The Village Wells of Goa & 'Deu Boro Dis Dhium'

Down by the Village Well

GOA - India

(Pen and Ink drawing by Tony Felix Fernandes)

In the old days every village in Goa had at least 4 or 5 communal wells. My house was located near one of such wells. These wells provided us with crystal clear natural water for drinking, cooking, bathing, watering plants in our garden and trees around the house. Winding narrows paths from neighbours' houses lead to the well. Long before dawn I would be awakened by the noise of copper pots clashing against each other or as they were placed on the ledge of the well. When I was very young this well did not have a pulley. It was installed in recent times and makes drawing water considerable easy.

The beautiful common greeting in Konkani: ‘Deu Boro Dis Dhium’ (May God give you a good day or Good Morning) were the first words of the morning to one’s neighbour who we met when we went to draw water from the village well.

Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages and is spoken on the western (Konkan) coast of India. It is one of the official languages of India, the official language of the Indian state of Goa and is a minority language in Karnataka.