Amongst the many floats that paraded the streets of Goa
during the recent Carnival celebrations, the one that drew a lot of eyeballs
was the this marvellous creation showcasing ocean life with huge sea shells,
sea horses, three mermaids and one merman graciously sitting in an open oyster
shell. The float was created by the St Francis Xavier Club of Portais, Panjim
who were absolutely thrilled with the news that their float had won the first
place in Club/Institution category in Panjim and Vasco and the second place at
the Ponda carnival parade.
“We wanted to come back with a bang after a break of seven
years of the club and we gave it our best. The float is a community effort
which involved not just committee members but even school children, youngsters
and adults living in the Portais region,” says Thomas Cardozo, who was handling
the project as a link between the committee members and the youngsters.
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The St Francis Xavier Club of Portais was set up on January
19, 2015 with President Hubert Fernandes. With less than a month for Carnival,
the club had to face a number of challenges in order to make it in time. Collecting
funds topped the list. “It was very difficult to collect funds because we could
not display banners or posters of any establishments. If the amount is big,
people think twice before investing. We had to work within our budget and
sometimes the working team members would even put in money from their own
pocket,” explains Rupesh Naik.
“It was a complete people’s float. We had school children
coming to help in after finishing their studies, sometimes even staying back
till 4am. After work, everyone would gather in the premises of the club and
brainstorm. The idea of mermaids came up because we have a rich ocean life in
Goa. The creativity in the float with regards to sculpting and painting was
possible because youngsters had learnt the art from their parents. We didn’t
hire any professional artists to help us,” says Thomas.
The community celebrates all festivals in a grand way. The
members, in total 35, include 20 kids below the age of 20. “We restricted the
number of participants on the float to four as it is an added responsibility to
handle children for the parade, but most of them were with the float, asking
people to make way for the float. There were a few damages to the float after
the parades which we fixed for the next parade in Ponda. We didn’t take the
float to Margao though many people were expecting it there,” adds Thomas.
Through the prize money, the members of the committee want
to add to the club’s laurels by organising blood donation camps and eye
check-up camps in the future. “We need to set an example for the young
generation. Welcome them in so that they will have something to call their
own,” concludes Thomas.
