Cajuchem Fest, a festival celebrating this much
loved seasonal fruit of Goa – the cashew, was recently
organised in Pomburpa, Bardez. The festivities
involved a visit to a plantation where the fruit is
collected, deseeded and processed for niro, urrak
and then feni. “There is much more to cashews
than just feni and urrak and we want to highlight the
various uses of cashew in Goan culture,” says Marius
Fernandes, who recently organised the Cajuchem Fest
in Pomburpa. The festival featured bebemiani, a game
where bebe (raw cashews) are lined in a row and a fat
botto cashew is used to aim at the row. The cashews
that fall on the left hand side are won by the striker.
Aparting from celebrating the cashew, this
festival had another purpose: that of documenting
tradition. The participants were invited especially to
document the festival in their own way. Alexyz was
seen sketching Thomas Fernandes, the owner of the
plantation, as he distilled the fruit juices as his wife
Eliza helped serve authentic Goan food. Musician
Carlos Gonslaves and his friends added music to
the event and Miguel Braganza, Secretary, Botanical
Society of Goa, gave his point of view about the
cashews.
“There are many festivals that are held in Goa but
no one thinks about preserving the information for
the next generations. There were so many games
based on the cashew seeds that were played in
summer, the art of removing bebe from fokka, even
using the hook to collect the fruit from the tree. I want
to have these festivals as a people’s documentary
which is voluntary and can be done in any form.
For this festival, Miguel Braganza has supported us
in compiling the information,” adds Marius, who is
planning the same model for other festivals like the
upcoming Great Goan Art Festival on May 1, 2017.
Miguel Braganza says, “We are planning to
document this festival by asking participants to send in
their material, past or present, related to cashews and
traditions of Goa. This information will be compiled
into a book and it will be published by the Botanical
Society of Goa and the printed books can be used for
future reference. We hope to use the same method of
documentation for other festivals related to plants.”
Giving more information about the origins of
cashew trees in Goa, Miguel explains, “Countries like
Brazil and Guatemala also had cashew plantations
but they used to make cashew wine from its fruit.
Since Goa had coconuts and we used to make
coconut feni from the toddy, the same method was
used to make cashew feni. The first documented
record of the consumption of a cashew seed was
in 1926. Cashew trees are especially planted on
the hills as they help prevent soil erosion with their
rooting system.”
Sanjeev Sardessai, a noted historian, documents
historical sites and stories through his programmes
on the local television which are also streamed
online. “Goa has many interesting stories to tell
and one of them is the process of how cashews are
grown and how the fruit is made into feni. Cajuchem
Fest highlighted all these aspects. I am trying my best
to do the documentation through programmes like
‘My Goem’ and ‘Go Goa Know Goa’,” says Sanjeev.
Working with children and youngsters, Sanjeev
feels that history should be made interesting for the
younger generation. “I get an amazing response
when I visit schools for history workshops. I have
presentations for students and they pay full attention
to the three-hour workshops. There are hundreds of
festivals of Goa and they should be documented for
the coming generations.”
Carlos Gonsalves of Talking Drums, has been
amazed with the response for the Ghumtache
Fest that was held in February this year and since
then has been promoting the instrument for future
events. He was also a part of the Cajuchem Fest. “It
is saddening that as Goa develops, the only sight
we see of cashews are when they fruits reach the
market. Experiencing its entire journey is a different
experience. I documented the festival as I took
photographs that were then posted on Facebook. I
played the ghumot even for this fest and it was an
amazing experience,” says Carlos.
