Cheers Dears By Augusto Pinto Viva Sai Baba! Jai Carnival!
Dears, Mikhail Bakhtin was a great Russian literary critic. One of the things he dwelt on was the Carnival. He observed how during the Festival of Fools the world gets turned upside down; emperors lose their crowns and paupers become kings. All sense of propriety is lost. Everyone irrespective of caste, race, profession and age become equals. The rich and the pompous, such as the politicians and the high priests who rule the world during the rest of the year are the objects of ridicule during carnival time. Bakhtin came to my mind this year on the first day of the Goa Carnaval, the so - called Fat Saturday. I happened to get stuck in Panjim as I needed to buy a suit to go for a wedding. Since the tailor needed some time to make some alterations, I had nothing better to do than to watch the float parade. I was bored to death. Where was the jolliness? Where was the riotous spirit of rebellion against authority? This was no Bakhtinian carnival where profanity took centre stage, where hierarchies changed, where suppressed voices blared out against oppressors. No - this very sanitised procession was very much a sarkari orchestrated tamasha. And as we all know anything that the sarkar touches turns into boredom. Disappointed by this government and business sponsored show, I ended up staring at the the prettier foreigners who came to witness the occasion like every other Indian male tourist. Later that evening, clad in my new suit I went for the reception of my young relatives and watched the youngsters dancing away in gay abandon. The handsome boys and lovely were jiving and rocking to the beat of some good music. The girls, were clad in the latest outfits, which happen to be quite short and revealed a lot of glorious young skin. I think that this fashion has been inspired by the global economic meltdown, as every effort has undoubtedly to be made now to save dress material and therefore money.There was more Bakhtin here, I thought, than at the Carnaval. Unfortunately I could not stay too long as for one thing my old lady does not approve of me having too good a time, and for another I had an appointment early next morning. I left her and drove towards home. On the way I saw the road packed with people and driving became became slow and difficult. I could hear drums rattling out a Ghoom - ta - kataar - Ghoom beat. Was this another carnival parade? Instead of struggling any further I decided to park my vehicle and watch. It was not a carnival show, but someone told me that they were waiting for a darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba's paduka or footwear. Curious I too decided to wait and see. It was not a long wait. A truck with the paduka appeared slowly wending its way with some sadhus on it distributing prasad. The crowd thronged towards it seeking a darshan, many in the modern style - that is with a mobile phone camera recording the event. That's when I had my carnivalesque moment of the year. Throwing my agnosticism to the winds, I thought to myself, 'What the heck! If so many people think that Shirdi Sai Baba's paduka is good for them it must be good for me too, and I became part of the collective. Clutching my mobile phone in my left hand and my right hand punching the air chanting "Shirdi Sai Baba ki Jai!! Jai ho! Jai Ho! Jai Ho! Sai Baba!! Jai ho! Jai Ho! Jai Ho!" I moved towards the paduka in my elegant new black suit as my silver tie fluttered in the breeze. I could sense the crowd, many of whom were wearing colourful sarees think that I was some sort of V.I.P. and make way for me, while just behind me came six bare chested young men wearing spotless white dhoties, beating their drums Ghoom - ta -kataar - Ghoom. It must have been a pretty surreal sight to watch. I wonder if anyone who knows the usual sceptical me saw me there. Ultimately I never did make it to the paduka as the convoy of vehicles had to get to the next venue started to move ahead and I got a bit tired too... But I think I enjoyed myself more than at the Carnaval. Till next time then... Cheers (ENDS) ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the February 25, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
