Discovering Damao In Daman

DISCOVERING DAMAO IN DAMAN


Vasco Da Gama discovered the sea trade route to India in 1498, but the Portuguese discovered Daman only in 1523 and that too by default. India’s Viceroy D.Nuno da Cunha had ordered ships to set sail towards Hormuz; when the one carrying Diogo de Melo got caught in a huge storm resulting an off coast embankment on the Daman Ganga river.

Enchanted by the grandeur of the city’s port, Diogo brought it to the Viceroy’s notice. However, the Portuguese could conquer Daman only on 2nd February 1559, when Constanino de Braganza, the Governor of Goa, attacked the local Abyssinian defense of 3000 soldiers with a fleet of more than 100 vessels.

The Governor ordered a new, stronger fort –St.Jerome to be erected, strategically located at the harbour, just a stone’s throw from the town market and appointed Diogo de Noronha as Captain – Major of Daman, with a team of 1200 men .For 400 years since, the twin fort city remained under Portuguese rule, until Operation Vijay launched on 17th December, 1961 by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force linked the territory to become an integral part of India.

Four centuries of Portugal’s influence gave birth to new customs and cultures and the locals went with its flow. Historians confirm the territory of Daman, known as the Northern Province, extended from Bulsar to Bassein ( Valsad to Vasai). The Portuguese masterminded export of Indian goods to foreign shores from Daman’s market. ‘Trade and finance in Portuguese India ‘, by Celsa Pinto points out how Daman and Diu derived their strength from Gujarat’s plains, noted for their fertile soil and agricultural productivity like cotton, centers of textile like Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot supplied woven fabric while lowlands surrounded by hills and jungles benefited for opium production and teak. Daman’s percentage of coastal traders was higher than the other two Portugal settlements of the Estado.

A paper written on Damao, by author Athos Fernandes for an international symposium,now published as a book on Goa-Portugal Their Cultural Links, informs readers about Portuguese domination in Daman - The first coin mint was established in 1617, when D.Lourenco de Tavora gave the license to mint copper coins known as bazarucos. The second and third mints came up on 1617 and 1769.Till date, locals often use the term ‘Num te bazaruco’- “I don’t have money.”

In 1773, the prime minister of Portugal announced that the shipyard at Daman-Caliana had done more than the entire maritime unit of Goa had achieved in a century. Christened Royal Shipyard thereafter, it made famous vessels like frigate ‘D .Fernando e Gloria,’ (19th century) which sailed for 33 years, transporting military personal from India to Angola, to Mozambique and back.

By the 19th century, Daman had its own newspaper -’O Portugues em Damao’, a weekly which began on 18th July 1835 and was so much in demand that it got distributed at night itself .Its editor was Prof.Solinas ,from Goa. Unlike the British who concentrated only on trade, the Portuguese were on a mission to spread religion and conversion. Churches, convents, colleges and seminaries sprouted up, beckoning neighbouring denizens. ’Our lady of Remedios’ at the Church in Moti Daman is believed to be a Hindu, one of the seven sisters of Goddess Laxmi, worshipped by seamen. .

Flavours of culinary cuisine such as espetada de leitao, pao-de-lo, alh –piment de bombilins,xacuti,dal bafad,dampaca, bacalhau and borao ,savoured with imported wines along with locally prepared bolo de sura-fermented sap of the palm tree found favour at local tables on festive days. Caravel dance and Portugal’s fado music retained immense popularity with the Damanense. Fishermen’s folk songs merged with local lore are still sung out at the sea.

Four hundred and fifty years since Daman was first influenced by the Portuguese, the impressions of its culture remain stamped all over the town. Last week, the Damanense celebrated World Daman Day on 2nd February, in nostalgia, sighing ,’Saudade Damao’and singing as Portuguese poet has penned in his collection ‘Mensagem’-

“O Mar Salgado, quanto do teu Sal Sao Lagrimas de Portugal !”

(Oh salty sea, how much of your salt are tears of Portugal!)

Corkage Charge In Tipple Town

Corkage Charge In Tipple Town


Surat’s most popular senior citizens-Mr.Magan Batla and aunty Batli held a, ‘Dampened Spirits Drive’ last evening.

It was in lieu of a protest against the arrest of the honourable city Mayor’s cousin brother and others, on charges of consuming alcohol in a public place (a Ghoddod Road discotheque, barely half a kilometer from Umra Police Station and just a hop, skip and jump behind the Mayor’s home, a backyard premises he has rented out).

It wasn’t an Alcoholics Anonymous meet, mind you, which surprisingly exists at large through the dry state, with Surat scoring the maximum number of members there too.

This was one where so called thinkers of Tapi town came together to discuss on a sober and serious note, the price and punishment that denizens are paying for prohibition.

On the promise that they remain incognito, anguished Surtis stated their quotes and views of the public in general.

“Prohibition has become the new weapon for vendetta in our town! Anyone can pick up the phone and complaint .There is no end as to how many ‘mehfils’ police raids will yield from homes, every single night.”

“Imagine what kind of names will tumble out if we apply via RTI to know who all have been arrested for alcohol consumption in Gujarat, so far?”

“Vat 69 ney vaat laga di!”

“My uncle is penning a new prohibition Kolaveri version called,” Why this hypocrisy, hypocrisy policy di, ho Modi!”

“Where is the booze coming in from? I read that bootleggers supplying to Gujarat have an annual turnover of 1500 crores!”

“Those are last year’s figures, now that the noose is tighter, rates might have doubled.”

“I always assumed that having an alcohol permit meant ‘License to drink’ but, my friends were sitting ducks and met their nemesis in an apartment when they were raided for drinking at home!”

“Dint this happen the same night as the one in which Parmeshwar Godrej’s party for Oprah was raided thrice by the Mumbai Pandus?”

“No, and stupid, Mumbai does not have prohibition issues, they were raided for causing commotion next to an MLA’s residence.”

“I am a teetotaler, yet, I pay more taxes because prohibition costs a loss of Rs.3000 crores of revenue to the government and I heard that they have to make up for it by hiking our basic taxes.”

“Aaprey toh kaee didhu, aapunney kaai pher parto nathi, lai javo ander,juo ! Bus,aapra bapa hudhi vaat nahi pahunchvi joyey ,whu ?”

‘I have decided to pen a book on it and name it “Night at Police Station; Nightmare at Civil Hospital”

“Surat’s police are trying really hard to brush off last year’s accusation of procuring the maximum bribes in the matter of prohibition. A leading weekly national magazine had summed it up to around 70 lakhs.”

“Can you imagine that wedding cocktail parties are now the main reason for Surtis to organize destination weddings? How do you expect us hoteliers to lose millions of rupees in this manner and still take it in the right spirit?

“The closest getaway is Daman, with the amount of spurious liquor flowing from there these days; you could have a river of elixir running through it!

“I hear after acing at duplicate Black Label, they now excel at aping single malts too, packaging and all!”

“Daru, daru, daru, daru, daru, daru, daru hic!”

“Can we please get back to the issue now? Do you know how distilleries are minting millions by shoving excise free booze into the state?”

“Also, hooch king pins are crorepatis here.”

“This is just a vote bank policy, in the name of Gandhiji.”

“Did you know that Gandhiji’s grandson had once stated on national television that, “There are many other things which Bapu stood for which we should be practicing, but which no one does. Prohibition in Gujarat is an industry which finances politics, politicians and police."

“How come having no prohibition in SEZ does not offend Bapu, but consuming alcohol in other areas of Gujarat does?”

“I think it’s the women in the state, who vote in favour of prohibition, whom politicians do not want to displease.”

“ Eni maaney !!!!!! ……….pun mari ni maaney !”