Re: [Goanet] The Vulgarising of Narkasura Night and Diwali
Last night's spectacle proved my point about the coarsening of Narakasur night. I took a spin through Panjim, Ribandar, Chimbel and a few other areas. The only locales without eardrum-splitting music were the Ribandar Patto and Chimbel. Ribandar Patto had on display an impressive (from an artistic pov) Narakasur. A couple of minutes away, the traditional Narakasur of Chimbel was equally compelling. Part of the celebration there involves a beautiful procession of Sri Krishna wending through the village with people making offerings along the way, to the accompaniment of soft devotional music and bhajans. This is how it was meant to be. Everywhere else it was an abomination. As an unapologetic Hindu fundamentalist, Hindu traditionalist, and a Goan nativist, the crassness was appalling. There is NOTHING Hindu about beyond-tolerance thudding amplified noise. The music itself had absolutely no connection to Hindu tradition or even to India. I have held in contempt the efforts by Muslims to commandeer public spaces on a regular basis for their namaaz, in India and in the West. Same with the nuisance of their loudspeakers from the mosques. Some will justify last night’s uncouth show by saying it is a once-a-year event. No. There is no justification for that volume FOR EVEN ONE SECOND. I am not a killjoy. For those young folk desirous of an adrenalin rush brought on by high amplitude sound waves, a limited concession can be made subject to two clauses: modest volume capped with a specified limit and only until midnight. After midnight, no amplified sound. How many Goans are going to step forward and demand this from the administration? My guess - not even a handful. Most will only bitch about it on social media. These savages have fouled the nest and killed the spirit of Deepavali. PS: I will make a post on my Photo Blog in a few days. The Narakasur images featured will be from the eardrum-splitting-music-free zones. Rajan Parrikar
[Goanet] A NOT SO BRIGHT DIWALI
Diwali our Festival of Lights is here. However in Goa it is gloom and doom on all fronts. There can be no festivity with potholed roads everywhere as well as very erratic water and power supply. Besides, due to lack of vision and prompt corrective measures, the Goan economy is in a muddle bringing no cheer to the small businesses in particular. We are facing the brunt of the endless greed of our current politicians who are adding more concrete buildings to an already badly battered Goa without caring to first put the basic infrastructure in place and with no respect for our fragile environment. The garbage and sewage discharge problem has reached a point of crisis with the government also having miserably failed to tackle even the stray dogs and cattle issue. Proper healthcare needs to be provided to the poorest of the poor in hospitals and health centers across the State as we cannot allow people to die due to lack of medical care. Creating quality educational facilities and delivering on a good and dependable public transport system should have also been the thrust of those in Power. Instead they have successfully transformed Goa into a Gambling, Prostitution, Narcotics and Crime hub. But frankly nothing was ever expected from an inept Pramod Sawant as Chief Minister who has been only busy glorifying himself at public functions while his utter failure to lead the State out of the mess is there for all to see. For a State exchequer reeling under acute financial distress, as an austerity measure the government should have stayed away from pompously spending. On account of the intentional follies of this uncaring government we are today left to partake in the Festival of Darkness with not even a glimmer of hope or a chink of light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let us hope that this government burns its demons of personal greed, neglect and incompetence so that the people of Goa can celebrate a victory of good over evil and by so doing we can hope and pray for a miracle that Diwali 2023 will be full of glow and a Festival of Light worth celebrating. Adv. Aires Rodrigues C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.in
[Goanet] Goa’s Great Derangement (O Heraldo, 23/10/2022)
https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/By-invitation/Goa%E2%80%99s-great-derangement/195591 Although parts of his instant classic were written here, Amitav Ghosh wasn’t thinking specifically about Goa in his urgent, game-changing *The Great Derangement *(University of Chicago Press, 2016). The great novelist and writer’s ambit was more expansive and ambitious, ranging across the full extent of contemporary global imagination. And yet, it cannot be denied his analysis strikes painfully true about what is happening in India’s smallest state. Every scrap of evidence indicates an existential threat is already upon us, from rising ocean levels triggered by global warming, but no one in charge ever pays any attention at all. One more tragic data point in “the broader imaginative and cultural failure that lies at the heart of the climate crisis.” In an excellent interview with *The New Statesman* earlier this week, Ghosh warned that “climate change is essentially becoming an all-out war and this is just the beginning. When you come from a poor country such as India, you learn not to listen to what politicians say, but to look at what they do. They are basically preparing for war. No one is even pretending anymore.” He said “nationalism, military power and geopolitical disparities are fundamental to the dynamics that have repeatedly stymied efforts to reach a global agreement on rapid decarbonisation [and] rich, powerful countries assume that the people who will be affected will be black and brown people in faraway places. This is another great delusion.” Ghosh’s interview is in an issue guest-edited by Greta Thunberg, in which the resolute teenager herself continues to pull no punches: “The world’s political leaders are in denial, actively delaying change and distracting the electorate. Rather than coming together to combat the crisis, the global community is fragmenting as wars are waged and great powers compete for control over scarce resources and territory. We should abandon the illusion that our politicians will come to the rescue of planet Earth, especially those who delight in calling themselves climate leaders. Time and again they have betrayed the faith that has been placed in them – using greenwashing and PR strategies disguised as politics.” Pay close attention to Thunberg’s conclusion: “A critical mass of people – especially younger people – are demanding change and will no longer tolerate the procrastination, denial and complacency that created this state of emergency. I believe in democracy and in the power of collective wisdom. It is not too late. We have a duty to help as many of our fellow citizens as possible understand the dire situation we are in. We must all do more to explain, inform and educate; public pressure can create profound change. At the age of 19, I already feel like a broken record – but we need to keep repeating the message on climate action, constantly. For hope begins when we open our eyes and swap the impotence of words for the power of collective action.” Those are stirring sentiments, accompanied by Thunberg’s trademark call to action, but can it work in places like Goa, where the leadership is in lockstep in the exact wrong direction? I thought to ask Puja Mitra, of the superb North Goa-based conservation and social impact enterprise Terra Conscious, and MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Management from Oxford, who is an invaluable force for good in Goa’s fledgling movement towards responsible tourism. Over a solid decade – starting with breathing new life into WWF-India’s outpost in Miramar – this tireless 38-year-old has constantly advocated for best practices and better thinking about nature, the marine environment, and the ever-present crisis of climate change. Mitra sent me the* State Action Plan on Climate Change, 2020* by the Goa State Biodiversity Board, which looks ahead to 2030 with this shocking assessment: “Goa stands to lose a large percentage of its land area, including many of its famous beaches and tourist infrastructure.” She said the plan clearly lays out “threats and vulnerabilities” but “without any clarity” on solutions. “The language is vague. How are sea walls 'natural mechanisms'? What do you mean by 'climate proofing'? There is a very real and tangible disconnect between the devastating concretization being unleashed on the ground, and the rhetoric of ecotourism, and wanting to preserve heritage and culture.” If we do not act fast now, “whatever is laid out in the state action plan will happen, and we will have no ability to withstand it.” How can one tiny state sustain so many high-impact projects, asks Mitra, “and still become climate resilient simultaneously” to the extent required to face its own official predictions about what’s just around the corner? “We state that we want to 'climate proof' but we also refuse to abandon our vision of ‘development’ or even ‘progress’. Plans mean nothing without action, which requires awareness and
[Goanet] The Vulgarising of Narkasura Night and Diwali
After a week in amchem Goem what is striking is the complete absence of the enchanting mood & atmosphere that once prevailed in the days leading up to the night of Narakasura and Diwali. The number of Narakasura effigies have multiplied immeasurably even while the actual spirit of the occasion has diminished to a cipher. Everything in today's Goa is an assault on your eardrum, your nose, and your eye. The miasma is comprehensive - aural, visual, oftactory. I am recycling an old article I wrote. There is an effort afoot these days to either erase crucial points of tradition or filter it through the 'progressive' lens to fit a certain narrative. I don't need any 'culture theorist' (a strange term for a pompous prick) to tell me what is and isn't Art, and what is and isn't Hindu tradition. Ruminations on Narkasur by Rajan Parrikar (Goanet, Oct 2009, revised Nov 2012) While Narakchaturdashi is observed throughout India, the practice of staging Narkasur effigies and their dispatch at dawn ushering in Deepavali is confined to Goa and areas within the cultural boundaries of Goa (such as towns in North Kanara and southern Sindhudurg in Maharashtra). Narkasur-vadh is what Goan Hindus associate Deepavali with. I am not sure the tradition of exhibiting Narkasurs exists elsewhere in India. At any rate, it is reasonable to assume that the scale and fervour of the Goan observance is not to be found anywhere else. How did Goa come to embrace the Narkasur mythos and when did the practice originate? I don't think there is definitive research on the topic, and we must seek recourse to anecdotal accounts (memo to self: find out more about the history of Narkasur in Goa). My guess is that the practice is at least 100 years old. My father, now 91, recalls that the Narkasur effigies of his childhood were to be found in the villages of Bittona (Britona) and Ribandar/Chimbel. According to him, Mapusa acquired its own Narkasur circa 1950, and there was a kerfuffle at the time involving the Portuguese (details of which I forget). Narkasur was introduced to Panjim in the early 1950s, first in the Mala area. In the mid-1950s, 3 other Narkasur sites came to be firmly established: (1) near Mahalaxmi temple (Deul vaddo), (2) in Santa Inez near the slope leading to Altinho (behind Gomantak), and (3) our very own (much before I was born) at Cacule Chawl in Santa Inez (now site of the hideous Caculo Mall), opposite Tadmad ground (now the Fire Station). Until 1980 or so these few remained the established Narkasur digs in the Panjim area. >From the earliest days the practice was to unveil the Narkasur effigy for public viewing until midnight to the accompaniment of loudspeakers blaring out the hit songs of the day on 78 rpm records, interspersed with the beating of drums. Those were days when Panjim still had its original trees. At midnight the celebrations turned mobile. The demon’s carcass was hauled onto a truck and taken around the city to the beat of dhol and other implements of noisemaking. The children of those days remember the looping chants of the signature ditty. For one night this off-colour utterance in the company of elders and ladies was permitted. Narkasura re Narkasura navim navim kaapdaam bhokann bharaa (Narkasura O Narkasura Let's stuff new vestments up your arse) In our Cacule Chawl comprising 5 homes cheek-by-jowl, the earliest Narkasurs of my memory (late 1960s) were cobbled together with a contribution of 3 rupees from each of the 5 homes – that is, the total cost of the hardware worked out to less than 15 rupees. That amount later increased to 25 rupees and stayed there for many years. My father functioned as the treasurer, stretching every single rupee, comparison-shopping for crepe papers (foli), the gold and silver trimmings (begad) at both JD Fernandes and Barnabe Souza, two of Panjim’s historic stores. Other raw materials required were jute, nails, and lumber. The hay for the stuffing was 'stolen' in the middle of the night from a local landlord’s field in a choreographed annual ritual. The biggest expense - perhaps as much as half of the entire cost - was the Narkasur mask. The artists from Mapusa were especially renowned in this department. Unlike today, these were custom-designed faces and supply was limited. My father's Mapusa connections ensured that we got a good product at a good price. By 1970 the 5 homes in our chawl had grown to accommodate a critical mass of youngsters in their teens and early 20s, besides the under-10s of my generation. In that year, our elders had a brilliant idea. Instead of dissipating the youthful energy in rambunctious behaviour as was the norm, they figured it could be channelized in creative and cultural pursuits. And thus was born the Tadmad Sanskritic Mandal. From that year onward, in addition to staging an imposing Narkasur effigy, we put up an outdoor variety entertainment programme. The initial cultural direction was pointed by
