the goan I network
PANAJI
The annual four-day Carnival fiesta kick-started on Saturday with thousands of people lining the Miramar-Dona Paula thoroughfare to witness the float parade.
Tourism Minister, Manohar Babu Ajgaonkar flagged off the parade while King Momo, William Annes read out his decree urging people to “eat, drink and be merry”.
More than 50 floats participated in the parade, including an unusual one -- ISI embossed helmet -- by Goa Police. It had a host of road signs like ‘no parking’, ‘no left turn’, ‘pedestrian crossing’, and ‘stop’ right behind the giant black helmet.
This year’s parade also had its fair share of interesting floats surrounding the recent events and controversies in Goan and Indian society. While Fisheries Minister Vinoda Palienkar may have voiced his opinion just on Friday saying that Goans had forgotten the formalin-in-fish fiasco, a formalin-in-fish float proved him wrong.
And though India and Indians have still not got over the Pulwama terrorist attack, there was a one-man-show reminding the crowds of the fateful day last month dressed in red and black with a “Pulwama” placard, followed by a float with the armed forces, complete with guns.
Adding to the masala of that particular float were
comperes Newton and Sandra, who did not miss an opportunity to further government propaganda by claiming that the surgical strike had “put our enemies on the back foot.”
Ironically, a person dressed up as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and one dressed up as the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi were seen walking ahead of King Momo side-by-side amicably.
All through the parade, the comperes desperately tried to make their voices heard with booming loudspeakers, urging the crowd several times to stay away from around the floats and to give way for the floats to pass. But despite this, the crowds spilled onto the float-path, and even the comperes’ constant reminders that there were police personnel nearby who would be forced to push them, did not deter the crowd.
The Kerala community also put up a float thanking Goans for their help and support to Keralites during the floods that hit the state in 2018.
One float was very specific in its diktats to tourists in Goa: “To the tourists, don’t litter, don’t break bottles on the beach, take your garbage back to the hotel with you.”
