Where would the best choice be for an Indian girl to learn more about her culture and roots? Would you think I had lost it if I said Brazil?
Let me explain. I am from Goa, a small state on the west coast of India. For almost 500 years we were ruled by the Portuguese separate from the rest of British colonized India. This not surprisingly has left a deep imprint in the culture and mentality of the Goan people. I always took this Portuguese heritage for granted, assuming that fellow Goans were over emphasizing it to align themselves more with Europe than independent India. However the gravity of this influence only dawned on me whilst visiting a country on the opposite side of the world from my hometown.
From my very first week in Brazil I felt like I had been living there for years. It felt like I had somehow come home. The subtilities of everday life were familiar – the sing song way of calling out to your neighbours over the fence, my grandma back home and my landord’s grandma in Brazil making the same “bolina” snacks I adore for afternoon tea. All parallels shared by two very geographically distant countries, due to a shared colonial history.
My views on generosity, affection and my love of feeding people were not a unique personality trait but a shared cultural trait. Also the trademarked “susaguade” lifestyle of relaxation, music and goodtimes Goans are so well known for, is in fact a cultural norm of Brazil too. To my surprise I learned that “susaguade” is actually Portuguese for “relax” not a native Goan word like I had always thought. Every day I would learn the Portuguese root of words used in my hometown. Carnival, deeply rooted catholicsm … I could go on.
While strife suffered under colonial rule is not to be forgotten quickly, a positive lasting effect of colonization is shared colonial culture and history. It can bond very different peoples and nations making you all global peers.
Let me explain. I am from Goa, a small state on the west coast of India. For almost 500 years we were ruled by the Portuguese separate from the rest of British colonized India. This not surprisingly has left a deep imprint in the culture and mentality of the Goan people. I always took this Portuguese heritage for granted, assuming that fellow Goans were over emphasizing it to align themselves more with Europe than independent India. However the gravity of this influence only dawned on me whilst visiting a country on the opposite side of the world from my hometown.
From my very first week in Brazil I felt like I had been living there for years. It felt like I had somehow come home. The subtilities of everday life were familiar – the sing song way of calling out to your neighbours over the fence, my grandma back home and my landord’s grandma in Brazil making the same “bolina” snacks I adore for afternoon tea. All parallels shared by two very geographically distant countries, due to a shared colonial history.
My views on generosity, affection and my love of feeding people were not a unique personality trait but a shared cultural trait. Also the trademarked “susaguade” lifestyle of relaxation, music and goodtimes Goans are so well known for, is in fact a cultural norm of Brazil too. To my surprise I learned that “susaguade” is actually Portuguese for “relax” not a native Goan word like I had always thought. Every day I would learn the Portuguese root of words used in my hometown. Carnival, deeply rooted catholicsm … I could go on.
While strife suffered under colonial rule is not to be forgotten quickly, a positive lasting effect of colonization is shared colonial culture and history. It can bond very different peoples and nations making you all global peers.