Early Morning Greeting Down by the Village Well

'DEU BORO DIS DHiUM'

(Konkani)

English Translation: Good Morning

I remember when I was very young, the village community well near our house did not have a pulley and it had been difficult to draw water, but in later years, it was much easier – fun, exuberance and pleasure combined. This had been possible after two laterite posts were constructed, with a wooden beam across them and a pulley system installed over the well, through labour and money contributed by those who used water from the well.

In Goa, the most common and memorable, classic and timeless, first greeting of the early morning in Konkani : ‘Deu Boro Dis Dhium’ (Lit. trans: May God give you a good day or Good Morning) were the first words of the day that were said to one’s neighbours, who also came to fetch water......down by the village well.

Some of the good old days of yore have now given way to overhead tanks, municipal water pipelines and electric water-pumps providing the village folks with tap water, in addition to the benefit and ease of sprinkling their gardens with rubber hose pipes.