Dear Friends,
I personally would like to introduce this site http://www.cynthiafernandes.com to Goans all over the World
It has been concepted and look after by Cynthia Fernandes who has burnt the midnight oil in getting this site to where it has reached. She has toiled hard to get this site up and going. This site is very useful to all generation of people all over the world. It can be access on Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0 or Mozilla Firefox etc. It useful for people in Distress, people who require Jobs, for Mothers, Children, Underpriviledged, Physically Changelled etc.
The content of the website is updated every minute, 24/7 and is of much value, sourceful and helpful to all who access it.
Please propogate this in you're own way, for the benefit of Others.
Good Deeds must go around, to inspire other to carry the baton forward.
This site has helped me immensely and I reckon this would help others too.
Thanking You,
Yours Sincerely,
Percy D Costa,
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
reachpercival@gmail.com
May 20, 2009
May 19, 2009
Goan Delegation Meets new Ambassador of Kuwait H.E. Ajai Malhotra
May 7th. 2009 will be a red letter day for the Goan Cultural Centre when a delegation from the Executive Commitee paid a courtesy visit to accord a grand welcome to the H.E.Ajai Malhotra, the newly appointed Ambassador of India to the State of Kuwait. Goan Cultural Centre is a popular Goan NGO in Kuwait dedicated to the promotion and flourishment of charitable, educational, cultural, sports and social welfare activities among the Indian in general and Goans in particular in Kuwait.In a very warm and cordial exchange of greetings and views, H.E. Ambassador Malhotra emphasised that the Indian Embassy would extend full assistance and cooperation to the different Indian organizations in Kuwait for the realization of the aims and objectives that have been outlined in the interest and for the benefit of the Indian expatriate community in Kuwait.
The Goan delegation came in for a surprise when H.E Ambassador Malhotra told that he once had an occasion to visit the beautiful Indian State of Goa and that he was highly impressed by the architectural structures of the temples and churches. H.E. Ambassador Malhotra had also a word of praise to the great hospitality of the people of Goa.
Popular musical and Goa State award winning troupes like Kepemchim Kirnnam, Members of Goa Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), Top Konkani singers, mimicry artistes, musicians and comperes have graced Goan Cultural Centre’s cultural and food festival programmes, summer queen gala events and annual Christmas Tree programme which is always a entrance free for children and their parents to share in the happy tidings.
At the end of the session, the Goan delegation as the registered Goan NGO with the Embassy of India-Kuwait expressed its gratitude and appreciation to H.E.Ambassador Malhotra for his valuable time despite his extremely busy schedule and wished him a pleasant abode during his tenure in Kuwait.
Picture shows(L-R) Ms.Felia Afonso, Head of Social Cell; Casimiro Afonso,Vice-President; Carmo Santos,Chairman; H.E.Ambassador Ajai Malhotra; Ms.Trupti Marshall, General Secretary; Suresh Naik,President and Ms.Carrie Santos, Head of Educational Cell.
(As published by ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY, 15 MAY 2009)
May 17, 2009
G'BYE GOA: KOLS/KUNNBIS
G’BYE GOA: KOLS/KUNNBIS.
By Valmiki Faleiro.
The last major pre-Aryan group to settle in Goa were the Kols. They followed the Asuras from Chota Nagpur and, on arrival, subjugated them to lord over the land. Asuras were milder people. Kols were fierce, a “semi-savage” hunting tribe. (‘Kol’ means wild pig.)
The tribe name ‘Kol’ got corrupted to ‘Kul,’ ‘Kulvadi,’ ‘Kulmi,’ ‘Kulambi’ and ‘Kunnbi.’ Kols were sub-grouped as Velips, Zalmis and Gaunkars – actually occupational caste names, also common among Asuras/Gawdas. Velips handled religious affairs, Zalmis handled other specific tasks, while Gaunkars, regarded more intelligent, took up farming, hunting and assorted survival activities for the community. Rev. John Wilson thought ‘Kunnbi’ comes from ‘Krishmi’ (tillers of land; also plough.)German anthropologist Gustav Oppert denounced the theory and said ‘Kunnbi’ camefrom ‘Ku’ (mountain), hence a mountainous tribe that originated in South India, where indeed they are known as ‘Kurumbars.’ Rest of India, Kunnbis are found in Maharashtra,Gujarat and pockets of north India. They tilled land, by the slash-burn-cultivate system (‘Kumeri’), yet in use in hilly areas of hinterland Goa. And cropped cereals like millet.
Like earlier Asuras/Gawdas, their tools and implements were of wood or stone – pointed, sharp-edged or blunted, as per need.Units of measurement of produce – by weight or volume – like Kudov, Khandi, Kumbh, revolved around the numbers 12 and 20 – like 20 smaller units made a single larger unit(viz.- 20 khandis equal one kumbh.) Note the Ks in Ku, Kunnbi, Kurumbar, Kumeri, Khandi, Kumbh! Once regarded a sub-caste of Marathas, Kunnbis considered themselves just belowDhangars, but superior to Molvolls (washermen) and Nhavi (barbers.) At their weddings,a barber would wash the feet of the bridal couple and apply vermillion to the guests while a washerman would spread a clean cloth for the couple to sit for the ceremonies on the ground. End of the day, the washerman and barber would carry the child bridal couple on their shoulders, dancing to music by Mhars.
Kunnbis, including Christian, shun pork (save a wild boar) and beef, if not so scrupulous about a plump bandicoot or a monitor lizard. They were mostly vegetarian. Kols worshipped the Earth Goddess, represented by the anthill, ‘Roen,’ renamed ‘Sateri’and ‘Bhumika’ after her capture by Indo-Aryans. They also worshipped trees like the‘Peepal’ and ‘Vod’ (and, perhaps in acknowledgement of the status of original settlers,the ‘Kel’ tree of Mhars, but in the lowest rung of their female deity hierarchy.) Other deities worshipped were Mahamaya and Ravalnath, and those of earlier tribes –Betal, Nagesh, Navadurga and Mallikarjun. Saptakoteshwar was a deity of the Velips.They also worshipped the dreaded tiger, as deity ‘Vagro.’
A temple to ‘Vagro’ was demolished by the 16th Century Portuguese in Utorda, Salcete. It was Kols who first followed the twin-deity cult of ‘Gram Dev’ (village deity) and ‘Kul Dev’ (family deity.) They conducted religious affairs by themselves, no latter-day Brahmin ‘bhats.’ They offered fowls in sacrifice – a white rooster for the Sun God, red or black one for otherdeities, including ‘Chando,’ the Moon God. Billy goats were also sacrificed. They did witchcraft (‘Ghadiponn’) and human sacrifice. Outright sacrifice was later toned down to hanging men from wooden stakes, with iron hooks pierced into the back (as in Madkai-Ponda) or rapidly rotated from a wheel (as in Poinguinim-Canacona.) The blood-letting was banned by Gov. Joaquim Fernando Pestana on Dec 6, 1844.
Another custom. If a pregnant woman died, her legs were broken and the body taken outof the house not through the main door, but through a hole punctured into a side wall(resealed immediately after the cremation.) The path to the cremation ground was then strewn with thorns and, by way of abundant caution, millet was strewn along the way –all because, if the dead one (the poor ‘Alvatin,’ despite her broken legs) overcame the thorns on the way back home, she would slip and fall on the millet. And even if Alvatin overcame that, she would find no way inside the house, because the passage by which she had left was now only a blind wall!
P.S.: Margao activist Siddarth Karapurkar asks (Herald, 10 May) if fish from sewage-contaminated Xelpem lake is fit for human consumption. If pigs that feed on we-know-what are safe, why would Xelpem fish be otherwise? My thought. (ENDS.)
The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at:
By Valmiki Faleiro.
The last major pre-Aryan group to settle in Goa were the Kols. They followed the Asuras from Chota Nagpur and, on arrival, subjugated them to lord over the land. Asuras were milder people. Kols were fierce, a “semi-savage” hunting tribe. (‘Kol’ means wild pig.)
The tribe name ‘Kol’ got corrupted to ‘Kul,’ ‘Kulvadi,’ ‘Kulmi,’ ‘Kulambi’ and ‘Kunnbi.’ Kols were sub-grouped as Velips, Zalmis and Gaunkars – actually occupational caste names, also common among Asuras/Gawdas. Velips handled religious affairs, Zalmis handled other specific tasks, while Gaunkars, regarded more intelligent, took up farming, hunting and assorted survival activities for the community. Rev. John Wilson thought ‘Kunnbi’ comes from ‘Krishmi’ (tillers of land; also plough.)German anthropologist Gustav Oppert denounced the theory and said ‘Kunnbi’ camefrom ‘Ku’ (mountain), hence a mountainous tribe that originated in South India, where indeed they are known as ‘Kurumbars.’ Rest of India, Kunnbis are found in Maharashtra,Gujarat and pockets of north India. They tilled land, by the slash-burn-cultivate system (‘Kumeri’), yet in use in hilly areas of hinterland Goa. And cropped cereals like millet.
Like earlier Asuras/Gawdas, their tools and implements were of wood or stone – pointed, sharp-edged or blunted, as per need.Units of measurement of produce – by weight or volume – like Kudov, Khandi, Kumbh, revolved around the numbers 12 and 20 – like 20 smaller units made a single larger unit(viz.- 20 khandis equal one kumbh.) Note the Ks in Ku, Kunnbi, Kurumbar, Kumeri, Khandi, Kumbh! Once regarded a sub-caste of Marathas, Kunnbis considered themselves just belowDhangars, but superior to Molvolls (washermen) and Nhavi (barbers.) At their weddings,a barber would wash the feet of the bridal couple and apply vermillion to the guests while a washerman would spread a clean cloth for the couple to sit for the ceremonies on the ground. End of the day, the washerman and barber would carry the child bridal couple on their shoulders, dancing to music by Mhars.
Kunnbis, including Christian, shun pork (save a wild boar) and beef, if not so scrupulous about a plump bandicoot or a monitor lizard. They were mostly vegetarian. Kols worshipped the Earth Goddess, represented by the anthill, ‘Roen,’ renamed ‘Sateri’and ‘Bhumika’ after her capture by Indo-Aryans. They also worshipped trees like the‘Peepal’ and ‘Vod’ (and, perhaps in acknowledgement of the status of original settlers,the ‘Kel’ tree of Mhars, but in the lowest rung of their female deity hierarchy.) Other deities worshipped were Mahamaya and Ravalnath, and those of earlier tribes –Betal, Nagesh, Navadurga and Mallikarjun. Saptakoteshwar was a deity of the Velips.They also worshipped the dreaded tiger, as deity ‘Vagro.’
A temple to ‘Vagro’ was demolished by the 16th Century Portuguese in Utorda, Salcete. It was Kols who first followed the twin-deity cult of ‘Gram Dev’ (village deity) and ‘Kul Dev’ (family deity.) They conducted religious affairs by themselves, no latter-day Brahmin ‘bhats.’ They offered fowls in sacrifice – a white rooster for the Sun God, red or black one for otherdeities, including ‘Chando,’ the Moon God. Billy goats were also sacrificed. They did witchcraft (‘Ghadiponn’) and human sacrifice. Outright sacrifice was later toned down to hanging men from wooden stakes, with iron hooks pierced into the back (as in Madkai-Ponda) or rapidly rotated from a wheel (as in Poinguinim-Canacona.) The blood-letting was banned by Gov. Joaquim Fernando Pestana on Dec 6, 1844.
Another custom. If a pregnant woman died, her legs were broken and the body taken outof the house not through the main door, but through a hole punctured into a side wall(resealed immediately after the cremation.) The path to the cremation ground was then strewn with thorns and, by way of abundant caution, millet was strewn along the way –all because, if the dead one (the poor ‘Alvatin,’ despite her broken legs) overcame the thorns on the way back home, she would slip and fall on the millet. And even if Alvatin overcame that, she would find no way inside the house, because the passage by which she had left was now only a blind wall!
P.S.: Margao activist Siddarth Karapurkar asks (Herald, 10 May) if fish from sewage-contaminated Xelpem lake is fit for human consumption. If pigs that feed on we-know-what are safe, why would Xelpem fish be otherwise? My thought. (ENDS.)
The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at:
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