THE DOVORNNEM

DOVORNEM

In front of the Chapel

of Our Lady of the Rosary

THE 'DOVORNEM'

"Take a load off Annie, take a load for free
Take a load of Annie, and you put the load right on me".

In the old days our Goan folks walked long distances from villages to the towns and vice versa. They also walked great distances to visit their relatives and friends. But some of the folks who grew vegetables, bananas and other produce, carried them to the market place in huge baskets placed upon their heads.

Very often these folks would be waiting at one of the structures called 'Dovornem' by the side of the road. These were constructed in laterite stone that enabled these hard-working folks to place the load they carried on their heads on these square-shaped structures and take a breather before proceeding on their journey either to or from the market.

By design, the height was intentionally finished off at an average person's height, so that there wasn't any need of another person either to lower or lift the load up back on their heads. What they merely had to do was slide the basket on the top flat surface of the 'Dovornem'.

Often, people also waited for others to join them at such spots, so that they would have company to travel in a group, thereby risking a lesser chance of getting themselves mugged or robbed of their jewelry or cash as they walked through lonely forests and hills.

When I was a young lad I have, on many occasions, accompanied my mother on such walking marathons, visiting my grandmother from Guirim to Siolim, and have comes across people who took some rest at such places, after from carrying the heavy load on their head for hours, so that they could give themselves a break or cool themselves off from the long walk and over-powering heat, especially in the summer. 

These trips were often scary, and the merchant and ordinary folks tried to hurry home through the hills before nightfall, specially through a slightly frightening, eerie and sinister area called 'Sonar Khett' well known in the old days for thieves hiding in the forests, and preying on lonely women making their journey through these hills.

In the old days these simple laterite structures perhaps beckoned the passerby to lessen his burden, but nowadays some of these structures lie abandoned and neglected, a few of them barely visible among the overgrowth of bushes along the sides of some roads.

These structures are found in many places along the Goan countryside roads. I wonder who constructed them long ago - was it the local 'comunidade' or government? It  is my opinion that the word 'dovornem' is derived from the Konkani word 'dovor' meaning 'to keep' - hence 'dovornem' - meaning: 'a place to keep'. I hope the panchayats will try to maintain these old 'masonry platforms' as a heritage artefacts.