Bonding at Divar over Bonderam

 Bonding at Divar over Bonderam

There’s the “Bonderam” (flags) fest to commemorate the harvest festival, held every August in Divar and which is open to the whole world, and then there’s the more traditional Diwadkar’s community fest, also called “Bonderam”, held a week earlier.

The reason that Diwadkars celebrate Bonderam on a separate day is to help preserve the sanctity of the community celebrations minus the corporate influence.

And, it works. To an extent.

While the large welcoming arch had a prominent liquor brand, rest of it was all steeped in customs and beliefs, rich in heritage, ceremonies and pomp in attendance like a battalion of proud war heroes. Starting from brass band, Lorna’s songs, parades, traditional attires to floats – it was a revival of the vibrant past.

Tracy Vaz e Pegado, an original Divar islander, and her mother Mabel Vaz, talk about a time when their family helped organize one of the first Bonderam at Divar. Tracy’s father, Joe Vaz, was one of the founding members of the Sao Mathias Sports Club that organizes the festivities every year on the island. “Even eight years ago, the participation was far better – every ward prepared a float. Almost every household, from grandparents to grand kids of the village, helped in the preparation of the celebrations. It used to be a lot more traditional.”

On Saturday evening, villagers thronged the narrow road leading to the massive stage, which jutted a good 10ft in the air. Gadgetry was on full display and one could not miss the massive stacks of speakers on either side of the skyward stage, put together in someone’s frontyard.

By late evening, the parade had started and the thumping of music would have made its presence felt in neighbouring island, Chorao, too.

The fancy dress contest went wild with a chain-snatcher, a tiny nurse with a giant-sized booster injection, a ‘Bharat Mata’ with halting patriotic messages, a shy sheikh, a full-grown male Goan aunt bemoaning the dying Goenkarponn, along with a Goan manna feeding copious amounts of ‘milk’ to a plastic doll, while gnashing through cucumbers.

The parade drew a crowd of 200 odd guests, and two such were Umanath Pathak and his wife Diksha, from Mumbai, who said, “It’s for the first time we danced in the streets to Goan music.” How did they hear of it? “A candle-seller at Old Goa church told us about this.”

Zurine, an Austrian, who whacked a stick to beat a coconut all the while blindfolded, hot-footed a car ride with journey friends, Nilisha and Roberta, from South Goa, who were en route to Bonderam.

The Menezes family flew in from Perth, Australia, for a Goan holiday. “I am from this village (Divar), but I got the family and my three daughters for this feast!” Ivan shouts over the din, close to the stage, “I feel so connected with this village. It’s exciting!” Zamora, his daughter, shouts in, “The music, the colour, the costumes – it is fun being here!” Her dad chimes right in, “This is too loud!”

Carlos Menezes, a 75-year-old chain-snatcher from the fancy dress contest, says, “I have been part of the floats for over 20 years.” “I try to educate people about social messages, like this get-up,” he says pointing to his face and head cover, and his chest which has a prominent chain-snatcher badge. As the sun goes down, the stage lights up and the boisterous celebrations are just getting warmed up for a long night at Divar.

Originally published at: 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/bonding-at-divar-over-bonderam/articleshow/53790936.cms