GOAN SURNAMES: By Valmiki Faleiro.

GOAN SURNAMES
By Valmiki Faleiro

Let’s take the topic in two parts: Catholic and Hindu surnames. Catholic surnames
are rooted in the Iberian Peninsula. Because they came from European priests, who
baptized Goa’s first converts.

Iberian surnames are, among other things, after animals, birds, fruits and trees. Like
Cordeiro (lamb), Coelho (rabbit), Leitao (suckling pig), Lobato/Lobo/Lopes (wolf),
Raposo (fox), Aguiar (eagle), Melo (blackbird), Peregrino (vulture), Pinto (chick),
Castanha (chestnut), Figueira (fig), Moreira (mulberry), Nogueira (walnut), Oliveira
(olive), Albuquerque (white oak), Carvalho (oak), Lemos (elm), Pinheiro/Pinho (pine),
Silvano (wood), Silva/Silveira (one from the woods.)

Freedom fighter PP Shirodkar (Sr.) derided such foreign surnames. Prompt was a
riposte from Jose Fernandes of Siolim: "What’s wrong with Carvalho, Pinho, etc. in a
land that has Mensenkai (chilli), Iruli (onion), Zirulli (cockroach) as surnames? These
plants/insects are not Indian either. Is a Bhandari without ‘bhanddar’ (wealth) or a
Jagirdar (landlord) without land any more relevant than a Pinto in the casuarinas?"

Aren’t our homegrown surnames like Ambe (mango), Bhende (ladyfinger), Kande
(onion), Kelekar (bananas), Kunde (bran), Maad (coconut), Sakhardande (sugarcane),
Ghode (horse), Kir (parrot), Kolo (fox), Wagh (tiger) just as endearing? These are in
Konknni. Catholic ones are in Portuguese. Naturally, because they arrived only after
the Portuguese did.

Catholic surnames, from Fernandes to Souza, are – touchstone – egalitarian. Across
social divides. A Fernandes or Souza could be a converted Hindu Brahmin or one from
the lowest in the social pecking order. Regardless of undercurrents below the veneer.
Hindu ones, on the other hand, are based on caste/occupation. Naturally again,
because the caste system is a Hindu phenomenon.

Another feature in many Catholic family names is double (even triple) surnames ...
Barreto Xavier, Correia Afonso, Peres da Costa, Peres da Silva, Santana Silva. There
are several explanations. The ‘Santana,’ for instance, is after the presiding deity of the
Tiswadi village where the family originated. Some families in Margao use ‘Piedade’ as
a twin surname. In honour of Our Lady of Piety, whose chapel stands atop the Monte.
The commonest cause of double surnames, though, was when a live-in son-in-law
(‘ghor-zanvuim’) was brought into a household with no male heir.

Take the Correia Afonso case. In one generation, there were only two ‘Correia’ girls.
The elder, Adelia, married a Mesquita from Cortalim (whence I maternally descend.)
The other, Propercia, married an ‘Afonso’ from Divar – a resident son-in-law of the
Correias of Benaulim. ‘Correia’ became ‘Correia Afonso.’

Chandor’s Braganca family, with that huge mansion at the church square, had three
daughters. One married Dr. Ligorio Cunha from Cuelim-Cansaulim. The surname
mutated to ‘Braganza da Cunha,’ to which was born Tristao Braganza da Cunha.
Suitors were found for the other two daughters. As the house was easily divisible into
two units, both suitors would be resident sons-in-law.

One, a Menezes, must have been a docile man. He agreed to a combined surname
with precedence to the wife’s surname... ‘Menezes de Braganza.’ To this family was
born the great Luis Menezes de Braganza. The second suitor, from Utorda, was no
pushover. He agreed to an adjunct of surnames, but with his own taking precedence…
‘Braganza Pereira.’ To this was born the equally famous A.B. Braganza Pereira –
whose early 20th century work has been recently translated and re-published.
If 16th/17th century European missionaries gave their own surnames to converts,
converted Goan landlords, in turn, thrust their surnames on caretakers of their crops
and orchards. That is how Iberian surnames completed the circle of Goan Catholic
family names across social divides … with a delightful mélange of animals, birds,
fruits, insects, trees!

A bit more on my own surname. My learned Lisbon friend, Antonio Palinha Machado
thinks ‘Faleiro’ smacks of an occupation (related to grain grinding/windmills?) The first
Faleiros in Portuguese history were brothers Rui and Francisco, born in Covilha, in
Portugal's hinterland, circa the XV century. They served kings Joao-II and Manuel-I.
They were leading cosmographers and mathematicians.

Rui Faleiro cracked major breakthroughs with the Arab sextant. Latitude could finally
be measured accurately and longitude could be estimated. Rui was the man behind
Fernao de Magalhaes’ circumnavigation trip, but developed cold feet at eleventh hour,
was convicted of high treason (sailing know-how was top secret), and exiled to Spain.
He died in Seville. Some of his family migrated overseas.

Locally, three clans from Benaulim’s original 12 ‘Vangors’ were Faleiros (‘Zeitol’ in the
local ‘gampny bhaxa.’) Could these, with some Clementes (who definitely comprise the
ninth extant ‘Vangor’ of Benaulim), Coutinhos and Moraes (from the eleventh ‘Vangor’
of Margao Comunidade) have shifted from Benaulim to Margao in ancient times? One
will never know. What one knows is that one Margao ‘gavnkar,’ Moraes, resettled in
Benaulim during the Portuguese era. Coincidence? (ENDS.)

The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column.

Awards to Indian Students in Kuwait

Awards to Indian Students in Kuwait

I take this opportunity to congratulate the Indian students and their parents in Kuwait who have been bestowed with the highest recognition by way of cash awards, gold, silver and bronze medals given the Association of Indian Profressionals (AIP)-Kuwait Times. On behalf of the Goan community I thank AIP and Kuwait Times for their contribution and support to Indian students studying/who have studied in Kuwait. The list of awardees was indeed impressive and include the following: Class XII Science Stream Gold/Silver Medals: Gold : Coral Winona Pais – Carmel School, Silver : Shreedhar Anant Hardikar – Carmel School. Class XII Commerce Stream Gold/Silver Medals: Gold : Ajay Abraham – UIS, Silver: Fatema Salehhussain – UIS, Class X Hindi Stream Gold/Silver Medals: Gold : Esha Uboweja – FAIPS (DPS), Silver : Maria Antony K – ICS, Class X French Stream Gold/Silver Medals: Gold : Arifa Alam – FAIPS (DPS), Silver : Akilla Srikrishna – FAIPS (DPS) and Revati Suresh - FAIPS (DPS), 100% marks (class XII) Silver Medals: Sultana Mahfuz – Computer Science – FAIPS(DPS), 100% marks (class X) Silver Medals: Suresh Muthukumar – (Maths) – Carmel, Akilla Srikrishna – (maths) – FAIPS(DPS), Pritha Hait – (Maths) – FAIPS (DPS), Deepak Dhanavel Kumar - (Maths) – FAIPS (DPS), Ankit Agarwal - (Maths) – FAIPS (DPS), Arundhuti Mahato - (Maths) – FAIPS (DPS), Prashanth Krishnan - (Maths) – FAIPS (DPS), Madhavapeddi Siddharth - (Maths) – FAIPS (DPS), Esha Uboweja – (Soc. St.) – FAIPS(DPS), Jaimee Jacob Palakeel – (Maths) – ICSK, Emil Joseph - (Maths) – Indian English Academy (Don Bosco), Angela Maria Pallickal – (Maths) – GIS, Evelyn Paulose – (Maths) – GIS, Ashwathi V. Anil – (Maths) – GIS, Anjali Anna Thomas – (Maths) – UIS, Thomas Jebi – (Maths) – UIS, Rajagopalan Chadramouli – (Maths) – UIS, Sakina Hasan – (Maths) - IPS, Maria Antony K – (Maths) – ICS, Muhammed Jezin – (Maths) – ICS, Shyama Aziz – (Maths) - ICS, 90% Aggregate or Above( Class XII ) - Bronze Medals: FAIPS (DPS) - Radha Kura (92.4), Sultana Mahfuz (90.8), Tulika Gupta (90.0), GIS - Mekha Kadavileveetil Mathew (92.0), Sana Sabir Damani (90.2), Carmel School - Muriel Belinda Mascarenhas (93.4), Christabelle Careen Santos (93.2), Varghese Rosh Pyyampallil (93.2), Juby Joseph Ninan (91.8), Shobek Sam Attupurath (90), Devyani Upadhyay (90), ICSK - Rasika Sanjay Jangle (92.4), Pinto Sonal (92), Challawal Abdulqadir (91.4), Feba Thomas (90.8), Narayan Parasuram (90.4), Juhi Elizabeth Cyriac (90), Vasist Nikita (90.8), Gemita Thankam George (90.4) - ICS: Annie Verghese (91.8), UIS: Vilma John Thomas (91), 90% Aggregate or Above( Class X) Bronze Medals: FAIPS (DPS) - Arifa Alam (95.6), Mahjabeen Ahmed Khan (95), Anita Narayana Bhat (94.6), Deepak Dhanavel Kumar (94.4), Sara Mathew (92.6), Tasneem Ashraf (92.6), Ankit Agarwal (92.6), Arubdhuti Mahato (92.2), Sanjana Veerarajan (91.6), Prashanth Krishnan (91.2), Pranay Mehta (90.6), Dipika Dinesh (90.4), Divya Susan Thomas (90), Sana Ahmad (90), Krit Dwivedi (90); GIS - Angela Maria Pallickal (95.2), Shilpa Rajeev (95), Shilpa Susan Mathew (94.2), Evelyn Paulose (93), Sharanya Ramakrishnan (92.6), Anusha Sevgoor Kamath (91), Akash Goel (90.4), Ashwanthi V.Anil (90.4), Joel Mathew Thomas (90.4), Sagar Sabir Damani (90.2), Indian English Academy School: Kriti Gupta (92), Fawad Shafik Dalwal (91.8), Dev Agarwal (91), Carmel School - Aishwaraya Ramesh (92.6), Eleanore Evelyn Dias (92.2), Fancine Enrica Mascarenhas (92.2), Murtaza Saifuddin Kagzi (92), Dylon Bosco Fernandes (91.8), Suresh Muthukumar (91.8), Tishana Elizabeth John (91.2), Nandita Mariam Jacob (91), Ramola Helena lewis (91), Rachel Romana Silveira (90.4), ICSK: Khadija Mustaq Dalvi (92), Alina Helen (91.4), Fatema Jiwaali (90.2), Abdul Hussain (90.2), Andaleeb Fazal Girkar (90), Marin Mariyam Mathew (95.2), Sharon Grace Philip (92.6), Jaimee Jacob Palakeel (92), Afdal Mohd. Basheer (91.8), Lakshmi Velayudhan Nair (91.6), Sabrina George Thomas (91.2), Paul Verghese Perumatthil (91.2), Deepthy Mariyam George (90.8), Edoly Kandy Amina Abdurazak (90.6), Neeba T. Abraham (90.4), UIS - Akhil Thomas Jacob (92.6), Anjali Anna Thomas (92), Nivedita George (91.2), Sherin Anna Kurian (90.2), Sherin Rose Francis (90), IPS - Sahsha D'melo (91), Sakina (90.6), Indian Central School - Sifat Billah Chowdhery (91.8), Amal Mahmood (91.4), Shyama Aziz (91), Tasneem (90.4)

Among the Goans students who excelled and were bestowed with the highest recognition in the midst of hundreds of attendees at the well organized 'Award Nite' on last Friday is Miss. Christabelle Careen Santos (who scored 93.2% marks) and who is the only Goan to achieve this position from the Carmel School, Kheitan. Knowing her parents, Carmo & Carrie Santos, I do have this great honour to congratulate both of them.

The ceremony held to honor Class XII and Class X Indian students at the Indian Community School in Salmiya and scores of students, parents, principals from various Indian schools attended the event at the Indian Community School premises was well organized.

Incidentally a not-so-much advertised Awards ceremony of less than 5 minutes was organized by Kala Mogui Kuwait on behalf of Goan Welfare Society (GWS) during the Gulab Carol Singing Competition and hardly a few heads were present. To say the least not a single student was present and only the GWS committee members except for one parent received the awards! GWS has collected so much funds and it is hard to believe that they cannot even organize a Christmas Tree, Goa Day or a Awards ceremony on their own. The so-called committee members are just all talk and cannot do the 'walk' for anything worthy of calling a community activity. I question the mindset of the committee and also the award donors, Mr. & Mrs. Sam Alphonso, why was the topmost Goan student left out of the awards and that too the daughter of GWS ex-president, Carmo Santos?

Is it the usual crab mentality of the GWS committee members? Goans in Kuwait and members of GWS, think about this fiasco! Is this a way to celebrate the joyous occasion of Christmas by organizing such a disastrous 5 minute award ceremony? Is this the Goan hospitality that the committee members of GWS wish to portray to the Indians and residents of Kuwait. What is the use of the funds that have been accumulated through the hard work of the past members which runs into thousands of Kuwaiti Dinars. By the way, what about the money collected in the past 3 years in the name of GWS awards from the donors? Why is it not announced yet? Who pocketed the funds? Goans wish to have some answers and corrective measures to be taken immediately before the situation gets out of hand and the money collected going down the drain?

Once again congratulations to the AIP and my favourite Kuwait Times publication and its publisher and editor and to the students and parents and the school adminstrators. In the name of the Goan community, I wish each and everyone a happy new year 2009.

(Name withheld on request)

47 YEARS OF BHARATI RULE IN GOA.

47 YEARS OF BHARATI RULE IN GOA.

On 19th of this month Goa marked the 47th anniversary of its liberation. The word liberation is a misnomer. The correct word should be the “CONQUEST” because according to the landmark judgment delivered by the highest court of India – The Supreme Court – on 19th December 1961 Goa was not liberated from the Portuguese but “Conquered” by Bharat from the Portuguese. Still to go one step further, a highly intellectual son of Goa, Fr. Philip Neri Mendonca, the then Principal of St. Joseph’s High School Arpora, Bardez, in his capacity as a layman and not as a Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India, stated that “on 19th December 1961, Goa was invaded by Bharat and was not liberated”. Bangladesh was liberated by Bharat and given to the sons and daughters of Bangladesh while Goa was not. Instead Goa was conquered and annexed to Bharat just as what Saddam Hussein did for Kuwait on 2nd August 1990 and annexed it to Iraq. Some Goan elders 47 years back said that Goa was “Robbed” from Goans by Nehru’s Bharat. Even some freedom fighters in Goa felt that Bharat should not have annexed Goa to it. And when I queried one of them further, he said that “WE AS FREEDOM FIGHTERS FROM GOA, ONLY WANTED ASSISTANCE FROM BHARAT TO GET RID OF PORTUGUESE FROM GOA INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST PORTUGUESE RULE IN GOA BUT NEVER TO LEGALISE GOA ILLEGALLY AS PART OF INDIA”.

What would be the fate of Goa if Bharat on 19th December 1961 had not to intervene millitarily in Goa leaving it as it was? Heaven would not fall. On the contrary it would have been a big blessing and booster for Goa and real Goans. A decade after Goa was annexed to Bharat by force, Slazarist regime lost power in Portugal and all its African colonies got independence on silver platter. In the same manner Goa would also get independence for Goans to decide their fate and future for the good of Goans and Goa. Goa had great sons and daughters then to guide and decide its destiny and they would rule Goa in a best possible way of course to the satisfaction of all Goans and not to the satisfaction of all the “Chor” and “Crimidor Ghanttis” and Ghanttised Goans.

The last Governador of Goa, Vassalo e Silva was a special appointee for Goa by Salazar who had great love for Goa and Goans. Salazar and his advisers thought in late fifties that something should be done for Goa so that all categories of Goans can become self sufficient and they can rely upon themselves for the development of their Goa. In view of this Salazar appropriately selected Governador Vassalo e Silva for this job in Goa. As a matter of fact, internally Governador Vassalo e Silva was anti-Salazar and anti-Dictator. As a step in right direction, Vassalo e Silva introduced a law in Goa in the late fifties to make Portuguese education compulsory for all Goan children attaining the age of 6 and it was to be imparted Free Of Charge. Till this time I and my other sisters were in English School studying English but because of this law, we were forced out from English School and inducted into Portuguese School otherwise there was a fine (multo) to pay to the tune of hundreds of Escudos (Portugese currency). This law was introduced by Portuguese Government to elevate the educational standard of Goans because it is thru education that makes a person advanced.

Agriculture was given a top priority. In my village saline water entered into our fields and spoiled the whole crop. Governador Silva himself came to check it near our Church, entered the field assisted by my father who was the “de facto” leader of “Xetkar & Zotkar” and walking personally checked the broken “Bandh” which led the saline water from the Sea to enter into the fields. Governador at times talked to my father asking some questions about this saline water and my father being fluent in Portuguese as none among his "Xetkar" tribe answered him well. Then the Governador spoke to the village elders and members of the Communidade and arranged to put things into order with a promise that “I will see to it that no crop is spoiled and wasted”. Similar exercise he did elsewhere in Goa to give a fillip to agriculture and Goan agriculturists. Then later on Governador came to our Communidade Hall and impressed upon the elders to give top priority for the development of Caju Plantation. We had behind the Church Caju plantation on the big mountainous land of Communidade and as a booster we got free of charge small Caju plants to develop there. This resulted in a big yield for us in our Caju fruits and Caju Nuts. Similar exercise was done elsewhere in Goa too to boost the Caju plantation in Goa, so also for other crops.

Then the same Governador seeing the potential of mining industry in Goa and its improvement issued a Circular to Goans settled outside Goa to come back and get employment in Goa only and in this direction he assured them jobs in mining industry for English educated Goans and in Government sectors for Portuguese educated. Some Goans working in Qatar and Bahrain even left their lucrative jobs in the Oil sectors and returned to Goa where they were absorbed by the Chowgules, Dempo-Souza, Sesa Goa and other companies.

Governador Vassalo e Silva made his office accessible to any Goan for any of their needs. He started to mix up with commoners like a common man himself. This was resented by many of the Goan Bamonn aristocrats and Bhattkars but Governador Silva never cared for them. In 1960 while returning from Aguada, he came to our Portuguese School and directly entered in our class and fortunately approached me as if he knew me that I am a commoner and asked me in Portuguese: “Tem Sacola?” I said, “Nao Senhor Governador”. For this he gave me one School Bag. Likewise he did for others also in Marathi Xalla. He was so simple, once I was going to Panjim with my eldest brother for the soccer match. My brother known as “Cheddo” was an ace footballer of Goa Police Soccer Team being the top Goan footballer among the Portuguese “Pakles and Khapris”. When we entered into Ferryboat at Betim, suddenly Governador’s civilian Jeep also entered without any hassle.and external pomp. No battalion of armed guards nor police escort. Simple Governador with one simple driver and one simple guard. He did not even avail of the especial facility for him alone to be in the Ferryboat. During those days only Governador and Patriarch had the privilege for especial Ferryboat service to cross the rivers. When his Jeep parked in the Ferryboat, he immediately got down from his rear seat and gave a very loving and affectionate smile to all. Then again fortunately for me he smilingly approached me and lovingly touched my cheek and said “Senhor Rapaz, come esta?” Then he saw one elderly Hindu woman carrying a Basket full of vegetable to sell it in Panjim, stood in front of her and affectionately said something in Portuguese to her. She was all smiles and happy like me for encountering Governador in this manner.

The Governador vouched that every Goan must have goods and commodities cheaply. Once in 1960 the prices of the goods in Goa mainly in Panjim shot up suddenly especially of eatable. Seeing this, one fine morning dressed as commoner, Governador himself personally went to the market in Panjim and found out how shopkeepers have abruptly increased the prices of the commodities. Then immediately he advised his subordinates to take stringent action against these shopkeepers and immediately the prices were brought down.

During his tenure, when he noticed struggle for the ouster of Portuguese from Goa, he even requested the genuine freedom fighters to come and meet him to discuss this subject but none approached him openly and directly. He disliked those freedom fighters for Goa coming from Ghanttar. He said they have no right and authority to talk for and on behalf of Goa and Goans. Even Morarjee Desai as a Chief Minister of Bombay and as a spokesman of Congress said that “only Goans should fight for their Goa and remove Portuguese from their soil”. In Goa there were 2 types of freedom fighters, one genuine & secular and the others “Chor-Krimidor & communal. The latter section were killing, robbing and troubling innocent Goans and wanted Goa to become a Hindu Raj, they were communal and had hatred for Christians Governador Vassalo e Silva refused to talk to them. Governador wanted to find some sort of peaceful solution for Goa and for this reason he was paving the way for Goans to be prepared for this day either today or tomorrow but surely that day was coming. What Portuguese Governador Antonio Spinola in his book “Portugal e Futuro” in Mocambique predicted in Seventies that Portuguese rule will come to an end in Africa, Governador Vassalo e Silva guessed in 1960 about Goa. For this reason he was preparing Goans to be self sufficient to take over Goa by themselves only. Governador Vassalo e Silva loved Goa and Goans very much irrespective of their caste and creed. In fact some of the Goans who were very close to him were Goan Hindus, including Dayananda Bandodkar. Sensing this, Nehru as a crook assisted by another Malyali double crook Krishna Menon – the then Defence Minister of India created a hostile situation for Portuguese Government in Goa and attacked Goa. The rest was a history which was created on 19th December 1961 without taking consent of Goa based Goans and from where can we genuine Goans do anything? By the way, even if genuine Goans want to do something, are they in position to do now? And as a matter of fact, are there any genuine Goans living in Goa now to think of the glorious days they spent in Goa?

During Portuguese days, life in Goa was safe and secure for Goans, living standard of Goans was fine, Goans were not sleeping and cooking under the shade of trees. Every Goan had a roof over his head. No Goan was producing children on the streets. There was system and discipline everywhere. Respect for law and order was very much existing and crime rate was very negligible. No Goan houses were fitted with iron grill doors and windows. Our houses were open round the clock, no fear of robbers coming to rob our houses. Most of the Portuguese Pakles were very friendly to Goans and they interacted with Goans very freely. Hindus, Christians and Muslims were living in a very friendly way. There was no communal hatred, all were living as one Goan homogeneous entity. Common Goan even from the lowest strata of casteist Goan society was given facility to occupy positions in Government and other private sectors. Goans were given high ranks in the Army and Police sectors. All members of Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities were treated equally. Hindus occupied some of the top positions in the Government sectors and they only controlled the commerce including mining industry besides other sectors including franchises to import foreign goods. Everybody looked happy in all fronts except the Portuguese domination which could have been easily eradicated if Bharat had not to send its around 20 thousand well equipped Army marching over my Goa outnumbering only around 5 thousand Portuguese millitary of Goa and finally destroying Goa beyond recognition of its original self. In 47 years Goa lost so much of its original self, in another 07 years Goa will be totally mutilated and destroyed unless we have Goan patriots in Goa Legislative Assembly as the last Portuguese Governador Vassalo e Silva. Goa and Goans were more protected, loved and supported by the European Portuguese than the Asian Bharatis. This is the tragedy of Goa we experienced during the last 47 years of Bharati rule in Goa.

A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.