Because Goa is a land so enchantingly blessed by Nature, one wonders at so many of her sons have made their homes elsewhere. Migrations, from this paradise, date back several centuries. Perhaps the earliest was set off by religious intolerance under the Portuguese at the middle of the 16th century. Bearing their family deities, scores of aggrieved Hindus stealthily fled across the rivers, to set up their temples anew. In their wake went many others--recent converts victimised under the Inquisition, for retaining the practice of their age-old customs and manner of life.

Beyond the sea
In the century that followed, it was the severe economic decline of Estado da India that spurred ambitious merchants--both Portuguese and indigenous--to venture into pastures greener, where other European powers were in the ascendant. The more intrepid reached Burma and China and amassed wealth; others expanded the Portuguese dominion along the coast of East Africa and its hinterland, some even entrenching themselves there later as powerful rivals. Pombal's suppression of religious orders in Portuguese possessions gave a further spurt to emigration by way of the Goan Padroado clergy, serving as missionaries in the far-flung, but glagging, expire of the Orient.

Call of the city
In the opening decades of the 19th century, the trickle of emigration from Goa increased. After the occupation of the territory, when the British officials move out, Goans formed part of their entourage. On the way, some were absorbed into the army of thePeshwa, a few distinguishing themselves as trusted officers. But the vast majority were impoverished illiterates, driven by economic stringency and oppression under heartless landlords. With the extinction of the Maratha power, they had to find a living elsewhere.

Many were attracted to Bombay, which, by then, was a city in the making, open to people of all communities, trades and professions. Goans were easily assimilated and soon established themselves. Forced by the turn of events during Goa's short-lived constitutional regime of the twenties, even Goan political emigres and intellectuals sough refuge in Bombay; and from there continued to carry out their campaign for autonomy through their own organ of the press. They also set up cultural and sporting organisations for the growing community.

Mass Exodus
By the turn of the century, the trickle had turned into a torrent. Due to the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878 conditions in Goa had, sadly, deteriorated; but one happy fall-out was the improvement in transport and communication by coastal steamer and railway, which facilitated entry into Bombay--the rising centre of trade and industry! The mass Goan exodus had indeed begun! Its momentum did not slacken until the thirties. By that time, the birds of passage began to build their nets firmly under alien skies.

Facing the challenge
It's interesting to see how the early emigrants survived in the alien environs of a big city. Elaborating on the subject of Hindu Goans in Bombay in the "Goan World" of 1926, Vasudeva Mayenkar recalls their many caste inhibitions to travel, which were only countered much later by the National Awakening consequent to the Partition of Bengal. Until that phase, the Hindu emigrants to Bombay, like their Christian counterparts, were mostly of the lower classes. But, unlike the converts, they had not imbibed, at the very least, a smattering of the three Rs and the rudiments of western music along with religious teahing in the parish schools of Goa. Nor had they any familiarity or knowledge of dress or culinary tastes and skills of the West. Neither did they enjoy preferential treatment which the alien rulers were wont to give to their co-religionists. How then could they aspire to employment as clerks or musicians or even as tailors or cooks, as their Christian counterparts did?

Only manual labour was open to them: in the textile mills, for which, Bombay was famous, in the new tramway companies and in the printing presses. With the pittance they received, the only option for those early migrants was to survive in squalor in the slums. For, they did not have the benefit of kuds. This was a system spontaneously adopted by every little group of Christian Goans in the large cities, to share their little room with the newcomers from their particular village in Goa, to assist in finding them employment, to budget expenses, and jointly organise celebrations of the village feast and, generally, create an atmosphere of home. The kuds were a spring-board to many a raw youth, who later made his mark in life.

As Mayenkar points out, the starting of English schools in Goa and other parts of India, enabled many--including Hindu Goans--to equip themselves for service in British India and abroad. As products of Bombay's J J School of Arts, several Hindu Goans found their niche. The opening of British and Italian steamship companies, at the turn of the century, was a great bosst to emigration, and Goan seamen not only improved their standing but widened their horizon. This factor was also an incentive to many Goans to better their lot by taking up service abroad--in the Persian Gulf and East Africa. The building of the railways and the telegraphic lines provided jobs very easily to those prepared to face the challenge of life in those outlandish places.

Holding together
Curiously, the gregarious instinct is very strong in Goans, who are also known for their sense of fellowship and good cheer. The tie with the mother country never snapped. Goa beckoned still, and so they came home on furlough, renewed family ties, kept the ancestral hosue in good shape, often picked up a bride from the village to ensure good sorpotel, and returned. And wherever he has gone, the Goans searches for his amcho--his own! Goan clubs have been organised to provide a meeting-ground for even a few Goan families in the remotest corners of the globe, to sing and dance their mandos. In Nairobi and Mombasa in East Africa, these massive complexes still remain, with their grand dance-halls, vast sports pavillions and cosy bars--vestiges of the Goan presence in its day of glory!

For with Uhuru came another transplanting--most Goans felt insecure, and moved again. The more elderly returned home to rest their weary bones. Many enthusiasts opted for British citizenship and settled in the United Kingdom. others migrated to Canada, the Untied States, Australia, Portugal or other European countries. Again Goan clubs sprouted, and the Goan Overseas Association--an international body that sponsors international conventions to enable Goans to clasp hands firmly across the seas.

^gnDr Teresa Albuquerque