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Vol No CX No: 231 Homosexuality: Cultural advance, decay or both?
Goa, Saturday 11 September, 2010
Harbinger of in portugal, homosexuality can be traced back to the roman occupation, says tEotÓnio r DE soUZA
happiness T he Biblical references in the books of
Deuteronomy, Kings and St Paul’s letter to
to the times of the Roman occupation. Portuguese
historian A H Oliveira Marques has studied ho-
T
Romans chastise in strong terms and with mosexuality in medieval Portugal, and Brazilian
oday is the Goan festival of ‘Chovoth’. As the name dire consequences the ‘sodomites’. ‘The Abject historian Luiz Mott continues to provide us ex-
suggests, it is the fourth day of the Shukla Paksha Sin’ (“Pecado Nefando” in the Inquisition files) was tensive research on homosexuality and pederasty
(fortnight of the brightening moon) of the month of also defined in the Buggery Act of 1533, approved in modern Portugal.
Bhadrapad in the traditional Hindu lunar calendar. This is in England under Henry VIII in 1534. The State I would suggest to those interested in this sub-
the day when all of Goa goes home. The streets of cities was thereby taking away the jurisdiction of the ject to start reading the classic plays of Gil Vicente,
fall silent as Goans return to their native villages to welcome Church in this respect. Infractions were punishable a court dramatist and a social critic of early 16th
and worship Lord Ganesha. This elephant-headed deity is with hanging, a penalty that was only abolished century Portugal. His Auto da India (1509) is par-
the best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu in 1861. It was only in 1967 that English law ex- ticularly interesting, with his sarcasm about wives
pantheon. cluded from punishment homosexual acts among and lovers who pretended sadness about the de-
‘Sukhakarta’ (creator of happiness) and ‘Dukhaharta’ (dis- adults, conducted privately and with mutual con- parture of their menfolk to India.
peller of sorrow), Ganapati is the God of intellect and wisdom; sent. The Portuguese Discoveries continue to be
his name – Shree – is taken before performing any task. Apart from converted Jews – the so-called ‘new celebrated as the beacon of national glory, but
Every cultural performance begins with an invocation to Christians’ or Cypto-Jews – in the Portuguese In- the massive (within the limits of Portuguese pop-
Ganapati, the remover of obstacles. Apart from the Indian quisition (including its Goan extension) sodomites ulation figures at the time) exit of menfolk con-
sub-continent, his images have been found as far away as were the most watched section of the population tributed to the promotion of sodomy overseas
in Cambodia (Angkor Wat), Indonesia (Java) and in Tibet. and also the most penalised, with torture and and lesbianism at home. That is precisely what
Today, there will be traditional ‘aartis’, ‘bhajans’ and fire- burning at the stake. Condemnations were based provided grist to the mills of the Inquisition.
crackers. The sweet smell of vegetarian cooking in ‘tup’ or upon inherited Judeo-Christian morality, which What Abel Botelho was exposing as a social
ghee will fill the air, as people make the traditional ‘Chovoth’ considered sexual acts among persons of the pathology in his novels was the national pathology,
same sex as contra natura and as the most abject, a result of a long-term disequilibrium of the male-
meal – with five varieties of vegetables and bhajia – and
dirty and dishonest sin, which was bound to pro- female ratio in the population at home and abroad
prepare sweets like ‘nevryo’ and ‘modak’. voke divine anger and put humanity at risk. during five centuries of the Portuguese empire.
This is the time when – as Catholics do at Christmas – Floods, famines, epidemics and other disasters The effects have come to stay, and the recent
Goan Hindus from all over the country and the world come were attributed to such divine wrath. The crime paedophilia sandal, which involved all levels of
home to be with their families and worship together. Village of sodomy belonged to the common jurisdiction the Portuguese bourgeoisie, is certainly not a
houses, closed for much of the year or inhabited only by of kings and the Church, and as a result of the stray incident.
the aged, come to life and resound with the patter of
children’s feet, as joint families once more come together.
fear, tears and different forms of subterfuge were
commonly resorted to by the accused.
HistoricAl ExplorAtions On 2 July 2009, the Delhi High Court decrimi-
nalised homosexual intercourse between con-
Three and even four generations together pay homage to In 16th century Portugal, the sodomites (fan- cational institution. Christian morality on a different basis, maintaining senting adults throughout India, holding that
this quaint-looking but lovable deity that has the head of an chonos) were imprisoned in the secret cells of Curiously, the records of the Evora Inquisition that procreation is the natural and only legitimate Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) violated
elephant, one broken tusk, a huge pot belly tied with a Rocio and other prisons of the Inquisition in the in 1621 describe the case of Domingos Fernandes, goal of sexual activity. the fundamental right to life and liberty and the
snake, rides on a mouse and loves eating sweets. continent and elsewhere in the empire. Most vic- from Elvas, also accused of paedophilia. He con- His O Livro de Alda (1898) is moulded on similar right to equality as guaranteed by the Constitution
This child of Lord Shiva, says one story, was made by his tims had their goods confiscated, were whipped fessed his sin when threatened with torture, but lines, but represents lesbian tendencies. We of India. As for paedophilia, Goa has yet to clear
consort, the Goddess Parvati, using the grime from her body in public, exiled to stations overseas or con- denied everything later. None of the accused in should not forget that Abel Botelho was a mem- the bad reputation it gained as a paedophile par-
and infused with life to stand guard and let no one enter demned to hard labour in the galleys or the gun- the present-day scandal are associated with the ber of the state-appointed committee that de- adise, despite the first life sentence for paedophilia
while she had a bath. When Lord Shiva came home, it is powder manufactory of Goa. A few dozens were clergy, but the records of the Inquisition include signed the national flag of Republican Portugal. in India for Anglo-Indian paedophile Freddy Peats
said, young Ganpati refused to allow him in, as instructed burnt during autos-da-fé. all categories of clergymen among the accused He wished to convey the ideals of the Republic in Aguada jail in 1996.
by his mother. A furious Shiva cut his head off, only to fall The need of hiding themselves from public dis- and those punished. for the regeneration of the nation. This consid- I do not think we had no paedophiles in tradi-
afoul of an incensed Parvati, who wanted her loyal guard credit gave rise to a culture of cypto-sodomites, O Barão de Lavos (1891) is a novel by the Por- eration will be particularly interesting in the tional Goan villages and within our families. Un-
brought back to life. Shiva promised to cut off the head of equivalent to the crypto-Jews. The ‘fanchonos’ tuguese author Abel Botelho, who was influenced background of the first centenary of the Por- fortunately, I have sad memories of paedophilia
the first creature he saw and restore Ganapati to life. That’s were bolder characters who did not care for by the writings of Émile Zola. The author pre- tuguese Republic, to be commemorated later in a Goan seminary, where the senior inmates
how he got his elephant’s head and one of his thousand- anonymity or their reputation being tarnished. sented his novels as analysing the Patologia Social. this year. The judgment on the paedophilia scan- abused younger ones. It was called ‘pokodpiação’
odd names, Gajanana (elephant headed). Today we would classify them as ‘assumed’ gays. He wished to denounce a social malady that af- dal in Portugal gains greater significance in this (a mix of the lusitanised vernacular expression).
He is also called Vakratund (crooked face), Lambodar (pot- The most recent case of paedophilia in Por- fected his country at the close of the 19th century. context. I could name some of the violators, but I wish
tugal ended in the conviction of six accused The Baron of Lavos, Sebastião Pires de Castro, On 8 January 2010, the Portuguese Parliament some of my contemporaries would come forward
bellied) Shurpa Karna (ears like a winnowing fan), Raktavarna
after a long-drawn judicial process that lasted was obssessed with persons of the same sex, and approved gay marriages with the support of the and confirm this sad reality in an institution that
(red skinned), Ekdanta (single toothed) and so many others. nearly six years, with much media-attention trained future priests. It is curious how such
ended up destroying his married life as well as Socialist and Left parties. On 17 May the President
Ganapati is fond of the colour red, and is offered red flowers worldwide. A house in Elvas was frequently men- the fortune he had inherited. Homosexuality is of Portugal ratified the legislation, making Portugal shameful practices – and they were not isolated
in worship. He is non-sectarian, worshipped by all castes tioned as a meeting point where the accused presented as an inherited disease. Nineteenth the sixth European nation to do so. instances – continue to belong to the realm of
and denominations, and practically in every corner of the sexually abused children from a state-run edu- century scientific ‘naturalism’ defended Judeo- In Portugal, homosexuality can be traced back silence.
country. Ganapati grants success, prosperity and protection
against adversity.
Today, in the morning, a clay idol of Ganapati will be
brought home and placed in a ‘matov’ with a beautiful ‘mat-
tolli’ above, decorated with bunches of betel nut, coconut,
Tongue in Cheek
All-new ball game By Adelmo Fernandes
I
bananas, mango leaves, banana flowers and other produce n the past week or so, we were bombarded with news of balls. can breathe easy. Imagine being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds (by bookies)
of the season. A puja will be performed, followed by an First there was the episode of Pakistani bowlers bowling no- Has Atala left India, or has he been eliminated and left the to bowl no-balls… From now on, bowlers will practice only one
‘aarti’, after which the food will be first presented to the balls at a premium. Then, there was the case of tar balls making world? That’s the big question. Now it’s an all new ball game. thing – bowling no-balls – since there is such a lot of money to be
deity in a ritual called ‘naivedya’. It is only after this that their presence felt on our beaches. But the news that really grabbed And, indeed, the ball is in the police’s court. They should have made doing it. Provided, of course, that you do not end up in a fix
members of the household will sit down to eat their special the headlines was the disappearance of the alleged drug peddler considered themselves lucky, as Lucky Farmhouse, Atala’s ex-girl- (for match-fixing or spot-fixing).
‘Chovoth’ meal. Atala. It seems that the cops made a gotala of the Atala case. friend, was in India and could have been interrogated by the cops. The latest news making the rounds is that cricket bosses are
An ‘aarti’ is then performed every afternoon and night, It seems that crime in Goa is now being carried out in partnership, But the police chose to ignore her. Now they are planning to in- thinking of legalising betting in cricket. So while batsmen bat in
till it is time for the ‘visarjan’, when the idol is taken in a where even more than parties are involved. We have the politi- terrogate Lucky Farmhouse in Sweden, where she probably owns the middle, people in the stands can bet. Cricket will never be the
procession with great fanfare and immersed in a pond, well, cian-police-drug nexus. This probably proved to be a profitable a farmhouse. These cops should consider themselves ‘Lucky’. same again. It will be an all-new ball game.
river, lake or in the sea to shouts of “Ganpati Bappa Morya” partnership business venture, where everyone had their (hash) Imagine interrogating a model as good-looking as Lucky in her But then, there is nothing new about the tar balls that keep
and the lighting of firecrackers. Most households keep the cake and ate it too. own Farmhouse! Be that as it may, it remains to be seen which rolling on to our once-beautiful beaches. These tar balls seem to
idol only for two days, while a few keep it for five, seven or Did someone say something about ‘Bolting the stable door after way the case goes. be growing by the day. People have been suggesting that these tar
eleven days. the horse has bolted?’ Well the Atala case seems to be just that. That brings us to a new theory in cricket. It pays to bowl a no- balls should be used to tar our pot-holed roads. Look out for con-
‘Chowoth’ in Goa is unique, and quite unlike anywhere Atala was here with the police and now he has disappeared into ball. After the no-ball controversy, where the Sri Lankan bowler tractors heading to the beaches, not for sand extraction but to ex-
else in the country. Lord Ganapati has truly blessed this land thin air. Was it a case of ‘fixing’ just like the match-fixing that is in Randiv denied Indian batsman Virendra Sehwag the luxury of a tract tar balls. This will be an all-new ball game for these contractors.
and its people. We only wish he would bring wisdom and the air? Well don’t blame the cops. Atala knew too much for their century by bowling a no-ball, there have been more controversies And what ball game are our politicians playing? Well they
enlightenment to its rulers. (the cops’) comfort. So, no Atala means that the police and politicians surrounding no-balls, as far as Pakistani cricket is concerned. certainly are finding it very difficult to set the ball rolling…
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