A STUDY of KUDDS in MUMBAI Home to Goan Male Migrants
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A STUDY OF KUDDS IN MUMBAI Home to Goan Male Migrants A Thesis Submitted to the Goa University for the Award of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN WOMEN’S STUDIES By AIDA A. P. DOURADO Under the Guidance of Professor Shaila Desouza (Department of Women’s Studies) GOA UNIVERSITY GOA 2020 DECLARATION I, Aida A. P. Dourado, hereby declare that this thesis titled A Study of Kudds in Mumbai: Home to Goan Male Migrants, is the outcome of my own study undertaken under the guidance of Prof. Shaila Desouza, Head, Department of Women’s Studies, Goa University. It has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate of this Institute or of any other University. I have duly acknowledged all the sources used by me in the preparation of this thesis. Aida A. P. Dourado Date: 16 January 2020 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis titled A Study of Kudds in Mumbai: Home to Goan Male Migrants is the record of the original work done by Aida A. P. Dourado under my guidance. The results of the research presented in this thesis have not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate of this or any other University. Shaila Desouza Professor and Head Department of Women’s Studies Goa University Date: 16 January 2020 This work is dedicated to my husband, my children and to all the families in Goa and Bombay, connected to the kudds specially the 6 kudds under my study at Jer Mahal, Bombay. CONTENTS Acknowledgements viii Abstract x List of Photographs, Boxes, Maps and Tables xxii Chapter One INTRODUCTION 1 Section 1. Understanding Migration 1.1 Theories of Migration 1.2. Migration and Goa, India Section 2. Methods and Materials in the Study of ‘Kudds’ 1.3. Rationale for the Study of Kudds 1.4. Objectives and Scope of the Study 1.5. Research Questions 1.6. The Study Site 1.7. Jer Mahal in Dhobi Talao, Bombay 1.8. Selection of Kudds for the Study 1.9. Tools of Data Collection 1.10. A Self-Reflexive Note Section 3: Organization of the Thesis 1.11. Summary of Chapters Chapter Two ABOUT KUDDS: A System of Community Housing 39 2.1. The Kudd (Home) 2.2. Kudds in Jer Mahal, Bombay 2.3. Other Kudds in and around Dhobi Talao 2.4. The Federation of Goan Kudds 2.5. International Goan Associations Chapter Three CASE STUDY 1: THE MAJORDA KUDD 65 Nossa Senhora De Boa Morte Association 3.1. History of the Majorda Kudd 3.2. Membership to the Majorda Kudd 3.3. Membership Fees 3.4. Rules and Punishment in the Kudd 3.5. The Managing Committee of the Kudd 3.6. Practice of the Caste system and the Majorda Kudd 3.7. General Observations about the Majorda Kudd 3.8. Majorda Kudd as the Main Kudd 3.9. Celebrations and Feasts at the Majorda Kudd 3.10. The Stories Letters Tell Chapter Four COMPARATIVE INSIGHTS FROM OTHER KUDDS IN JER 93 MAHAL Section 1: Case Study of the Macasana Kudd 4.1. History of the Macasana Kudd 4.2. Membership and Management of the Macasana Kudd 4.3. Celebrations at the Macasana Kudd 4.4. Some Observations about the Macasana Kudd 4.5. Stories from the Letters from Macasana Kudd Section 2: Case Study of the Nuvem Kudd 4.6. History of the Nuvem Kudd 4.7. Management of the Nuvem Kudd 4.8. Celebrations in the Nuvem Kudd Section 3: Case Study of the Raia Kudd 4.9. History of the Raia Kudd 4.10. Membership and Management of the Kudd 4.11. Some Narratives about Life in the Raia Kudd 4.12. Celebration of Feasts at the Raia Kudd 4.13. General Observations about the Raia Kudd Section 4: Case Study of Chichinnim Kudd or Durga Club of Chichinnim 4.14. History of the Chichinnim Kudd 4.15. Membership and Management of Chichinnim Kudd 4.16. Other Aspects of Life in the Kudd 4.17. Celebrations of Feasts at the Durga Club 4.18. Some Observations about the Chichinnim Kudd Section 5: Case Study of the Fatradem Kudd 4.19. History of the Fatradem Kudd 4.20. Membership and Management of the Fatradem Kudd 4.21. Some Observations about the Fatradem Kudd Chapter Five THE KUDDS TODAY: Social Change, Politics & Threats 121 5.1. Changes and their impact on the Kudd System 5.2. Internal Kudd Politics Chapter Six CONCLUSION 132 6.1. Kudd and Migration Theory 6.2. The Kudd and Cultural Theory 6.3. The Kudd and Family Dynamics 6.4. Overcoming hurdles faced during the study 6.5. Limitations of this research 6.6. Significance of this Study Glossary of Terms 149 Appendix A: Photographs used in the Thesis 150 Appendix B: List of Respondents 175 Appendix C: Letters and Documents from the Kudds 178 Appendix D: Additional Photographs 192 References 198 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank the Almighty for giving me strength to complete this thesis despite many difficulties, including my poor health. The divine was with me through the years of my research, for which I am immensely thankful. I would like to thank my guide, Prof. Shaila Desouza, who was with me every step of the way. May the Lord Almighty bless her and her family. Without the present Manager of the Majorda kudd, Mr Angelo Fernandes (Bruce) and the senior-most member (Mr Dominic Baptista) (Dom) of the Majorda kudd, I would have not been able to identify some members who stay in the kudds and those who now live in Goa and in Bombay. Mr Agnelo Fernandes from the time I had registered myself for PhD, made available to me all the documents, letters and small details about the kudd. He was always kind enough and happy to narrate to me details about kudd life. Mr Dominic Baptista, I mention specially, as he assisted me tremendously during the several trips that I made to Bombay and lived in the Majorda kudd as a visitor. Further I am very much grateful to Mr Henry Fernandes the secretary of the Federation of the Goan Kudd, who despite his age helped me accompanied by Mr Dominic Baptista, in showing me the kudds in and around Dhobi Talao. It was because of him and his enthusiasm in showing me the kudds, that I was able to not only see some of the kudds, but spoke to some of the members who were there on the day of my visit. I am thankful to Mr Mathew Fernandes of the Raia kudd, who had lots of patience in connecting me to the other members of the Raia kudd. Mr Perry Fernandes too has been of great help in helping me identify some of the members of the Raia kudd. I am grateful to Dr.Rev.Fr. Diniz (Principal of Rosary College, Navelim) for allowing me to use the Navelim College Library during my research. The librarian of the Central Library, the District Library, the Goa University Library and the Xavier Historical Research Centre, who always extended a helping hand to me in getting literature for my research. I would like to thank the Curator, of the Central Library, Panaji, Mr Carlos Fernandes for his help locating books. Finally, I would like to appreciate the hard work and patience put in by my husband Martinho De Souza, who in my absence from home, when away for field work managed the home front very well. Most importantly he has been, always the wind beneath my wings, motivating me always come what may and pushing me hard to finish by thesis somehow. May God bless him for that always. I would also like to thank my son Addi De Souza, who helped with the technical know-how of the laptop when the hard disk of my laptop crashed. He also helped me with photography and other details and was my computer teacher most of the time. My daughter Anoushka De Souza, was my constant reminder that the time was up, hurrying me to finish it and has to complete within the time period. Both my son and daughter sacrificed so much, sometime even sitting throughout the night in the train in the general compartment. Most of the time getting a train ticket was very difficult as mostly the decisions to go to Bombay were last minute and as per the celebrations in the kudds or some other urgent need for my research. My family has been like a granary supplying me with what I needed to go on and also storing every detail of my experience on their system as well. ABSTRACT Introduction and Rationale for the Study Women’s role within the home has stereotypically been seen as a primary one, however much this essentialist image may be linked to other aspects of discrimination, dependence, subordination and invisibility (Kabeer 2007, Palriwala and Uberoi 2008). In the ‘home’ that I had grown up hearing about, namely the kudd or home in which my father lived in while he was in Bombay (now Mumbai), was a home in which my mother or any other women were not present. This doctoral thesis titled Study of Kudds in Mumbai: Home to Goan Male Migrants’, originates from a curiosity about the kudds particularly after I married and started my own home. As a social scientist, I found very little recorded information about kudds and yet growing up I had heard numerous anecdotal narratives from those who had lived experiences in the kudds, particularly from my father who sadly passed away in the year 1994.