At Lourdes Convents' pre-primary's parents day, five year olds put up a cute performance in the mando (along with other items. These days, the school goes out of its way to be inclusive and ensure that everyone gets a chance to go on stage, which is both good and morale boosting.
I managed to get a sneak preview of the young mando performers practising, before I had to head off to Britto's for some alumni discussion, in connection with their Britto Community College initiative. (This is a school-linked initiative which offers short-term courses, to build skills and promote hobbies among just about anyone. It doesn't rely on governments for official affiliation and recognition, but rather adopts the informal route to build skills and make sure -- over time -- that the market recognises the quality of its trainings.) Coming back to the mando, it was really nice to see the initiative taken by the teachers, parents and musicians. Diogo (Diego/Digax) Fernandes, as you all would know, is a Lourdes Convent alumni of the 1970s, and ever willing to help. He plays the ghumot, as you see in the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrOh-oqplnw As we chatted briefly, Diego remembered the mando trainings that used to happen in the 1970s, mainly at Nicholas-late Fidelis-Richard's home (next to mine), at the initiative of their late dad Tertuliano ("Tertu" for short). Uncle Tertuliano was a kindly man and a good musician to boot, as I remember him. He, his family and the other musicians ran The Merry Makers, a prominent group around even those times when Johnson and His Jolly Boys held a monopoly over band performances in Goa. Maybe it's time for those interested in Saligao to push for building a mando group that can take part in the annual festivals. The mando festivals are growing in Goa, and attracting new interest.... Congrats to all those who put in the hard work, not overlooking the teachers and nuns specially (and also the musician-guitarist, who's not in the video, because he was busy performing while we stole the rehearsal :-)). FN -- FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490 http://twitter.com/fn On Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/people/Frederick-Noronha/502514643 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Saligao-Net" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
