It’s that
time of the year when men get into women’s clothes and frolic around in public
to the cheers and jeers of a bunch of onlookers. This year, it also coincided
with Valentine’s Day, leading to many girls wondering if those longing looks
directed towards them were looks of love or whether the men were just eyeing
their wardrobe for the next parade. It’s not that we men exclusively dress up
as women for Carnival but there’s something about it that brings to mind
colourful, extravagant, loud clothing that would put actor Govinda’s wardrobe
to shame. Normally well dressed boys and girls deck themselves up in joyously
uncoordinated colourful attire including fancy headgear, capes and masks.
Parading and swaying to the sounds of Samba Music as well as our very own
Konknni mandos, dulpods and a fair bit of house and trance.
There’s a
feeling of happiness and celebration in the air. Float parades are organised at
many places in Goa with huge decorated floats stacked with speakers blaring
music while colourfully dressed people dance atop and behind these floats. Led
by King Momo and his troupe, they travel along a route lined by people cheering
and waving on both sides. While all this sounds very spontaneous and fun, these
parades also have a theme decided every year by the organising committee which
also checks the floats for decency. Think of it as a censor board for fun. Yet
those garishly made up hairy men dressed as women with enhanced ‘assets’ slip
through every time! Then there are the sponsored floats that take things too
far. While putting up a massive float takes a lot of money it should be more
than just a bunch of big posters tied to all sides of a truck while some boys
and girls dressed up like the product walk behind the float distributing
samples and pamphlets. Despite all this,
the spirit of the people participating shines through especially in the family
and group sections of the parade. Comically dressed people in decked up
vehicles spreading cheer and joy all around.
Besides the
parades, there are dances, stage shows and samba squares that make the most of
the final 4 days of fun before the 40 days of lent begin. The sounds of music
fill the air. Bands dish out a lot of the traditional Goan music with a bunch
of samba tracks while DJs play the latest EDM tracks. Food, drink and dancing
all around with people dressed up in the brightest outfits; it really is a
spectacle for all.
This year,
a bunch of musician friends came together to put on a special float. Not a huge
one but one that we did not take any sponsors for. While we were a part of the
parade, we didn’t participate in the competition and we did it purely for the
love of Carnival and the samba. Decked up in our most colourful, we paraded the
streets of Panjim drumming out the samba beat. everal people gave us a huge
“Viva Carnaval” shout when they saw us, while others…were just a tad taken
aback that the smoking hot chick that blew them a kiss was l’il ole’ me.
