ZANZIBAR
GOANS
LADIS DA SILVA
(From “Zanzibar,” by L. Da Silva, 1983, Journal of South
Asian Literature, Vol. 18, No. 1 [GOAN LITERATURE: A MODERN READER (Winter,
Spring 1983)], pp. 258-265. Copyright 1983 by Asian Studies Centre, Michigan
State University. Reprinted with permission in Cyprian Fernandes’ Twilight of
the Exiles.)
ONE OF my life’s regrets will always be that I never interviewed Ladis Da Silva of Zanzibar. He was born in Zanzibar in 1920 and passed away in Canada in 1994. Silly really, because he was in Kenya until 1968 when he left for Canada with thousands of other Goans. Various Goans had mentioned his name in conversation but between 1960 and 1966 Sport and all its wonder made me a prisoner, a willing prisoner. There was little room for art. Ladis worked brilliantly with oils and acrylics, pen washes and renderings which appear identical to woodcuts. He had many art exhibitions but two I remember being told of was at the Catholic Parochial School and the other at the Dononvan Maule theatre, bother in Nairobi. He was an authority on Zanzibar and a prolific writer. On my several visits to Canada, our individual moons were in separate orbits. I had a copy of his book Zanzibar but unlike a boomerang, it never came back. He has a superb list to his credit. He was a brilliant artist and highly respected writer. Regret. The excerpt for Zanzibar gives the reader quite an entre into his observations skills and reportage.
TRY AS I MIGHT, I
found it immensely difficult to trace the arrival of the first Goan in
Zanzibar. The best I can recollect is when I was once invited by some sheikhs
near Chukwani Palace, close to a Polytechnic School, and shown a grave by the
seafront It had an Arab inscription on it and although age- old, it was in fair
condition, even though some of the sides had fallen off with the rain and the
storms. They told me that this belonged to the first Goan who arrived in
Zanzibar more than 100 years prior. He had lived there, worked there and died
there. Both Arabs and the natives were descendants of people who lived during
his time and got the story from generation to generation. I cannot discount
this story as I do know that Goans had come from the east coast of Africa long
before any white man had done so. Evidence of this is there because of the
trade between India and East Africa. From historical records I have, I am
prepared to state that Goans emigrated to East Africa some 125 years ago.
Many Goans landed in the port of Mombasa in Kenya earlier and
were employed as civil servants in Kenya and Uganda. Kenya history tells you
that the first district commissioner’s Chief Clerk was a Goan. The above facts
are partially substantiated in the memories of Sir Arthur Hardinge, the Consul
General in Zanzibar, who wrote: “A Goanese clerk was engaged in the Health
Office in the year 1894.” At this time, East Africa was under the government of
the British Samaraj. This is one reason why Goans were given preferential treatment
in the civil service. We are well aware of the fact that when in Bombay, Goa
and Greater India, that had studied English and the three Rs, and were
therefore well qualified to be civil servants under the British Raj. During
this period Indian currency was used in East Africa. I vividly recall that was
the currency during my time in the 1930s … rupees, annas, pice. The judiciary,
too, ran on the British system. They had Indians, Goans, Parsee lawyers, while
the magistrates and the justice of the peace in the Appeal Court were all
Britons. They had adopted the Indian Acts in
their Hansard. The Arabs had their system in addition to this, their customs
and traditions were age- old. They had khadis (judges) who dealt with minor
cases and mudhirs, i.e., district commissioners who were appointed in different
suburban areas and remote villages to run and settle the local native affairs.
I must say those days all respected the law. Goans had a rudimentary knowledge
of accounts, storekeeping, inventory, customs-clearing, shipping and various
other jobs. It is recorded that this was the reason why they had no problems in
securing posts with the British, throughout their (the British) stay in East
Africa. During German times in Heligoland (then called Tanganyika), they called
the Goans “Goanese” who were classified as a separate race in the population
census. The Germans in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) considered the Goans very
special people, and because of this, they were accorded preferential treatment.
Goans were popular in sports, they were good musicians, honest and industrious.
These are the traits the Germans like in anyone. The European General Hospital
in Dar-es-Salaam, the main port of Tanzania, had a special wing for the Goan
community. Other ethnic groups were allotted a portion of the Nation Hospital.
Most of the early Goans who travelled abroad arrived without their families as
they were single. They felt that they should travel first to a foreign land,
tap the sources, see what it was like, secure a job position, earn some money,
and if everything was well and favourable they would bring their wives or their
families (or return to Goa and find a suitable bride). In those early
pioneering days, there were rumours in India and Goa, that “Africa was a White
Man’s Grave” like West Africa … that there were cannibals, malaria, tropical
diseases, wild animals, and an environment that was full of difficulties. There
were further told that all these took a heavy toll of foreigners. Therefore, it
needed some pluck for the few who ventured out as adventurers. These would, of
course, include our dear parents who had the grit to do what they did.
(Generations will always remain grateful for that and more) In those days
travelling abroad was done by steamship or by dhow. The BIA (British India)
ploughed through the Indian Ocean regularly once a month, except for the
monsoon season, when the ocean was treacherous with storms and tempests.
Passaged cost a fortune. Because of this, it was not common for some Goans to
travel to East Africa by the big Cutch Dhows, for which they paid a negligible
amount of money. I recall the experiences of some of our Goans had travelled by
dhow during my young days. I understood from them it was no fun travelling by
dhow in the high seas for a couple of months … in sheer discomfort, unsanitary
conditions, and eating lousy Indian spice food that was half-cooked. There were
no vegetables, no fruit or other amenities of life one could expect. With the
storms, the heavy swells of the ocean brought about seasickness … it was
something unbelievable …a terrible experience overall. Goans, generally
speaking, who are used to a life of comfort and ease, would find this a
nightmare. I have travelled with the British India ships through the Mozambique
channel during monsoons and know that even this bad enough for a heavy tonnage
steamer. One ship, Clip Fountain, that sailed before us, sank in the storm. 34
CYPR I AN F E RNANDE S When shipping was scarce, Goans and Indians would travel
from Zanzibar to the mainland to Dar es Salaam or Mombasa by dhow. They also
travelled by dhows to the sister island of Pemba. When the Goans landed in
Zanzibar there were few people of their ethnic group around. These had come
earlier. Because of this, they would voluntarily come forward to help any new
arrivals. Since of most of these were single men, and Arab mansions were huge,
these bachelors preferred to live together in a “mess” (expressed in North
America as “rooming” or “sharing an apartment”). The new migrants were then
assisted in procuring suitable jobs, and this was done through their
compatriots who were in good graces with the British Officials. I was given to
understand that they had no difficulties in doing so as the Briton like the
Goans. Living together, learning from each other, cooking, washing, playing
cards (flush or poker) was fun in those early days. More than anything,
speaking Konkani, their mother tongue among themselves was not unusual. The
most amusing event was when they got together on a special festive occasion and
had a few drinks. Eating their Goan delicacies, which each tried to cook in
their way, interspersed with the Goan music of mandos and fados, they cracked
jokes in Konkani, English and Portuguese simultaneously. At this time, they had
managed to obtain the services of a native servant whom they taught to cook and
do some of the household chores. Labour was cheap then. Even when the servant
stole food and drinks every day, the bachelor took this with a pinch of salt …
life was fun … it was no point griping. When the Goans got into their
revelries, eating and drinking and talking gibberish, the natives often
wondered whether they were in their right minds or scatter-brained. However,
the servants got used to this routine life. Even the English had this
hotch-potch at their parties. Beyond this, the Goans did not go overboard,
although it was known that a few had Arab and native mistresses … but these
stray cases. Several Goans had learnt to speak Hindi when back home and this
knowledge was put some good use in East Africa with the local Indian traders. I
guess this was one reason my brother and I went to an Indian school to learn
Gujarati, a little Marathi and Sanskrit, before joining the Mission high
school. In a small Goan community such as this, other than their parties they
had practically no other social life at all. So, they resorted to playing cards
or organising bachelor parties to have good fun. At these parties, they sang
their folks songs and played the violin, a favourite instrument of the Goans. A
Goan plays musical instruments by notes and not by ear. This was achieved
through private tuitions and schools, learning the Konkani “Masters”. At all
their parties they never missed drinks. This was must and to a large extent, it
still is. I guess we got this trait from the Portuguese. It was not an unusual
sight to see bottles of Johnnie Walker which, in those days, cost Rs. 1.50.
They had lots of Portuguese wines, mandel, cajel, urrakk, granjeau from Goa. Goa
sausages arrived by ship that touched ports every month. Let it be remembered
that in those days the island of Zanzibar was a free port and good were allowed
to come duty free. Despite all these expenditures, I know that there were well
able to save some money to send home. This is how they managed to bring their
wives and their families to East Africa eventually. Occasionally the British
officials invited them to the English club after a friendly, hockey, cricket or
soccer game to have drinks and meals (maybe). This strengthened their
relationships in the office. Many a Goan was promoted because his boss knew him
better after meeting him at sports or at socials.
The Arabs and Swahilis and other ethnic races that lived
there were friendly. In fact, Zanzibar was known to be the friendliest place in
the whole of East Africa. Slowly Arabs and the natives started inviting them to
their parties at home, where they would partake of their rich, spicy sumptuous
and scrumptious meals. Of course, the absence of their women at these parties
was conspicuous, and no alcoholic drinks were served in their homes. This had a
religious significance for them.
Goans who were early pioneers in East Africa had good
knowledge of English and Portuguese languages, plus a few other languages they
had picked up here and there while doing several jobs abroad. Portuguese was
spoken only within their circles and was of no use in official circles or
business. I can safely adduce that the Portuguese language did help them
immensely with the vocabulary in English, as has been in my case. Goans
likewise adhered to the age-old Hindu man-made caste system wherever they went.
But as time passed, with so many problems, in various countries, this system
was ironed out. The elimination of this scourge is a boon, as we are all human.
Some of the Goan clergy and the Catholic Church in Goa then made no effort to
eradicate this cancerous, pernicious system. To the contrary, some wailed in it
and promoted it. However, in alien countries they have emigrated to, they
cannot afford this anomaly. I have been told by people wherever I went on my
travels that, as Catholics, Goans should be ashamed to even mention the caste
system.
We heard the good side
of the story of Goans in Zanzibar, and now we have to turn to a chapter on how
they survived going through initial stages as new immigrants. The tropical
heatwave, cholera, dysentery, yellow fever, malaria, smallpox, blackwater
fever, bronchitis, pneumonia, and several other tropical diseases took their
toll. I know of a few that paid the prices and whose graves are in Zanzibar and
Pemba.
Civil Servants were at timed compelled to be transferred to
the island of Pemba, which was noted for malaria and blackwater fever. I have
travelled there several times by the local Arab ferry steamers Al Said and Al
Hathera and have witnessed the conditions there. I have made it a point to also
visit the graves of friends who succumbed to blackwater fever and were buried
there.
Malaria was very common in Zanzibar and no one slept on any
of these islands without a mosquito net at night. Zanzibar and Pemba, as you
will note, are malarious because of the mangrove swamps, thick jungles, clove
and coconut palms. During the monsoons, heavy rains form puddles and pools,
where mosquitoes breed. The government took every possible measure to either
control it or eliminate it in those days. I know this for sure because of
several friends I had in the Health Office on both islands.
There was a belief that neglected malaria brought about
blackwater fever, which caused high temperature and the passing of blood urine.
Hospitals, dispensaries and various medical facilities in those days were
limited. And dispensaries and various medical facilities in those days were
limited. And the few that existed were crowded every day. It was a ritual for
everyone who lived on both islands in those days to dose him with quinine
daily.
Few Goans ever wanted to go to Pemba, but gradually several
Indians, Arabs, and European civil servants and hospital personnel commenced
going there and eventually settling down, including my uncle Martin D’Silva who
worked in the hospital, retired, went to Goa and died there. Goans who went to
Pemba worked in hospitals, as lawyers, court clerks, businessmen, bakers,
tailoring concerns, grocery shops, etc. Pioneers such as these paved the way
for many others who followed suit, undaunted despite the many difficulties and
obstacles they had to encounter. Geography plays a paramount role in
emigration. Only those living close to convenient ports in India, like Karachi,
Bombay, Goa, were likely to make the long and arduous trip by sea.
Consequently, as described before, these were not unskilled labourers as were
the coolies and manual labourers who built the East African Railways
(Kenya-Uganda to start with) or, for that matter like the settlers in South
Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, Fiji, and the West Indies.
We should not forget that these coolies were recruited by
indenture for work on sugar cane, banana, clove, tea and coffee plantations.
Those who were brought even for this purpose made their respective countries
rich with their sweat and toil, to collect the harvest for sale to the rest of
the world. We cannot deny even those groups of coolies who stayed and settled
earned their money honestly. Their children were well-educated and enhanced the
whole structure of the countries they lived in.
Most of the indentured
coolies were sent back to their homelands after their contracts expired. We
will come back to the subject of the missionaries, as they played a very
important part in our Goan lives when they encouraged our children to go to
their missions, schools and convents. Missionaries those days identified each
and every member of the congregation by name and made it a point to visit each
and every parishioner at least once a year to bless their homes. This was an
old Goan custom and perhaps a custom and tradition in Christendom. They would
try and get better acquainted with the family, inquire about the children,
their education, personal welfare, and take more interest in everything that
happened in the community. This was not resented by the Goans; as a matter of
fact, it was welcomed, since the missionaries learnt our ways, customs and
characteristics. All in all, we could say that in those days we had meaningful
relationships between the Church and individual Catholic families. We must
admit that a priest or the clergy was practically a member of the family in
those days. The missionaries knew that the ancestors of the Goans were
converted by St Thomas and St Francis Xavier, and because of this, they
respected the Goans.
Turning to Goans in Zanzibar and East Africa it is recorded
that they eventually brought their families to live with them. Those who were
single went back on overseas leave (which was granted under the British) and
brought back their brides. All this happened after they had worked for some
time, saved some leave, and were in a position to rent a place and live
independently. I can envisage that this was no easy task for those early
settlers.
It should not be overlooked that before they brought their
families, they initiated them as to what to expect and what not to expect in
East Africa. We should find some consolation that our ancestors and parents did
agree, after listening to the tales of their husbands, to take their chances in
a new country. The arrival of the families meant that the number of the
community had increased considerably. Our Goans are noted to be good
organisers, and as there appeared to be a requisite need to find a meeting place
for the families to gossip and share their ideas, their joys and sorrows, they
formed small clubs and institutes.
In Zanzibar, we had the Goan Institute, and on special
occasions and feast days, the Goans gathered at a rented place to dance, eat
and drink to the melodies of the Goan band. As time went on, they collected
sufficient funds to buy a suitable building which would be permanently theirs.
Here they had a library, arranged indoor games, concerts, socials, literary
societies and sports. This was the first Goan Institute.
Goan Institutes were set up in all the main cities and
townships of East Africa. All this was a novelty to the other ethnic groups and
is small wonder that they too slowly organised their clubs. Without warning
came the Revolution in Zanzibar on January 12, 1964, thus bringing to an end a
long reign by the Omani Arab Sultanate. The revolution was so swift and quick
that there was no time for reprisal. And so, the Asians and with them, the
Goans migrated to the mainland. Most of them migrated to Mombasa and Nairobi.
Others went back to their homeland in Goa. The wheel of Destiny slowly turned
and with it came changes all over East Africa. These were sparked by
revolutions, rebellions from the armies and the people. They wanted their
countries for themselves … Africa for Africans … they wanted all the amenities
that other ethnic groups had such as homes, cars, good food, clothes, farms,
land, and above all jobs that the foreigners had supposedly taken from them. It
was the birth of Nationalism, Africanisation and self-determination for the
natives of Africa.
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