Hi Roland, Catholic Goans in some areas of Bombay seemed to have been completely insulated against Marathi song and dance in the sixties. One factor may have been the dedicated preference for English music and the inescapable ubiquity of Bollywood all around one. (Hindi culture came at you from films and TV too). There were people elsewhere, of course, who weren't as chary about other languages; I remember once hearing the tiatrist Bab Peter, either on stage or on TV, holding forth at length in fluent, Bombay Marathi! Listening to these newly-discovered East Indian songs now, it seems that there is a repertoire just waiting to be discovered if only we can hear it over the louder clangs of Bollywood and Western pop. What resonates with me in the songs sampled since Saturday is the similarity of the Goan life experience with the Marathi East Indian's, both of us being coastal people (in large part), and subjected to other comparable stimuli, particularly the influence of the Church.
Do check out the following numbers, which are equally engaging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAQDi04xMs0 (The song's provenance as described in the introduction: "Papletwaali" is an adaptation of the Marathi folk song "Ago Sargewali" by Chintamani, a Koli singer-songwriter-composer for Pehli Pehel, a series of songs released by Zubaan, which is a music project that has been working to connect indie artists from different parts of the country. Like his other songs, "Papletwaali" is influenced by the Koli songs that Chintamani grew up singing to and performing all his life in Worli Koliwada in Mumbai. His songs bring alive a vibe that makes you dance to its rhythms.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN5bkKlXzM (SHELDON HENRIQUES AND ANITA GOMES / AAPLI SANSKRUTI / URTA DUET) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk4Ovc8wztw "15 + 15 = 25 / Rynal Tixeira & Snedden Kinny / Old Is Gold" (A gaonwalla (East Indian) and paowalla (you know who, right?) duel over their respective cultures (I presume) (wink emoji)).
