CARNIVAL IN GOA - circa 1972
Carnival or Carnaval (in Portuguese) is a pre-Lent celebration held for three days beginning on Sunday before Ash Wednesday in Goa. It is full of fun and frolic for the young and old. Clad in various costumes and garbs of every style and colour, children, young boys and girls roamed the villages from house to house showing off their fancy dresses. Sometimes they could be your next-door neighbours in a costume you will probably not believe or recognize. But guessing who the reveler might be was part of the fun.
Intruz (Carnival)
It was the premiere day of the Carnival,
The first day of the exuberant festival,
Morning as bright as could be,
Long shadows in the early dawn
Cast across the village earth so forlorn.
As grandma swept rhythmically
With besom in one hand
The other in a peculiar style of own
Perched gently on her hip
The entire front courtyard
She swept tirelessly.
The crow perched on the branch
Of a nearby mango tree
And cawed repeatedly;
She looked towards the crow and said:
“Is there a letter on its way for me from my grandson?”
As she shifted her gaze from the arched pattern
Made from the constant movement
On the cool morning earth
By the bristles of her broom;
She motioned to the hens and chicks in the backyard
To quieten down their very own grand symphony.
Intruz (Carnival)
It was the premiere day of the Carnival,
The first day of the exuberant festival,
Morning as bright as could be,
Long shadows in the early dawn
Cast across the village earth so forlorn.
As grandma swept rhythmically
With besom in one hand
The other in a peculiar style of own
Perched gently on her hip
The entire front courtyard
She swept tirelessly.
The crow perched on the branch
Of a nearby mango tree
And cawed repeatedly;
She looked towards the crow and said:
“Is there a letter on its way for me from my grandson?”
As she shifted her gaze from the arched pattern
Made from the constant movement
On the cool morning earth
By the bristles of her broom;
She motioned to the hens and chicks in the backyard
To quieten down their very own grand symphony.
But Grandma was brave,
She had handled many a “devchar”
And innumerable “moenkar”
And witnessed many a “Intruz”
In her time before;
So daringly she held her ground
As she stood in the doorway.
She guessed right who the lads were,
But was polite enough she was
Not to mention their names
Of the faces
That hid behind the masquerade;
The lads did not a single word utter
Out of their own fear
Afraid as that would blow
Their own cover.
But grandma hinted instead:
“Up there from the hillside
Of the village on the other side,
I am pretty sure who you are”,
“So take this four “annas” young lads,
And on your way you better be” she said sternly,
“I hope you know that Lent starts tomorrow,
So in church I will see you
On time, and for sure in the first row”.
She had handled many a “devchar”
And innumerable “moenkar”
And witnessed many a “Intruz”
In her time before;
So daringly she held her ground
As she stood in the doorway.
She guessed right who the lads were,
But was polite enough she was
Not to mention their names
Of the faces
That hid behind the masquerade;
The lads did not a single word utter
Out of their own fear
Afraid as that would blow
Their own cover.
But grandma hinted instead:
“Up there from the hillside
Of the village on the other side,
I am pretty sure who you are”,
“So take this four “annas” young lads,
And on your way you better be” she said sternly,
“I hope you know that Lent starts tomorrow,
So in church I will see you
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