A conversation on ‘foznem’ half a century ago, would immediately bring to our mind the celebrations of a church feast and people would know what the word meant. If one mentions the word foznem today, youngsters rush to their parents or grandparents to know the meaning of the word as they have no clue whatsoever what foznem means.
And this is the sad reality of the dying tradition. We may still hear the sound of foznem during the church feast in some villages but the use of it is slowly dying and with it also dwindling the number of people in the trade.
However, at the recently celebrated Three Kings feast on January 6 at the Chapel of Our Lady of Remedios, Cansaulim, the foznem — the traditional fireworks — were seen and heard in all its glory.
Lawrence Victorino from Cuelim, Cansaulim was the man behind this activity. Victorino has been involved in lighting and filling the ‘foznem’ for more than half a century.
To get an insight of what foznem is, one has to understand how a church feast is celebrated. An excerpt from an article published in a magazine The Pulse in 1996, by Silviano Barbosa summarises this.
“The village feast was a time of the year to remember. First came the Fama (the first day in the village feast) then followed nine days of novena with a powerful pregador (preacher) at the evening salves. Then followed the fireworks of gornado and foznem and pauss with kombie tantem at the vespera. This was followed by slaughtering of the pig and cooking of sannam and sorpatel.
Early morning on the feast day came the peeling of the village church bells, the foznem and the eerie alvorada band woke everyone up. Children, adults, senior citizens, all dressed in colourful dresses and suits, most with brand new shoes and new dresses specially stitched for the occasion, brought a touch of class to the village feast. Then you go to the church, buy wax candles, give esmola (offering) to the beggars, go to the fair, young girls pinning paper flowers on your lapel for some donation of a few paise. Then you go to the fair for khajim-bhojim or chonnem, where you get fistfuls of free samples. On hears “Chonnem vhor” or you go to the kermess (stall) for some cerveja (beer). You also met and wished “Boas Festas” to some long lost friends or relatives visiting you or your neighbours. Parents giving four annem (coins) pocket money to the kids to buy some sweets, candies or aiscrot (icefruit) or xarope or lemon soda,” Silviano describes the feast day in his magazine.
However, ardent parishioners from across the state lament that the ‘Foznem and the ‘Paus’ (the fireworks) are not seldom seen and that the evening ‘Salves’ is now a dying trend.
The Foznems played a greater role on the feast day as the sound of this foznem were heard at distance of nearly two kms in the 1970’s. Whenever the Archbishop visits any church, the reverend is normally welcomed to a parish by the peeling of the church bells, bursting crackers and the traditional “Foznem”.
Lawrence from Cuelim explains about how he learnt the art of lighting the fireworks as a child and developed a strong passion for it especially for the small fire crackers during the feasts and celebrations in the village. At the age of 12 he used to hold fireworks on one side and the firestick on the other side to set them alight. He would enjoy what followed. The beaming and glowing faces of the villagers and the charm the fireworks evoked among the community celebrating the feast.
As time passed, he began to prepare the foznem for the feast, novenas and the vespers at the Cansaulim chapel.
Incidentally his ancestors used to stuff the foznem with the required material like the dynamite, the coconut choir, etc. The foznem at the chapel are now his responsibility and he has been filling and lighting the fireworks for the last 10 years. The 63-year-old says that he will continue will his job as he has the blessings of Our Lady of Remedios.
He reminisces about his youthful days when, at 23, he took part in bullock cart races in the neighbouring villages of Utorda and used to light the foznem at the venues where such races were organised. This was in the 1970’s and the foznem sound would declare the start of the race. He said he even ended up winning a couple of races and prizes.
He however says that people should be very careful if they try to make and light the foznem on their own. It is very important, he says, to pay attention to details and observe the entire process with ‘good eyes’.
He went on to explain that contact and the fireworks has to be of low blowing and less sound intensity nowadays. He added that young kids in particular should be careful of burning these fireworks as even though the sound levels have been decreased it is still very powerful.
Besides this job for which he earns a minimum amount, his main job is that of farming where he grows vegetables, spices and fruits.
He says nowadays he has hardly seen any youth trying to ask him about Foznems as all are on their mobile.
Lawrence who has received no formal education explained that the filling of Foznem is simple and that after getting the requisite materials like ‘dhar and tile powder, they have to be ground and later on used to fill the Foznem.
