Different schools and groups across Goa, ensured that one fo Goa’s finest musical
traditions and art forms, Mando, remains alive and fresh and with a great
future. Across age groups starting from the very young to seasoned groups like
the Curtorkars carried the mando flag high along with all other winners and
participants
The Goa Cultural and Social Centre has
been encouraging young talent to come forward, presenting them with a grand
stage at the All Goa State Level Mando Festival. This year, the Mando festival
was held in December 2019 at Kala Academy, Panjim.
Children’s category winner: Saviour of the World High School,
Loutolim
In the Children’s category, Saviour of the World High School,
Loutolim won the first prize while Merxechim Sobit Fulam won the second prize
and Mercerchim Noketram was awarded the third place.
Saviour
of the World High School, Loutolim group was led by their teacher, Quincy
Fernandes, with students of classes 9 and 10 making up the group. The students
were Nelifa Fernandes, Sibyl Cardozo, Elisha Antao, Siola Miranda, Velisa
Fernandes, Alister Almeida, Crizonio Fernandes, Keith Dias and Adrian Batista.
The musicians were Selvin Fernandes, Reagen Fernandes and Seby Fernandes. “This
was the first time the school participated in the Children’s category. This was
a new group as we had earlier participated in the Teenager’s category. The
children are students of class 5 and one boy from class 7 but all are below 12
years. Selvin Fernandes is one of the best musicians and he teaches music in
the school,” says Quincy from Majorda, who teaches Computer Application in the
school.
Teenager’s category winner: Spring Valleyche Fulte Bonge,
Pilerne Spring Valleyche Fulte Bonge, Pilerne won the first prize in the
Teenager’s category, followed by St Xavier Collegiche Naad and Old Goachim
Porzolit Fulam. The group formed by the students of Chubby Cheeks Spring Valley
High School, Porvorim was led by their teacher, Jyothi Pereira, and the
participants included Allena Fernandes, Reese Martins, Grace Sequeira, Michelle
Cardozo, Rizya Po, Steven Facho, David D’Souza, Ben Mesquita, Roque Martins,
Joel Fernandes and Ethan Pereira. The musicians for the Mando were Elaine
Chatte and Valerio Fernandes, with Lawrence Fernandes on the ghumot. Jyoti from
Salvador do Mundo has been training students for Mando for many years and each
year, she has to work with a new batch of students. “The students are mostly
classes 9 or 10 students who pass out in the next year. I used to sing in Mando
groups earlier and I use that experience to train the students in voices,” says
Jyoti.
Traditional category winner: Old Goachim Porzolit Fulam
Old Goachim Porzolit Fulam bagged the first place in the
Traditional category. Amchem Daiz and Goychim Lharam were awarded second and
third prizes, respectively. The group was led by Fr Seby Vaz and the
participants included Monica Crasta, Clementina Souza, Manisha Costa, Naisa
Lotlekar, Marcelina Fdes e Pereira, Mazinha Rodrigues, Menino Menezes, Deepak
Dourado, Oscar Menezes, Decileo D’Souza, Edsel Dias, Vincent D’Silva, Daniel
Rodrigues, Joshua Dias and Joel Rodrigues. The musicians included Daniel
Rodrigues, Joshua Dias, Joel Rodrigues and Oscar Menezes. This was Fr Seby’s
first time training the. “This was the first time the group were singing
Mandos. The average age of the group will be 28 years and we had just 15 days
for practice as we were busy with the feast. All the members were from Old Goa
and it was a great experience,” says Fr Seby.
Grand winner: Curtorcars in the Original, Dance category and
overall Mando award
The group from Curtorim, Curtorcars, stole the thunder by
winning in the Original as well as Dance category and winning the overall Mando
award. Led by Milton Barreto, Curtorcars includes Milton Barreto, Maite
Barreto, Rochelle Solomon, Marilyn de Viega, Anisa Luis, Nisha da Costa, Audrey
Fernandes, Frederick Menezes, Adriel Meston, Shanu Manuel. The musicians
include Shanaya Carvalho, Nadia Barreto, Terence Fernandes and Inacinho
Sardinha. For the Original category the music was by Victor da Costa and the
lyrics by Milton Barreto himself. “This group was formed by late Simplicio
Viegas nearly 40-50 years ago. It was revived by getting Curtorcars together by
his daughter Marilyn de Viega. Each member traces their roots back to Curtorim.
We rehearsed by WhatsApping voices and then had practices together for over 15
days. Victor da Costa is one of the best musicians in Goa and with his music we
won the Original category. It takes great team work and commitment. We need
more young people taking Mando forward,” says Milton.
In
the Original category, the second prize was won by Goychim Lharam and third
prize by St Xavier Collejicho Naad. In Dance category, Goychim Lharam won the
second and third prize was bagged by Amchem Daiz.
