Our Panjim’s spaces, its lovely old streets, its buildings a
throwback to the era which was far more elegant and genteel, have been reclaimed
for a week. And hopefully will energise us to keep a hold on our
re-assertiveness.
This weekend, this
wanderer went on a walk of rediscovery. Of spaces so familiar but yet missed,
of buildings seen but not experienced, of folks who were always there but their works of art
seldom seen, bursting like a creative volcano, with the lava of creativity
consuming every pore of Panjim’s old quarter and its periphery.
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Last week, we spoke
of what was on offer as Serendipity hit town. Its arrival, has left most of gawking
and yet overwhelmed that the sheer gorgeousness of our town has so easily
embraced the word of art, theatre, cinema, culinary art, making those of
Panjim, feel so Parisian.
The sanctum
sanctorum of this is the Adil Shah palace, supported splendidly by the other
venues the PWD complex, Bento Miguel, the promenade and the DB Ground. And
there are surprises at every turn. At Bento Miguel a quaint little venue where
the art works are displayed, there is a painting of a contemporary Goan artist
whose work looks from another time and place. She is from Siridao married to a
boy from Divar. The attempt to toast and celebrate Goan art is commendable.
“The Invisible river of Konkani Surrealism” curated by Vivek Menezes explores
close linkages between Goan artists as ambassadors of Goa’s cultural evolution.
At Serendipity, which is and yet it is
so much more than an arts festival, you can dip in and out of myriad
experiences, each moving, each breathtaking.
Each venue is a
journey. A poignant and very moving exhibition on the impact of an oil tanker
spill in the Sunderbans, tells you the story of the trials and tribulations of
the people of this fragile river basin. The sense of loss at the loss of
ecology in Ganga Brahmaputra river basin, evoked empathy for those of us here
who feel the sense of the same loss in our Goa. Photographer Arati Kumar Rao
who has documented this ecological loss through photographs says “Slow violence
is neither spectacular or instantaneous, and is borne by people away from the
glare of graphic media and loud news cycles. The social fall-outs of
environmental degradation is slow violence, its true implication manifesting
over several generations, in places far removed from the trigger points”
The music aspect of
the festival has been crafted by Ranjit Bharot and Shubha Mudgal and it can
seldom get bigger than this. It includes celebrating drumming traditions from
Indiaan and other cultures, ‘People’s Music’ which captures themes, styles and
people producing the music of resistance in the Indian subcontinent and then of
course, there are the evenings of good old classical music to look forward to.
From theatre to
dances to culinary art, the list is endless and seamless. And while each should
be sampled, imbibed and reported in every possible form it can be (and we have
and will continue to do that that in your paper), this is bigger than the sum
of each of its divine parts.
This is about a
Panjim coming alive. There is absolute joy in the faces of those roaming the
streets around the venues, with folks telling each other “This is what Panjim
is and should be”. An international festival has touched Goan hearts. And a
‘goan’ festival, (especially the culinary section) has made an international
arts festival feel at home.
And then there are
the finer fallouts. The streets of Fontainhas and Sao Tome filled with visitors
and volunteers from other parts of the country and the world, the much loved
Venite restaurant, filled with the chatter of those lunching and soaking in the
experience
of our Latin quarter, and the languid movement of folks
from venue to venue, not in any particular hurry but with the gladness of souls
who have sampled a sliver of an existence which is divine.
This is the soul lifting quality of Serendipity with the warmth
of Panjim as its catalyst. In its second year, Serendipity has settled in. And
Panjim won’t allow it to leave.
