Bigger is not Better

luis Dias
Bigger is not Better
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I was present at Nagalli Hills for the closing day of the 2024 Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) and heard the speech made by the festival’s founding patron Sunil Munjal.

It was a variation on the theme in all his closing speeches at every festival, a summary of what had been offered at this edition, and thanking all those involved. This time he quoted (if I remember right) an impressive number, over 2000 performers and 22 venues.

Among those that took a bow along with him, unless my eyes and ears deceived me, I could neither see nor hear any Goan representation on the dais. (Goans are also conspicuous by their absence in the testimonials on their website, apart from predictable ones from

politicians).

Munjal also inferred in his speech that the completely booked-up ‘River Raaga’ Mandovi cruises were reflective of a surging interest in Indian classical music, and I disagree completely. It is the sunset cruise that is the draw for the majority rather than the music, just as it is the setting rather than the content that attracts people to the Monte Music festival. The same fare in a less scenic ambience draws far fewer numbers and a different demographic.

A day later, a visitor who had come for the festival dropped in and made this interesting observation to me: Even if one had all the time in the world from the start to the end of the festival, it would be impossible to take in everything on offer. Granted, that is not the intent of the festival, that one person is able to go to everything, but that there is “something for everyone.” But my friend’s comment did point to a feeling of sensory overload. And I know taste is subjective, but the feedback from many in my circle was that a significant proportion of what was on offer was below par, forgettable as soon as one left the space.

So the question is, what does Panjim, Goa’s tiny pocket-size capital, and what do its residents benefit from ever-bigger, ever-grander

tamashas?

The stunning performance of the Shillong Chamber Choir in Old Goa as part of the Exposition celebrations, and more recently Marie Bejstam’s ‘Songs of Hope 2025’ choral workshops and end-of-workshop concert lend even more weightage to the maxims, “Bigger is not Better”, and “Size doesn’t matter.” It is the quality of the content that matters. A choir of a handful of singers can be much more impactful than a mammoth choir interested only in volume, not substance.

The big festivals, be they IFFI (International Film Festival of India) or Serendipity, (I refuse to classify Sunburn as a festival in my book) cater best to the out-of-town dedicated visitor for those festivals, or the retired or semi-retired, especially the neo-Goan with time and money on their hands. The IFFI registration fee this year was quite steep for the working-class, who would at best be able to take in a couple of films of their choice after work, if they were lucky enough not to find the film booked-up. IFFI’s erratic scheduling adds to

this barrier.

SAF, free for the majority of its events, still require a smartphone and knowledge of the registration process, which while easy for those who know how, can be a deterrent to the less tech-savvy, and intimidating to the poor. A random visit to any festival venue would corroborate that it attracts a largely middle- to upper-class audience.

But the traffic chaos along Panjim’s roads due to these festivals, compounded by the insane, never-ending haphazard Smart city roadworks the last few years, makes commuting to work and the school run a nightmare for everyone, already worsened by a deluge of tourist traffic in privately-owned and

rented vehicles.

I was approached by a PhD student from Birmingham for his research on “the making of a place image of Panjim through the SAF.” The positives are apparently, the “place branding,” generating employment and

“boosting tourism.”

But the much more tangible outcomes, affecting all residents across the board, are the negatives: Traffic congestion, traffic jams, aggravation of already existing parking woes, noise pollution, air pollution, huge disruption to our routine in terms of commuting to work, school run, grocery shopping etc.

Yet, like so much else in Goa today, the expectation is that the resident Ponnjekar should just “grin and bear it”, endure all the disruption and nuisance aspects of these events, because “it’s good for Brand Goa” (even if our quality of life was so much better before such a concept even existed), or that “it’s good for the economy and tourism” (even though that “good” is not passed down to the majority of the residents in terms of basic infrastructure, like decent roads or public transport or garbage disposal or security and a police presence to avoid parking misdemeanours or traffic indiscipline or when resident-versus-tourist or visitor conflicts occur).

Panjim, and in broader terms Goa, have become just a clichéd backdrop for huge extravaganzas. While there was much to celebrate about SAF 2024, so much of it could have been translocated anywhere else. Those events or installations did not reflect what Panjim as a city brings to the table.

If the SAF is really serious about enriching the cultural life in Panjim and Goa, it should rethink its current format and offer smaller, intimate events around the year instead of a big shebang over 8 days every December. It certainly has the budget and sponsors to make it possible.

To use western classical music as an example: SAF could bring in chamber ensembles (the Arties festival, the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) Chamber Orchestra and its Chamber Masterworks series) from Mumbai to Goa at various points in the year. It would fill woeful gaps in Goa’s cultural event calendar. Goa is starved for high-calibre western classical music events; and smaller impresarios cannot afford hosting the above events. It would raise the bar for live performance here a great deal.

(Dr. Luis Dias is a physician, musician, writer and founder of Child’s Play

India Foundation.

He blogs at

luisdias.wordpress.com)

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