As someone who has a particular fondness for Konkani (largely thanks to Geeta Aunty, a Bombay neighbour who has treated me like a son), I was fascinated to know that the Konkani Gaud Saraswat community has a long-established presence in Kerala. While browsing through a 571-page report written by MK Devassy, an IAS officer who was the superintendent of census operations in 1961 in the state, I came across insightful information about various communities in the Palakkad and Thrissur districts. Devassy’s writings about the Koncanees (as he spelt it) were particularly interesting.

Devassy mentioned that some accounts suggest that members of the community fled Goa in the 16th century on account of forcible conversions to Catholicism by the Portuguese colonisers, while others claim that some Konkanis moved to Malabar in search of better trade opportunities.

“Several batches came to Kerala in the 16th century and landed in Calicut, Cochin and Poracad,” Devassy wrote. “Receiving a cold welcome from the Zamorin at Calicut, the batch that landed at Calicut came down to Cochin thus making Cochin the most important centre of the community.” Apparently, the rulers of Cochin were happy with the community’s “natural aptitude” for trade and welcomed them with open arms. These warm sentiments did not last too long as the maharaja of Cochin was pressured by the Portuguese to harass the Konkanis, who ended up getting a better deal when the Dutch expelled their European rivals from Kerala.

The Konkanis slowly spread out to other towns in the princely state and began to thrive. Jacobus Canter Visscher, a Dutchman who served as a chaplain in the St. Francis Church in Cochin from 1717-1724, mentioned the community in his letters to friends and family in the Netherlands. “They are much fairer than the natives of Malabar,” he wrote. “The women are good looking and wear a quantity of ornaments such as gold chains, ear rings and nose rings set with precious stones or pearls and bracelets; in addition to which, there is generally a thick silver ring on one foot hanging over the ankle.”

Visscher said the men stood apart in their physical features from others in the region: “They are a tall and handsome race with fair complexion, regular features, thin lips, prominent nose and broad chest.”

The complicated caste structure made it difficult for Konkanis to completely feel at home in Kerala even centuries after moving there. Devassy mentioned in his survey that the Namboothiris did not view them as equals. “The Saraswath Brahmans were not admitted in the temples or permitted to take part in the social functions,” he wrote. “This policy of the native Brahmans drove them to flock together and construct their own temples. As a retaliation, in these temples the Saraswath Brahmans did not admit the other communities, including the Namboothiris.”

By the time of the 1961 census, the two communities freely entered each other’s temples, but the inner sanctum was off limits. The Konkanis managed to maintain their distinct identity in Kerala for centuries thanks to the social dynamic. “In customs and manners they have borrowed next to nothing from local communities,” Devassy wrote. “Neither have they given up anything important from the ancient practices that they brought with them.”

The surveyor added that the community spoke Konkani at home and carried out correspondence in the Malayalam script since the language did not have a writing system of its own. The community was initially divided into different groups based on their occupations with the surname Pai signifying agriculturalist, while Shenoys were writers and Prabhu was a headman. “These titles have lost their significance at present,” Devassy wrote.

The community used ghee in their cooking and maintained a vegetarian diet and did not eat fish, unlike Konkanis in some other parts of India.

Devassy also observed that the customs of the community were gradually changing in the early 1960s. “The Goudasaraswath Brahman women till about two decades ago wore numerous massive ornaments, interestingly antique in appearance,” he wrote. “Almost all these special items or ornaments have now vanished and are possessed by some old women who look them up as cherished possession and seldom use.”

While Kerala has generally been tolerant, it has never been a melting pot. Each community seems to be welcome in the state and has the full freedom to observe its own language, culture, customs and traditions, but despite being fluent Malayalam speakers, many non-Malayalis will tell you that they are made to feel like outsiders to an extent. This invisible wall needs to be torn down.