After we conclude this interview, we ask the interviewee of this piece to clarify whether her surname is spelt D’souza or D’Souza. Shortly after she replies, “D’souza”, we realise that she had already made a meme about it on May 28. “Nineteen years of my life, and I figured out if my surname is: Dsouza, D’souza or D’Souza,” it read. This is Samantha D’souza we are talking about, who is behind the Instagram (IG) page titled Probably Relatable Content, which has perhaps been a staple in the DMs of Catholic youth in this city lately.
The IG page was started by D’souza, a 20-year-old collegian who lives in Malad, a month after launching a Twitter account, on May 14. It’s occupied by screenshots of her relatable tweets, some coupled with TikTok videos or images — like how Pereiras and Sequeiras have spent half their lives telling people that the “e” comes before the “i” or pronouncing dumb charades as “dum sharaz”. The content at first wasn’t centred on the Catholic community and was college-related. But everything changed when her meme on the “Bombay masala” dance at weddings went viral, notching over 4,000 views.
Initially, D’souza would send tweets to friends, who found it hilarious and took screenshots of it, following which it circulated in college. “Every tweet is a reflection of my immediate family which comprises about 24 members. We are East Indian but my cousin brother married into a Mangalorean family, and we have relatives in Goa. I made a meme page because I wanted to convey clean humour that can be shared with families as most things on the Internet are quite explicit,” D’souza says.
She asserts that the content isn’t intended to poke fun but rather resonate with people (her friends suggest changing the page name to Certainly Relatable Content). An important part of this belief is to highlight that the Catholic community isn’t a generalised cluster of individuals who wear short skirts, are tipplers or bread-eaters, as depicted in popular culture; there are both nuances and commonalities to leading a Goan, Mangalorean or East Indian way of life.
D’souza follows her followers back and for anyone who leaves appreciation, she doesn’t end the conversation with “Thank you.” Every day, she receives messages that talk about how her posts made someone’s day. And ultimately, she hopes that the page becomes a gateway to understanding Catholic culture for people unacquainted with it: “Everyone talks about choriz pao but no one knows where it’s from. Nor do they know the difference between roce and umbracha pani [Goan and East Indian pre-wedding ceremonies], or sorpotel and vindaloo. This is what I want to address and if they are open to exploring it, we always welcome them to be part of our traditions. But I hope I don’t run out of content.”
Samantha D’souza
Log on to instagram.com/probablyrelatablecontent
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