RECENTLY CONCLUDED MANDO FESTIVAL The recently concluded Mando Festival (39TH.)was a treat to the lover's eyes. Despite its minus points, including organizational gaffes", it was a commendable event.
Mando, inherently, has a monotony of its own, and thereby it was predicted many years ago that it would die a natural death. But thanks to the efforts of many it still breathes on its own. Criticism there has always been and there will always be. I remember, how much ire the "stylized" Mando version (Mando estilizado) propounded by Fr. Camilo Xavier and Maestro Michael Martins received many years ago!If Mando has to survive it must come out of the rut. The organizers face umpteen difficulties. To start with it is the step-motherly treatment of the various Govts to an otherwise most enviable side of our Goan culture, the quintessence of Goan art. As the great writer/journalist/activist, Mr.Godfrey Gonsalves often reiterates "those in power discreetly promote only a certain type of culture of Goa, and fail to recognise the historical reality of cultural assimilitation by Goans". Truly speaking, genres of dance/music like the Mando, the dekhni and the khel-tiatr - to mention only a few- have originated in the red soil of Goa, clearly created not by the Portuguese (like our extremist die-hards often erroneously beleive), but by us Goans - true-blooded Indians, first and foremost! It is hilarious to know that the "extremist" Parrikar, last year, released a handsome grant well in advance for successfully staging the Mando festival. I am told, he even went to the extent of helping procure tens of advertisements, in order to help meet the enormous expenses incurred by the organizing committee in putting forth festivals of this magnitude.For Mr. Parrikar, of course, expediency is the name of the game. That apart, what surprises me the most, is the fact that the avowed secular "pluralistic" Congress has always succeeded in causing even more damage to our multicultural fabric. Both Luizinho and Digamber, I feel, released grants this year so late apparently in an act of bravado, in a last ditch effort to build their "pluralistic" images. Unfortunately, we have reached a point of time when Mando will be able to survive ony if it is commercialized. And that is to a great extent due to the step-motherly treatment meted to it by succesive Govts. This year, it is my humble opinion, the organizers did a commendable job, not only providing a good build-up to the event, but also sustaining the momentum, on that particular day (the 28th. of Jan. at the Majestic), despite heavy odds. It is sad - well nigh pathetic - that what my friend Godfrey says is so very true: "Ironically,neither the Department of Art and Culture nor the Kala Academy have framed the policy guidelines on what constitutes Goan culture. Thus, the successive Governments, will clandestinely continue to promote only the pre 1510 Indian culture as Goan culture". As a newly appointed member of the KA that I have been (malgre moi), I hope to voice the fears of all of us true-blooded Goans, at the first Board meeting of the KA that is going to take place at 4 pm on Feb 1, at the precincts of that grand institution that is the Kala Academy. Hopefully mine will not be "the voice in the wilderness". Dr. Francisco Colaco 151 G. Rebelo Rd. Margao. Goa Cell: 9823190318 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com