31 Mandir and Masjid
Mwanza had one mandir, a Hindu temple, two masjids, mosques, a gurudwara a Sikh temple and a church. We could go to any of these except the stone built town church which was for the wazungu, Europeans only. Non-white Christians had to go to their churches, less imposing, mostly a long mud-brick hall with a thatched roof. Neither did any town kids frequent the town church because there was nothing to be got from it. Whereas at the temples and the mosques, there was always something to eat, which varied according to the rituals or the feasts. Irrespective of their faith all the kids went to these various festivities to join in the meals or the offerings. However, the Hindu children being vegetarian, accepted only the sweetmeats at the mosques. Thus they missed out on wonderful pillau or biriani, very fragrant rice and meat meals.
The Hindu temple was placed at the back of the residence of the maharaj, the priest. There was a small forecourt to pass through. In its gate hung a large bell, which the worshipers rang as they entered the temple. I loved the sound of the early morning bell ringing as it reached our house, which was not far from the temple.
The temple held bhajans, devotional singing, every Saturday evening. Amid the ringing of hand-bells, the maharaj lit the lamps and the joss sticks placed at the feet of the statues of Shiva, Krishna and other deities. He chanted and recited ancient Sanskrit prayers with responses from the congregation. When finished he took his place below the alter and the bhajans began, with three resounding Om chant. Everybody sang to the accompaniment of tabla, Indian drums, harmonium, tambourines and small hand cymbals. Our response to the verses was as loud as we could get. This was in the hope that it pleased the maharaj and would hand us extra offerings. Sometimes as he came over to us, laughingly he said to the congregation, “Jow, jow badmasho! Prasad lewaj awya che. Wandho nahi, bhagwan na batcha che!” “See, see the rascals! Are here only for the offerings. Never mind, they are god’s kids.”
The Sikhs held their worship every fortnight on a Sunday. This was held at their other gurudwara, temple, on the way to the market. They too sang devotional songs also accompanied with the tabla, and the harmonium but without the cymbals or the tambourine. At the end of it all there was a communal langar, meal. Everybody sat cross-legged on hessian bags on the floor. Half a banana leaf was placed in front of each person and food was ladled on it. All the left overs and the leaves were carted away to the dairy farms. The meals were wonderful and were followed by a sweet dish, sihra.
During this gathering all the men wore traditional garb of a long white tail shirt over an also white, tight fitting Jodhpur like trousers. All men, and some elderly women carried their kirpans, kirks, slung on their left and all men wore turbans of varied colours. Both men and women wore a kada, an iron bracelet on the left wrist. This was symbolic of the forearm guard the Sikhs wore during their warring periods, some centuries back, particularly against a tyrant Moghul emperor, Aurangzeb. Together with the women, also in their traditional kamiz, a long sleeved, knee length top, over baggy trousers, made of very colourful material, the langar was a very festive occasion. If Dhall Singh our neignbour spotted me he always called out," Oi Parsi dha puttar!" "Oi you son of a Parsi!"
The Muslims gathered at the mosques on Fridays it being their day of worship. There were no offerings or khana at the mosques excepts on the days following the end of Ramazan, the fasting periods. After the sighting of the moon, which heralded the end of the fast, prayers were held at the town mosque. At the end of it there was a communal meal also served on banana leaves. The mosque had two sittings, a lunch time one for the women and an evening one for the men. Of course, some of us went to both. They also organised a small fete in the town square opposite the Vishy, the Indian eating house.
These festivities that followed the breaking of the Ramadan fast were very different. All types of stalls were built and all the town vendors gathered with their wares. The man who did a very brisk trade was the potter. This was his annual shop-day and people gathered to buy or replace their wares. The most important item was the water pot. Every house stored the boiled then cooled drinking water in earthen pots, which sat on a metal ring on a three-legged stand. A very fine film of water oozed out of the pot. As this evaporated the water inside stayed very cool. There was always an empty tin under the pot to catch the drips.
The two the horse and chair rides at the fete were fun too. Both were operated manually and pushed round and round by a couple of guys. As the fete was free the kids filled it for all the rides, including a ride on Sheikh Maina's donkey.This fete was also a gathering of all the local musicians and singers. After dark people gathered under brilliant pressure lamps to listen to these groups put on their specialties. There were traditional Indian dances, garba and dandia or rasda, ghazals and kawalies, a form of singing of poem that is done in praise of love or God. Men, women or a mixed group performed both. The garba is danced in a circle, clapping in rhythm to the music and the singing. In dandia or rasda the dancers circle and click sticks to the music and a song. These sessions continued very late into the night.
The various religious festive days were celebrated and enjoyed by all except the Europeans who attended only the very formal gatherings to which they were invited. Everybody else joined in irrespective of his or her faith. During the Hindu festival of Holi, a bonfire was prepared in the town square. It was lit after sunset and all were sprinkled with coloured powder or sprayed with dyed water, and everybody had a merry time, laughing at coloured spattered bodies. People threw coins in the fire to seek devine favours and we scrambled to grab which fell on the edge. The next morning we went past the bonfire early to pick up more coins before it was cleared away.
Another major Hindu festival, marking the end of the Hindu year, Diwali, was great fun. All the Hindu shop owners placed oil lamps or coloured lights in their shop windows and the shop fronts. At every shop there was a platter of dried fruit, sweets, and sweetmeats. These were for all the customers as well as passersby. We went from shop to shop filling pockets then retiring to the river for ujani, a picnic. The shopkeepers also gave out packets of tiny firecracker to the children. We carried a burning incense stick to light these and as we moved from shop to shop we let off the match-sized crackers, as we sang a Diwali ditty in Gujrati.
Dilawli na diwas ma,
Ghar ghar diwa thai,
Fatakada futt, futt, futte,
Balako manma bohu harkhai.
On Diwali day,
All homes light lamps,
Futt futt, the fire crackers burst
Children are filled with joy.
All the important town folks, headmasters, teachers, doctors, the hospital medical officer, bank managers and the managers or the heads of various departments and businesses flanked the dais, decorated with string of small Union Jacks. After inspecting the police guard the Provincial Commissioner delivered the Royal Message. At the end of it all the band led the police guard back to the lines, trailed by a mob of town children. The Indian Mwanza Sports Club held an Xmas party in the evening, attended by all members and guests, which lasted late into the night.
Christmas was fun time for us at the bakery, which was run by Mr. and Mrs. Vaz from Goa in India. As it had to cope with a large order of Christmas cakes, Mrs. Vas called us kids to help her with it all. After the seasoning and baking was done, the cakes had to be trimmed in preparation for icing and decorative wrapping. The cakes were trimmed according to the customer design, then iced and decorated. At the end of the day, all the trimmings were portioned out in brown paper bags, each receiving a bagful. These we converted into our own little cakes, by rolling the moist trimmings into balls and storing in an empty biscuit tin.
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