Shoaib Shaikh
shoaib@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: After foreign tourists took the initiative to play Munnabhais and cleaned beaches and a statue of Gandhiji recently, a group of young and energetic Goans under the banner of Revolutionary Goans have taken upon themselves the task to change the attitude of the people and in turn gift Goans a spic and span State.
Their first project was to clean the ‘paan’-stained caricature paintings of the iconic Mario Miranda at municipal market in Panjim.
The cartoonist’s work which is instantly recognisable for his unique art form, adorn many walls within the Panjim market. Such is the attraction of these paintings, that even tourist tours are conducted to view them.
However, the art work has literally “tasted” the tobacco brigade’s spit-apathy! It is unfortunate that even as tourists still make a beeline to watch these murals, the artwork keeps getting a coat of gutkha and paan stain from the “chewing class” which can’t control their “outburst”.Nevertheless, a group of young decided to take on the odds and have tried to swim against the tide and clean up the murals. They have been struggling hard to erase the stain. Now, you can get a glimpse of the clean murals.
Viresh Borkar one of the youth said “We want to send a message across especially to the youth of Goa that if we want our cultural legacy to be protected, everyone has to contribute in their way. We are the owners of cultural heritage and we need to preserve it.”
It is amazing that public apathy and the CCP’s negligence had reached such a nadir that even a plexiglas, specifically installed to protect these caricatures were pried open and then spat into without fear by tobacco chewing brigade.Yet, when all hope seemed lost for these paintings, the young brigade of ‘Revolutionary Goans’ tired of waiting for the authorities to act, themselves got down into the “muddy waters” to get the job done and to lead from the front for all other Goans to follow.
They only hope, the authorities will do their job to upkeep the legacy of Mario Miranda. Sadly, it could be seen that barely three days since the clean-up, passersby have already begun to leave their “signature” again on these paintings again. Yet, not willing to be disheartened and cowed down, the Revolutionary Goans made sure that was cleaned up too.
