From Frederick Noronha

Panaji (Goa), Feb 24: For three days at a stretch, there's merriment and music on the streets, as the rare and probably only carnival of its kind in Asia which takes place in the former Portuguese colony of Goa.

This event dates back to the days of the former Iberian rulers of Goa, who ruled parts of this region from 1510 to 1961. But the form of the carnival has changed much over the past three decades.

From last Saturday till today (ED: FEB 24), crowded "parades" have been held in Goa's small towns. This involves live bands and dancers on truck-mounted "floats" going down the main streets, as thousands gather to watch the spectacle.

Tourists love the event. So do businessmen, since it acts as a draw to bring visitors to this small state in February, thus extending Goa's highly seasonal tourism traffic.

Goa's state government, which is keen to promote upmarket tourism in this state, has thrown its weight behind the carnival celebrations in Goa. Governor T R Satish Chandran and former Indian army chief Sunith F Rodrigues inaugurated two float parades.

Carnival is a festival observed in a few Catholic countries, prior to the 40-days of Lent, which earlier used to be a strict period of fasting and penitence.

But even though Goa is not a Catholic-majority state, and Lent is not as austere as earlier, the carnival has managed to get a big boost here from commercial sponsors and the tourism circuit.

After strong criticism from the Catholic Church and citizens' groups in the 'eighties, the festival underwent a lull, and almost died out. Organisers are still eager to see that this celebrations gets a boost.

Francisco "Fanquito" Martins, a local organiser long associated with the carnivals here, has suggested that carnival masks and apparel should be specially sold and promoted through a "carnival food festival" organised each year, along with more funding and the generation of enthusiasm.

Some here are of the view that the festival is losing its spontainety, as it shifts out of the villages where it was earlier marked with gaiety and abandon.

In recent years, efforts to package the festival appropriately have meant that youth who are seen by the authorities to be celebrating with too much vigor -- and throwing coloured water on others, as in the past -- could risk arrest.

But this all has not stopped expatriate Goan communities from taking the carnival festival with the to other parts. In the Bombay (Mumbai) suburb of Borivali, a carnival is organised at this time of the year. Other expatriate communities abroad have also organised the festival on a smaller scale.

'King Momo', a pretender who is allowed to act as the make- believe 'ruler', is a figure who presides over the carnival. Usually, a hefty man is chosen for this job.

This year, a citizens group moved the court and got a ban on the uncontrolled advertising of liquor products during the carnival.

To make their point felt, some Goans have used the occasion of the carnival to put up floats which have criticised politicians or state government policies.

Some years back, one float named "Goa Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" which pointed to the adverse changes taking place in this quiet and quaint coastal state which has seen industralisation and real estate speculation taking place at a fast pace.

Float have sometimes focussed on the environmental problems creeping into this state of 1.3 million people on the Indian west coast. Last year one group poked fun at the Konkan Railway, a project which certain areas of this state did not want to pass through their fields and villages.

In keeping with the carnival spirit of mocking the powerful, this year one float took digs at the state government over the dilapidated state of the important Zuari bridge in South Goa.

Governor T.R.Satish Chandran, who recently took over office here, told the media here that no restrictions should be put up, and the poeple should be given a "free hand" to enjoy the festivities in the true spirit.

Politics in this state took a bit of an enforced lull, during the three-day carnival. Despite parliamentary elections in Goa being scheduled for this weekend, the festive season in parts of the state seemed to have cooled down the political tempo.

South Goa member of Parliament Churchill Alemao, recontesting his seat, is himself keenly involved in organising a big carnival dance at his home-village of Varca, a coastal village earlier dependent on fishing now into tourism in a big way.

Alemao's family has been involved in organising this traditional Varca dance, and prominent personalities from Bollywood as well as financiers of Hindi films have been invited each year for it.(*)

Picture :

Masked Revellers