WORLD GOA DAY DAY BONDERAM FESTIVAL 2010
A decade has elapsed since the inception of the movement for the
solidarity of world goans initiated in the year 2000 by Mr. Rene
Barreto, the coordinator of goans world over.
The response by goans to the call by Rene to show their love for their
mother tongue, Konkani, which was accepted by the government of India as
a state language, by celebrating August 20 as World Goa Day each year,
was overwhelming and spontaneous. Goan associations throughout the world
wasted no time in showing their interest in this worthy and challenging
objective.
Since then Goa Day has been celebrated in every nook and corner in all
the continents where goans are located and the movement continues to
gallop at a rapid pace and in the ensuing years promises to envelop many
of the unchartered areas. This year Rene requested that the ladainha be
included as the main theme to commemorate the completion of a glorious
decade of solidarity between goans everywhere. The Divar Association of
Toronto has celebrated this day each year in August together with the
Bonderam Festival. This year being the decade year they decided to
celebrate in a grand way at the Sapphire Banquet and Conference Centre,
959, Derry Road, Mississauga on 22 August. This function proved to be a
tremendous success in every way and was attended by a huge gathering of
divarkars including a dozen who were visiting Toronto. As usual many of
our well wishers and friends also joined us and enthusiastically lent
their most welcome support. The demand for invites was beyond
expectation but because of limited capacity of the hall we were
constrained to refuse the late comers. Many of the the attendees
expressed their feelings to me and I quote " the food was good, the
music was good, the lighting was good, the venue was good, the guests
were good and the show was organized well".
The program began with the singing of the Litany in latin, followed by
the Salve Rainha in portuguese in honor of Our Lady of Fatima who paid a
special visit to celebrate the occasion, thanks to Mr. Anthony Pereira.
Then we sang the oracao of St. Francis Xavier in konkani for the patron
saint of Goa. Then, after a brief speech by the president welcoming the
attendees, the merrymaking began with Richard Coutinho of DJ-Symphony
providing excellent music to suit the occasion and exhibiting a dazzling
combination of multi-colored lights. The attendees were thrilled and
danced their heart out until the announcement of dinner. The sumptuous
meal consisted of yellow pilaf, butter chicken curry, sorpotel, goa
style prawn curry, spinach and paneer, dal makhani, green salad, raita
and nans. Gulab jamuns were served for dessert. We express our thanks to
Clarina Coutinho who was largely responsible for the preparation of
sorpotel and the prawn curry which gave a goan flavor to the meal.
The parade of the sixteen flags of the vaddos (wards) of the island of
Divar carried by prominent divarkars began soon after. The grand march
moved around the hall to the accompaniment of march, polka and goan
masala music. After circling around four times the flag bearers gathered
in the centre of the hall for photographs. At this juncture several of
the attendees in the hall could not restrain themselves any longer and
joined in the parade. As the crescendo of music accelerated the
spectacle of dancing and merrymaking crossed new boundaries and was a
treat to watch.
During the course of the evening the song composed by Mr. Basilio Magno
‘proud to be a goan’ was played and at popular request of the guests,
mandos and dulpods were sung by the them during the dinner.
It was indeed a very successful and enjoyable evening and all had a very
good time. A special word of thanks to our secretary Juliet Diamante
(nee Pinto) for her tremendous effort in the printing of the invites and
controlling the arrival and reception of the guests. I must also express
my appreciation to Suzanne DeSa for her very much appreciated assistance
in ensuring the attendance of over 30 of her friends. Last but not the
least, I cannot adequately express my thanks for the performance of my
son Richard who excelled beyond expectations and steered the function so
very well with the assistance of Max Pinto.
At the conclusion of the function the president and his wife thanked the
attendees for their participation and fond farewells were exchanged with
the promise to meet again next year.
Maurice Coutinho
President
Divar Association of Toronto
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Goa-launch of the well-received *Into The Diaspora
Wilderness* by Selma Carvalho on Aug 29, 2010 (Sunday) at 11
am at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. Meet the author, buy a signed
copy (only Rs 295 in Goa till stock lasts).
http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
