Konkanis in Cape Town, South Africa

The Konkan also called the Konkan coast is the name given to a stretch of rugged and beautiful section of the western coastline of India from Thane District to Goa. Konkan is also one of six divisions of the state of Maharashtra. The Arabian Sea is the main key role player in the development of the Konkan region.

Konkani Muslims originate from the area on the West Coast of Maharashtra in India. The Konkani Muslims are a seafaring people and their main sources of livelihood are farming and fishing. The Arabs had been trading with the Costal Indians long before the coming of Islam and in time a trading relationship was established. By the time the Arabs preached the word of Islam in Arabia, links between the Konkani's and Arabs were centuries old. The Konkani's retained their rich cultural heritage and continued to live in peace and harmony with other communities. At the turn of 20th century many Konkanis had moved out of India in search of employment, mainly to the new British colonies in Africa where they became successful traders, businessmen and skilled workers. Many Konkanis took up British citizenship and settled down in these new colonies mainly Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rhodesia. However, after two generations in the 1960’s and 1970’s these colonies started gaining their Independence. The Independent countries started their own Africanisation programmes and some of these settlers because of political reasons, migrated to other parts of the world. Konkanis who migrated to the United Kingdom form the bulk of the community and are mainly settled in the big cities. Some who migrated to Britain from the Indian Sub-Continent for further education, settled there after completing their education because of the demand in their professions and skills.

Konkani Muslims speak Konkani, a Marathi dialect, peculiar to the community. They are descendants of Arab traders. Konkani Muslims are heavily involved in the merchant navy, shipbuilding, and textile industries in India. Most in villages are also involved into farming and fishing, whereas many work as expatriates in Gulf countries. They trace their ancestry back to the Arab traders who arrived on the Western coast of India during the medieval era. The Diaspora spread out around India and the rest of the world but maintains their strong sense of community and identity. The Konkani Muslims possess most of the important attributes of an ethnic group. Like the Maplas of Malabar, they are the progeny of Arab immigrants and Indian women; they speak the same dialect of Konkani language, and marry among themselves, in anthropological terms they are generally endogamous. Yet, according to Dr. A. R. Momin, "the Konkani Muslim community has a well defined system of ranking and stratification. They frequently have fair skin, and light eyes. The scope of this article is about the Konkanis in Cape Town, South Africa from the Konkan Division of Maharashtra.

What were the social and political factors that encouraged Konkanis to immigrate to South Africa …? The greater part of the Konkan population was involved in agriculture and peasants were impoverished. In 1875 there was an outburst of protest against harsh economic conditions and this led to "grain riots". In 1896 there were demonstrations against moneylenders and grain dealers following the onset of famine and high prices. In the same year there were several incidents of rioting and grain theft. The late 1890's also marked an increase in banditry and poor peasant's protests. In districts such as Thana, the Marwari class was looted unmercifully leading to acts of brutal violence. The grain riots became endemic. British rule was altering the implications of indebtedness and was perceived to be against aspects of the Khoti system. There was a population influx especially into districts such as Ratnagiri. This led to an intense demand on land resources. In the Ratnagiri district the population had increased. This led to a decline in per capita income resulting in an influx to other districts of the Konkan such as Raigad and also Bombay.

In Bombay the stories of Cape Town and the mining boom in South Africa were heard from Konkani sailors working on British vessels. The Cape was a British colony and this facilitated the emigration from Konkan to the shore of Cape Town by several Konkanis escaping the social and economic situation in Konkan. Though initially many Konkanis worked as manual laborers and hawkers, as soon as they were capable, however they went into business independently or worked as shop assistants. The Konkanis tended to become retail general dealers and butchers. Amongst the Konkani's of Cape Town, E. Nordien Mukaddam arrived in 1888. He came from the village Dignee (Taluka Sangmeshwar). He was self educated and by 1908, he owned several shops in Cape Town. As the Konkanis of Cape Town started prospering in their retail business many village societies were formed to cater for the welfare of their respective families. In Konkan for instance many schools, mosques, water works and roads were built by these village societies and individual members. Prominent amongst these schools were Anglo High School Dapoli, Furus High School, Wahoor High School, and Murud High School. During the late 1950's nearly every big Muslim village had a high school for which a considerable contribution was made from these societies. Amongst these new high schools Haji Dawood Amien High School Kalusta, Haji Mukaddam High School in Khed and Morba High School are well known. "It is regrettable however that less effort was made in the educational advancement of the community in Cape Town". The exception was the opening of Habibia Primary School in 1946, due primarily to the efforts of Mr. Balu Parker.

There are more than 40,000 Cape Townians that can trace their roots directly to the Konkan region. We consider such South Africans of Konkani origin an integral part of South Africa and this the modest attempt at helping them to more meaningfully understand their historical backgrounds. All people need to learn about their past and need to be able to participate in their own legacy.

Most of the Konkanis spoke Konkani, Urdu and Africans and tended to maintain their village connections and identities. Since the late 1800s Muslim Indians at the Cape, especially Konkani Indians, who remained prominent, also cooperated with other Muslims to achieve communal and political goals. Konkanis in South Africa organized in different ways to structure their environment, express their cultures and pursue their interests. This includes Religious Authorities, Voluntary Associations and interest pressure groups and joining bigger political groups. Konkani history too is the sum of the contribution of many religions and people from many countries have contributed to the Konkani culture in Cape Town, South Africa.

Source of Information : Konkan News : Volume 3, Issue 1, January-March 2011

Article written by : Mrs. Nujmoonnisa Parker (Konkani Delights, Cape Town, South Africa)

Importance of Girls’ / Women’s Education

In present competitive world and with a global economical situations, education has becomes very important tool to survive. Education provides an individual the teaching skills that prepare him/her physically, mentally and socially for the world of work in later life. Thus education is major aspect of development of any modern society.

Education is a right of every individual. Higher education does not mean for boys only, it includes girls as well. We must not forget, if a man is educated he serves his family only, but if women is educated she serves the coming generations.

Gender inequality in education is extreme. Girls are less likely to access school, to remain in school or to achieve in education. Cultural and traditional values stand between girls and their prospects for education and often leading to a life of missed opportunities.

Normally in our culture we educate our girls till high school standard (Class 10^th or 12^th), and then she gets engage either in helping her mother with the household work or parents may look for her getting married early. Because of the family negligence on the girls education, girls have lost their interest in education. Sometimes even if they are interested they step backward because of their families misconception that “women’s needs to ultimately take care of their own family, so why to educate them … ?”.

We must understand the facts that :

• Education plays an important role in enabling girls and women to secure their rights, thus she can stand firm on the discrimination and equality done on her.
• Improving educational opportunities for girls and women helps them to develop skills that allow them to make decisions and influence their own family.
• Education provides girls and women’s with an understanding of basic health, nutrition and family management, giving them choices and the power to decide over their own lives and the family.
• In today’s world which is full of opportunities, an educated girl is able to do paid work (employment) thus helping her family with an income and may overcome the poverty.
• An educated women promotes a better education for her children for their better up bringing and thus women’s education directly or indirectly leads to progress of family and the society.

Parents should realize this and should encourage their girls for secondary and higher education, which will definitely mould them to be ready for any unforeseen.

Remember education helps an individual to claim his/her rights and realize his/her potential in the economic, political and social arenas. It is also the single most powerful way to lift people out of poverty. Education plays a particularly important role as a foundation for girls’ development towards adult life.

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Check few related articles such as :

• Choosing Right Career after Class 10/12 : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/04/choosing-career-after-class-10th-and.html
• Careers in Aviation : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/aviation-is-large-field-so-it-will-not.html
• Carrers in Commerce : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/careers-in-commerce.html
• Career in Hospital administration : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/career-in-hospital-administration.html
• Dreaming Towards Reality : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/03/dreaming-towards-reality.html

For parents :

• Check Kids must be encouraged to talk freely : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/kids-must-be-encouraged-to-talk-freely.html
• How fathers can improve communication with kids : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-fathers-can-improve-communication.html

Credit of this article is also given to : Kokan Committee Riyadh by Arbina Abdullah Hunerkar

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Choosing a Career after Class 10th and 12th

Social message to community on importance of Education :

Before starting this beautiful article on choosing right career it is very important first to educate our parents about importance of education.

We have to realize a fact that the world is changing and technology rules our day-to-day life, so it is important for us to prepare our next generation to face this change by giving them best education. Being social media network coverage has increased, parents shall also understand the importance of socializing with their kids; this will reduce a gap and children will be socially free to discuss their wellbeing with their parents. Remember parents and teachers plays most important part in guiding a child to a right path.

Also it is important to return back to the community what we have earned and learned from the society. Those who have migrated to foreign lands in search of better prospects shall contribute any significant achievement to our community in the race of development and progress. By sharing the knowledge/skills with the community, will inspire, motivate and build confident within our youngsters and thus prosper our community social being.

Today educating children is very important because :

• A human being will not attain his full heights until he is educated.
• Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
• An educated people can be easily governed.
• Education is all a matter of building bridges.
• Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
• Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
• Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.
• Education is the transmission of civilization.
• Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

Choosing the right career :

Choosing the right career is very important for both students and their parents. An individual spends a considerable amount of time working, so loving one’s job becomes important for personal and professional satisfaction. A student who wants to pursue professional courses/degree, are quite clear but for the remaining, a lot of thought goes into choosing the right option.

Check also flow chart of Career Path finder at http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/carrer-path-finder.html; the flow charts will also help students and their parents to choose right career.

This article mainly focuses on the building blocks for selecting a career.

Know Thyself :

The first step to select a right career is to know oneself well. As a teenager, it is quite likely that the decisions that one might take are influenced by one’s peers. The decisions thus taken might not be right for a person.

So, what should one do ? As the ancient Greek aphorism reads, “Know thyself”. Knowing oneself is a continuous process and it should not stop. The more an individual knows himself, the clearer he will be about what he wants and does not want.

So, how does one do that? “Make a list of interests, likes and dislikes. Then, on the basis of that list, try finding careers related to one’s likes and aptitude. For example, if someone likes to write, he can find careers that involve writing and enroll for a course related to that, like mass communication, for instance. Apart from this, there are some self-assessment tools available in the market, but the important thing to keep in mind about these tools is to ensure that the test is a bonafide one and the norms are duly validated.”

Dilemma after Secondary School (10^th Standard) :

Once the person chose his interests and likes then he can opt the stream accordingly i.e. Arts, Science or Commerce.

In case a student is not sure about what he or she wants, than choose a stream that will keep the maximum number of options open, example by opting science one can move on to engineering, medical or can at least complete graduation.

Remember, before taking a plunge into a certain career field, it is always good to know what that field has to offer. Talk to parents, teachers, or a senior whose sense of judgment can be trusted. Alternatively, you can read about the career you intend to choose in books and over the internet to find out about the pros and cons of a particular field which will help you immensely to arrive at a decision.

Dilemma after Higher Secondary School (12^th Standard) :

Deciding upon the right career option is quite tricky for both students and their parents. Most of us go through the same dilemma even after passing class 12^th. Once you are through with your 12^th exams and you still have a lot of questions bottled up, the following are some clarification on dilemmas.

Dilemma 1 - I have fared poorly in my boards, what should I do ?

In case you do not do well in your boards, you always have the option of taking entrance exams for admission to various courses. In fact, many students prefer to take entrance exams for admission to professional courses like BCA, BBA, BTech and MBBS. The basic requirement for most entrance exams is 50% in your 12^th.

Further, you can take up alternate careers and pursue your interest e.g. IT related courses in networking, software development, hotel industry, journalism, tourism and travel management … etc; the options are endless, all you need is to know what you want.

A simple option can also be considered to complete graduation; at least it adds your higher qualification level in CVs.

Dilemma 2 - I have decent marks in my boards, but I don’t know what to do ?

Your college tenure will stretch over 3-4 years. In case you are not sure about which specific career to choose, join a good college, keep your eyes and ears open, and explore your options during that time. Indeed, there is always an option to pursue higher studies. For example, many engineers tend to go for an MBA instead of an MTech. Exploring your options, knowing what you want to do and then doing it is the mantra for success.

Dilemma 3 - Subject or College :

In case you are very sure about what you want to do, it should always be subject over college. Like they say, there are many ways to skin a cat. After you get admitted to a college, it is up to you to extract the maximum out of it. Any place will give you as much as you want to get out of it.

Dilemma 4 - To drop or not to drop that is the question :

On the issue of dropping a year, we should realize that a year is a long time. One might start off with enthusiasm, but sustaining that enthusiasm and zeal throughout the year is very tough.

Dropping a year, even if you are sure about what you want to do is not the best solution. Let’s break a simple looking 1 year into smaller and realistic looking numbers. One year has 12 month; each month has 30 or 31 days (excluding February), that is 365 days; each day has 24 hours, that is 8,760 hours! Studying something that you already have studied for this long and keeping yourself motivated for these many hours is a tough ask. Then, there is also a possibility of d?j? vu. Hence, a better option would be to maximize what you have and keep preparing for what you want. In simple terms, join a course and keep preparing, so that, in case something does not go according to plan, you will still have something in hand.

I know what I want, but ?

There are times when you want something but you don’t know if you possess the skills required for that profile. If you are interested in a particular field, your passion can compensate for your lack of qualification to some extent. Of course you do need to possess the basic skills required to work in a certain field, but interest, enthusiasm and willingness to excel in a particular field can help you overcome those obstacles to a great extent.

There might be other factors like non availability of funds, for which an answer is for example, “Not many have deep enough pockets to sponsor education in the field of, say, motor sports. But, if you have keen interest in motor sports, you can look at related fields like sports journalism, test driving cars and bikes, writing about cars, becoming an automotive photographer, designing cars, remodeling cars and doing umpteen other things related to your passion. So, before taking a plunge into a particular field, try to find the viability of that field and compare it with your strengths, availability of funds … etc.”

You want to pursue a course, but no college in the 250 km radius offers that course. There is a very simple solution to this problem. Move out. Travel the 251^st km by foot, if you have to. A person should realize that life is anything but a bed of roses.

In the words of Gautam Buddha, “Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” So, follow the light and tread the path of enlightenment.

Career Guidance Advisory Panel :

In order to help the young Konkani generation in all possible ways, Konkan Tribune have formed an advisory panel consists of experts from different fields. The experts from our panel will guide our children the best they can. The members details are given at http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/p/cg-advisory-panel-members.html

If any queries, please feel free to write us at : konkantribune@gmail.com

Related Articles :

• Careers in Aviation : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/aviation-is-large-field-so-it-will-not.html
• Carrers in Commerce : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/careers-in-commerce.html
• Career in Hospital administration : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/career-in-hospital-administration.html
• Dreaming Towards Reality : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/03/dreaming-towards-reality.html
• Higher Education in India Portal, list of career option after 12^th and graduation : http://www.highereducationinindia.com/career-options/index.php
• India Education.net portal : http://www.indiaeducation.net/

For parents :

• Check Kids must be encouraged to talk freely : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/kids-must-be-encouraged-to-talk-freely.html
• How fathers can improve communication with kids : http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-fathers-can-improve-communication.html

Credit of this articles in also given to IndiaEducation.net, and Education in Indian - Higher Education in India.com portals.

Promoting Konkan Part 1

This is really a beautiful video, good for promoting our Konkan Region Tourisim. I hope you will enjoy.

Patience : Easier said that put into practice

-- Source of Information : Online Counseling and Every Day life.com --

Patience is a virtue (strength of courage or daring). With that four word sentence being said, you cannot imagine how difficult it is for many individuals to follow that virtue. Patience comes from the Latin word pati which means to suffer, to endure, to bear. It is the ability to tolerate waiting, delay, or frustration without becoming agitated or upset. It’s the ability to be able to control your emotions or impulses and proceed calmly when faced with difficulties. It may appear to be passive; however it is an active, purposeful and necessary form of self-discipline. Yes! the matter of waiting for things to come to you, is something that can and needs to be cultivated.

Without patience many of our actions would be counter-productive and ultimately much time and energy would be wasted spinning our wheels. Surely, patience is a time-tested virtue. There are many things in life that require patience, some are big like becoming a doctor or a mother but most of them are just daily simple accomplishments such as waiting in line or dealing with a some tasks. If an individual want to learn how to cultivate this virtue, the following points shall be considered in his daily life practices. I’m sure by implementing life will be better.

• Keep your eyes open. If you are usually impatient about the same type of things you might be able to discover patterns. Which events, people, phrases or circumstances always seem to make you lose your cool ? Sit down and make a list of all the things which cause you anxiety, tension, or frustration. Try to avoid or change the ones that you can, and of course, let go of the things that you can’t change. Easier said than done, but unfortunately you only have those two choices : empower yourself and do something about it or let it go.
• Be mindful and live in the moment. When you are doing something focus on that and only that. Many times we get impatient because we are thinking about all the other things that we need to fit in our schedules instead of just being in the moment.
• Distract yourself. When negative or anxious thoughts start rising, catch your self and STOP. Picture some relaxing scene or try to think of something else. Getting impatient won’t make things move along any faster, so why get worked up for nothing?
• Practice delaying gratification. Developing patience isn’t easy so don’t try to practice with your big goals in life. Start with small things. Practice waiting a few minutes before you eat that dessert that you so much want, or a couple of days before you go on that shopping spree, stop and think about it first. Maybe you don’t need or want any of them that badly after all. You can save yourself some money or added calories. If you decide you do, wait as much as you can before you give in.
• Practice, practice, practice. Developing patience is much like physical exercise because it gets easier with practice but you need first to develop the muscle and habit.
• Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success. As a Dutch proverb says “A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.”