It’s the time of the
year to brush up on the lyrics of Christmas carols as villages across Goa have
already started this age old practice of carol singing before Christmas and a
few days after Christmas. Many traditional Christmas carols focus on the birth
of Jesus Christ, while others celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas and
Christmas themes including winter carols which refer to celebrations with the
family and the children’ favourite, Santa Claus.
In Goa, there are
groups that gather for impromptu carol singing at venue with family and friends
and it is not just Catholic members but even the Hindu brethren who come
forward to sing the carols and play the musical instruments. A truly unifying
feeling watching the community come together as one.
In Aldona, under the leadership of
Joseph Fernandes, people from different walks of lives gathered at the Aldona
Triangle to sing songs of joy. Nelson Figueiredo from Ranoi, Quitula was one of
the members who revived his childhood memories by singing at the Triangle,
where events were held before they were moved to a bigger venue. “We wanted to
revive tradition and this was the first Christmas Carols singing serenading in
Aldona. We had around 15 people who joined in and took part in it including
Jaywant Naik, who played the ghumot. It was an impromptu session. A few friends
gathered and those who were passing by joined us. We had a couple from
Netherlands who had landed on the same day who joined the choir. We even had
non Catholics who were singing the carols with us. The venue also made it
special for us. The Aldona Triangle has the statue of Edward J Soares, the
founder principal of St Thomas High School in Aldona. In Portuguese it was called
Aldona Triângulo which translates to Aldona Triangle in English,” says Nelson
Figueiredo, who plays the mouth organ.
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The next performance of the carol
singing will be held at the same venue on December 19 at 6.45 pm. “The last
time there was some programme in the church and children and youngsters could
not join us. On December 19, we are hoping for the larger group wearing
Christmas theme clothing and caps to add the festive flavour to the Christmas
Carols,” says Nelson.
Nicole Soares and John Lino de Melo
have been encouraging people to sing Christmas Carols since 2018. Even during
the pandemic, they organised an indoor carol singing session. They have sung
carols in different parts of Panjim including the steps of Our Lady of
Immaculate Conception Church, Panjim, Fontainhas and this year at Miramar.
“Members who join us annually include
Leona, Loretti, Alden, Nixon, Vinette, Electra, Carmen and Peter while this
year, we had a few new members who were as excited to sing the carols. We were
joined by Yvonne Rebello, Priyanka and her daughter and Priyanka’s friends and
their daughters too,” says Nicole Soares.
She further adds, “The aim is to introduce the meaning
of Christmas to people and bring joy in the festive season by merrily singing
Christmas Carols. These are tourist spots, so we usually get people asking us
more about the songs and Christmas. I printed a few well known Christmas Carols
and distributed them. They are very easy to sing and everyone enjoyed the
evening.” The carollers sang ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Hark the Herald Angels sing’
among other carols to the music of guitars, harmonica, ukulele and Portuguese
guitar.
