MARGAO: Most Goans and even regular visitors to the State are familiar with the tiny alleyway of glittering light that sprouts up in Agasaim, just before the old Zuari bridge, in December every year. Come Christmas-time, rows and rows of hand-crafted stars brighten up the stretch, while streamers and wreaths and tinsel fly jauntily amongst them. The insta-worthy sight has scores of tourists and locals stopping by, to capture the old-world charm of Christmas décor in a Goan village. These visitors are almost always greeted by the smiling face and touching hospitality of the star-maker, 67-year-old Anthony Rodrigues.
While the world has changed drastically around him, with the new Zuari Bridge and elevated highway towering over his small pocket of Christmas cheer in an otherwise grey and dusty part of town, Anthony remains the same earnest chap who loves it when people compliment his stars, and stop by to meet him. When this reporter met Rodrigues, it was a chance sighting on a drive to Salcete, at around 4 am on a chilly November night, as the picture of Anthony sitting alone at his desk, surrounded by incomplete star-frames, was too hard to pass up.
Anthony de Agasaim, as he is fondly known in tiatr circles, did not seem surprised to have uninvited visitors just dropping by at an odd hour. He insisted on running into his house and bringing out a snack, and then offered to make us special stars to take home, almost oblivious that it was the crack of dawn.
As he twisted the bamboo sticks to form a frame, and then painstakingly stretched colourful paper on it, it was evident that this was not a chore he was tired of, it almost seemed therapeutic. “Even I do not know how many we make every year, I just start the task and keep going until mid-December,” he says, adding that every decoration he has hung up over the past 15 years or more, is made by hand.
“These stars do not last a year, even the frames degrade and that is why I make them every year,” he says, cheerfully, unbothered by the fact that he spends most nights awake, making the stars alone. Do the children of the village not help him? Those were the stories that everyone has heard about him, the star-man of Agasaim who crafts Christmas decorations surrounded by his little helpers.
“Those were the old days,” quips Rodrigues. “Everyone’s busy on their phones these days. But still, some students drop in to learn how to make different decorations, I teach them, and they help me out. Mostly, it’s just me and my wife Succorin who make these stars,” he shrugs. Each star that is put together by the couple is then decorated with shiny trims and pieces of confetti stuck on one by one. “It’s a lot of work,” he admits, “But it’s a tradition I wait for every year. People now expect to see this stretch lit up, and I do not want to disappoint. Christmas is my favourite time of the year, and I love the joy of the people who come to photograph my work,” he says.
Rodrigues says he pushes himself to craft something new every year, to keep up with the tastes of today’s youngsters- but does not feel the pressure to be minimal or understated. As a result, bright colours and metallic tones dominate his installation, and even the nativity scenes in his crib decoration usually have quirky additions like Santa Claus figurines and tropical animals. This year, he tried his hand at a cherry-blossom tree, and did not reveal what he was putting together. “Come by and see for yourself once the décor is all put up,” he remarked.
