27 Feb 2022  |   06:32am IST

We need to keep our traditions, but can’t stop the march of modernity: Dr Viegas

Recalling the flavour of village Carnival DR SAVIA VIEGAS says she is not fond of nostalgia to hold on to the old Carnival. She says, we cannot stop the march of modernity and appreciates the critiquing of Goan identity or government action and policies in modern day carnival floats

Having been raised a Catholic most of these (Salcete) villages had a monoculture they were Catholic villages so you celebrated Christmas, you celebrated all the festivals. I think from 1961 to 1964 they did not celebrate Carnival and that was a time Carnival was revived following the Brazilian model but a carnival essentially was part of Goan psyche," Dr Savia Viegas narrates.

"It was a season for merrymaking, followed by Lent. You had monos (speech impaired) people who came to your home masked (they were typically your relatives), incognito so then they knew everything about you, then used to bai Savia Borem asa mugo? and then you knew who it was from the voice. They would wear a pink or light lime green or a blue mask typically and then they would cover their head, wear funny clothes.

"It was essentially a social visit but what was interesting was Carnival also broke down social barriers which existed in the villages because though Catholics are followers of Christianity we still retained the Indian system of caste so that was the time typically for girls who had got boys interested in them they would come dressed incognito," she adds.

"I remember my parents taking me to Margao in 1965 to see a major dance and that was a huge parade of Kunbis wearing traditional dresses that is the man with the lungat and they had the banyan and copot around and the women wore the traditional red saree and they were dancing the traditional dances across the road in Margao," Dr Savia recalls.

"Typically if you go back to the history of Carnival l it starts in the Middle Ages in Rome in Italy and then it spreads to other Catholic countries --typically Spain, Portugal and France. So for some time Napoleon banned it and then it becomes a festival which percolated to the colonies. It is brought by the settlers to the colonies and because there’s so much of a 'Catholic thing' in it, it signifies something in Christianity, the hiding, the looking therefore you imbibe it as a festival," Dr Savia observes.

Asked about the changes she has seen in Carnival over the years, Dr Savia says, "I’m not very fond of nostalgia. I have roamed the world, I’ve lived in Bombay and America and I’ve come back here and I really see myself as a global person, you know a citizen of the world who embraced a very cosmopolitan culture so for that I don’t think I have to go back to my nostalgia to preserve my identity because I believe in the power of now. Modernity is something that you cannot resist and hideaway from nor can you bring tradition back because the past is something that cannot be revisited, past is the past but having said that I also feel there is a delink between Christianity and Carnival today."

"It’s become very commercial though I do like some of the issues they take up. When you have floats they are critiquing things like Goan identity. They are critiquing things like what’s happening with drugs, what’s happening with tourism which is unbridled. There are no stops and checks put by the government to kind of create tourism that is healthy for Goans.

Asked what she thinks of the Carnival of today, Dr Savia says, "The carnival of today actually takes off from several models in the past colonies of Portugal and Spain. It’s a colourful festival but it’s overtly commercial you know I wouldn't like the community to embrace that as a festival also partake in it at the village level with understanding of how or what this festival means to the youngsters. You know you can’t progress or you can’t stop the direction of growth in modernity. It will happen because from a monoculture, we are becoming very multicultural but at the same time, for the community that lives here it’s also important to be proud of their own heritage."

Finally Dr Savia winds up with "Viva yeah Viva Carnival, I say that as a Goan not because I’m Roman Catholic….. I am a Roman Catholic but I’m also Goan and that’s my heritage."


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