The feast of the capital, that of the Immaculate Conception, is a celebration of the belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast is infallibly celebrated on December 8. It is a time when the city of Panjim comes alive. It is a time when religious fervour fills the air, when the square around the church is dotted with stalls, when people are attired in their Sunday best, even though the feast isn’t celebrated on a Sunday. No matter where these joyous people are coming from, they have turned up to celebrate. However, given the fact that Panjim always holds on to its heritage most dearly, given that it is a city that is steeped in tradition, one needs to ask, how close are the current day celebrations as opposed to the timeless gatherings of old? Zito de Gouveia Pinto is an institution in the capital city. As timeless as the city’s landmarks, he is as integral to Panjim, as Panjim is to him; and having been born and brought up in Panjim, he has seen many of these celebrations, perhaps more than most. “There have been changes in the manner in which the city celebrates the feast, and it is not for want of opulence,” he states sombrely, adding, “Let us take, for instance, something as simple as fireworks. The kind of fireworks that we have in this day and age are certainly superior to the kind I saw as a child, yet the fervour, the zeal and the soul of it all seems to be missing in modern times. Then of course comes the crowding. Panjim has grown, exponentially at that, and with it, all things associated with the feast – from stalls, to traffic to congestion.” Agreeing with Zito’s views is Father Cleto Pereira, the Parish Priest of Panjim. “Even the people who move out of the city for whatever reason almost always return at the time of the feast,” he believes. Much like his ‘Panjim-ite’ counterpart Zito, Aloo Gomes Pereira is another one of the city’s ‘fixtures’. From his standpoint, much has changed with regard to such festive celebrations, and not necessarily for the better. “The celebrations of the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary used to be an intimate affair. The ladies of the Latin Quarter would come together and set up their wares (usually of an edible nature), and their patrons used to be from the surroundings as well. This has since grown, and that growth is not one which is well reflected. The municipality has to be held accountable for the haphazardly setup, growing number of stalls that are neither aesthetically set up nor provide anything of interest. It is now a glorified bazaar, with much of the garbage left lying in the streets after the melee has ended. I do not believe that this is something that all citizens would want.” While the city was abuzz yesterday, celebrating its patroness, one can’t help but wonder whether in a time of modernisation, with all that is available at one’s beck and call – online or otherwise – whether the joy and camaraderie of old remains missing from these celebrations, as the old-timers of the city recall.
