[augusto pinto]

Dear Braz:

Here is a poem written by Joseph Furtado about posquems.

THE PRESENTATION

THERE’S the child, dear Mother, near

He comes not, lest Thou chide him;

He loves Thee all the same,

And gladly left off play

And came here all the way:

Poor boy, and none to guide him,

None to shelter; but do Thou

A little corner give him:

A child with gentle ways

He will not trouble Thee,

And naught will trouble me,

Dear Mother, when I leave him.

The scene that Furtado poignantly describes is one where the mother of a posko delivers her child to 'slavery' to a bhatkarn. Slavery is horrible but the choice was one where the option was starvation.

This problem is not something of the past: today too, child labour is a type of delivery by parents of their children to a sort of slavery.

Morally this is a problem, there's no doubt about it. But why should we care about such problems? And even if we cared about such problems as Furtado and no doubt you do, how can we in any effective away approach the issue? Just raising it does not solve anything apart from being a salve to the conscience of those who raise it.

Augusto

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[Mervyn Maciel]

Very interesting article, Braz.

As one whose family did also have

a 'Posquem' - an African from Mocambique,

who was well treated, I still feel a sense

of 'guilt' that we didn't have her educated

or married off - even though I wasn't the one

who brought her out to Goa from her African

homeland!

Mervyn

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[Wency Mendes]

Hello,

Saw this post and thank you for the share.

Want to share a project that also does look at these issues of colonialism within an Indian framework.

It is called Un-Fair.

Currently it is available through a FaceBook Identity as 'Un-Fair Web'; based on a premise of 'echo chambers' and the resonance they may now effect.

https://www.facebook.com/unfair.web.1

Do have a look and would appreciate your feedback.

Also appreciate all posts, shares and interactions on its TimeLine Wall.

Un-Fair looks a the interconnectedness of stories between Skin, Colour, Race and Caste.

Thank you

Wency Mendes

+919811424363

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[Frederick FN Noronha * फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎]

Goan society has long had a less than enlightened (to put it mildly) attitude towards diverse sections of society, specially those weaker than the rest.

This has been true of PoAC (people of another caste), PoAR (people of another religion), people with different dietary habits, people of a different gender, people of a different class (or even skin-colour or race or sexual orientation). Charles Camara's work of many years on the Siddhis of the nearby jungles of Karnataka is a case in point; I only wish it would somehow get completed and published.

In my view, caste is also another name for race ... so we are all racialists in a manner of speaking.

The other intolerances we've seen are in landlord-tenant relationships, exclusion based on language or dialect, and a whole set of others.

Bias and discrimination against the adopted is also a fact. In fact, adopted members of the family were not taken in as 'children', but rather as a cheap form of unpaid labour in the home. They were seldom educated, and always carried a stigma.

In some parts of Goa, where wealthy landed families had a policy of not allowing (or discouraging) some of the male sons from getting married (to avoid a split up of the family wealth), it was assumed that some of the 'adopted' children might actually be the illegitimate sons or daughters of the unmarried family members due to liaisons with the maids working at their homes. I think Orlando da Costa hints at some such relationships when he sets his work amidst the bhatcar class of South Goa.

Over time, attitudes towards adopted children has been changing. Some of my relations had adopted a young girl, got her educated at St Mary's Convent in Mapusa (the best available in the locality then), and finally got her married in a European country.

Our friends in Saligao have also adopted a couple of children, who know about their background, and have brought them up better than the average family would bring up their own children.

Before we hastily conclude that everything was negative in the bad old days (or the other extreme), we need to keep in mind that while some of the injustices of the past have diminished since, there are new forms of injustices being built in our moving-into-capitalism society even as we move out of semi-feudal times.

Frederick.

9822122436

On 17 May 2017 at 18:30, bmenezes bmenezes <bmen...@sympatico.ca> wrote:

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[Wency Mendes]

Dear Fredrick, 

I am glad you speak about the 'Siddhi' community, as I have personally traced a migration of sorts from Gujarat to Hyderabad via Karnataka.

Would be awesome if I could connect with Charles Camara. 

My number is +919811424363

On Un-Fair Web on Facebook one will also find a large group from the community as friends.

Thanks

Wency

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[Frederick FN Noronha * फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎]

Dear Wency,

Charles Camara (for those wondering) was a young scholar studying tourism in Goa, till he encountered the Siddhis in the nearby jungles of Karnataka (to where their ancestors had fled, I think), and got fascinated by then. We would meet up often, and he would offer me insights while I would (when possible) share clippings, which I did quite actively in those days.

Charles is cc'd in this address. I hope that's his correct address, and that I've recalled the 'facts' right.

If not mistaken, Charles' family has a Margao connection, though he has been based in Sweden for long. 

Here is a link to some of Charles' work:

http://www.missioncouncil.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/TEED.pdf

More recently, Charles has been working with Caritas-Sweden:

http://www.caritasgalle.org/events/103-mr-henk-from-holland-and-mr-charles-camara-from-the-diocese-of-stockholm-sweden-visited-caritas-sed-galle

Hope this is helpful.

Frederick

9822122436

On 18 May 2017 at 11:55, Wency Mendes <wency....@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Fredrick, 

I am glad you speak about the 'Siddhi' community, as I have personally traced a migration of sorts from Gujarat to Hyderabad via Karnataka.

Would be awesome if I could connect with Charles Camara. 

My number is +919811424363

On Un-Fair Web on Facebook one will also find a large group from the community as friends.

Thanks

Wency

[Cliff Pereira]

Dear Frederick and Wency

A lot has been written on the subject of Africans in Asia, including Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat and other parts of India. Those of you who no me, will know that I was behind the scenes of the 2006 Goa Conference on Africans in Asia. A lot has also been written about the siddhis both as communities of Afro-Indians and as a labour force for various navies.  Here are some references:

https://books.google.com.hk/books/about/TADIA_the_African_Diaspora_in_Asia.html?id=OHLjPgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y 

https://books.google.com.hk/books/about/Uncovering_the_History_of_Africans_in_As.html?id=owYXAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y

Uncovering the History of Africans in Asia books.google.com.hk The presence of Africans in Asia has been overshadowed by the tragedy of Atlantic slavery. Identifying Africans in Asia therefore challenges contemporary scholarship. Within this context, the processes of assimilation and marginalisation hinder identification of African migrants. This book demonstrates the multiplicity of roles performed by Africans and the heights that a few of them reached, even in a single generation. Drawing on a variety of sources, both oral and documented, this book reveals the extent of the African presence in Asia.

https://www.amazon.com/African-Identity-Asia-Shihan-Jayasuriya/dp/1558764712
https://www.amazon.com/African-Elites-India-Habshi-Amarat/dp/1890206970
http://soumbala.com/revues-et-periodiques-africains/cahiers-des-anneaux-de-la-memoire/de-l-afrique-a-l-extreme-orient.html

These are just some that come to mind, there is even a new book on Africans in Iran by Behnaz Mirza! Additionally there are some works on-line on the Siddhis in the maritime occupations:

http://www.qdl.qa/en/between-freedom-and-slavery-employment-runaway-slaves-indian-navy

Between Freedom and Slavery: The Employment of Runaway ... www.qdl.qa Former slaves employed in the Indian Navy’s crews in the mid-19th century often exploited the itinerant existence of naval vessels to escape servitude.

Kind regards

Clifford Pereira

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From: goa-bo...@googlegroups.com <goa-bo...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Wency Mendes <wency....@gmail.com>
Sent: May 18, 2017 7:25 AM
To: goa-bo...@googlegroups.com
Cc: B MENEZES; Charles Camara
Subject: Re: [GOABOOKCLUB] Re: Are Posquems not Slaves?

 

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[Wency Mendes]

Thank you Fredrick,

Super awesome. 

Hi Charles am going through the links and do hope to connect with you soon.

Warm regards

Wency

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