Abolianchem Fest comes as a tribute to the traditional flower of Goa, Abolem, and an unsung hero - the ever enthusiastic Marius Fernandes who strived for 17 long years to retain all that is originally and authentically Goan - be it food, music, dance, games, art and crafts, or culture. It is Marius whose love to preserve Goemkarponn has led to celebration of many village fests in Goa today. Though he’s away in UK, those who celebrate ‘Abolianchem Fest’ and many more such fests in Goa miss this unsung hero with a purest of hearts, who never took credit for anything whatever he started. It’s an initiative that he kick started and left behind for those who are expected to carry it forward.
With ‘Aboliachem Fest’ just round the corner, the preparations for the same at the Nirmala Institute of Education (NIE) are going on in full swing. The preparations for the ‘Aboliachem Fest’, a rechristened name for Goa Day, began in December 2017, making the teacher trainees at the NIE, a part of it. Goa Day celebrations are marked by ‘Abolianchem Fest’ now which is all about that which is authentically Goan - be it food, tiatr, art and craft, music, songs, folk dances, medicinal plants, mollam, traditional games and not to forget the ‘Abolianche Zhelem’ and ‘Abolianche Fatiyo’ (the garlands of the flowers of Crossandra or Fire Cracker which is also the State flower of Goa).
With valuable inputs, suggestions and tips from Marius Fernandes, before he left Goa, team NIE got in touch with various resource persons to make the fest a grand success - though the man behind it, Marius, remains absent on the day of the fest.
Initially intended to be a cultural programme, Goa Day, later turned into a fest on Marius’s suggestion. This cultural representative of Goa has successfully trained young Goan minds to carry his legacy forward - of respecting the culture and ethos of this land.
Divided into groups, the students share responsibilities of each aspect of the fest - dance, tiatr, art, decorations, medicinal plants, musical instruments, songs, food, media, games and even garbage management. “It’s a lesson we learnt from Marius, who always stresses on avoiding plastic usage in public celebrations,” says an NIE student.
Aimed at reviving the age-old Goan socio-cultural ethos by celebrating its music, dance, food, sports, arts, crafts and theatre of the bygone years (pre 1975), the objective of the ‘Abolianchem Fest’ is also to document and enable knowledge-sharing for a sustainable living of the present and the future generations.
As preparation for the first ever Abolianchem Fest at Nirmala Institute move on, a number of workshops were held with resource persons coming from various fields Among these were Miguel Braganza, Sanjeev Sardesai, Rajtilak Nayak, Clinton Vaz, Savio Godinho, Michael Jude Gracias, Prince Jacob, Fabiano De Souza, Carlos Gonsalves, O’luv, Dr Pandurang Phaldesai, Patricia Pinto, Savio Ribeiro, Deborah Santamaria, Gerard Lobo, Stephen Fernandes, Rene Barreto, Gaspar Almeida, Mario Rebello, Eric Pinto, Avertino Miranda, Oscar Martins and Dr Glenis Mendonca. The list is unending. All these enthusiastic people shared their insights and wisdom with the students and were a part of the planning process of the festival - a tribute to the traditional flower Abolem or Crossandra which is also known as the Fire Cracker flower - that has remained neglected for years.
Starting from Marius, there were many - Anthony Fernandes who crafted the ghumots and made them available to the teacher trainees of the NIE while Felly Gomes, Dr Pandurang Phaldessai, Carlos Gonsalves taught how to play the instrument.
Workshops were conducted by Dr Miguel Braganza and Thomas Fernandes on Abolem, Cliszma Da Costa and Ramesh Harpad on dance, Sandeep Sardessai, Rajtilak Nayak, Soluchana Pednekar and Rohit Wadkar on media, O’luv and Dr Glenis Mendonsa on Cantaram, Patricia Pinto and Clinton Vaz on garbage management, Fabian on football, Savio Godinho on ghumot painting, Fatima and Brinsee Antao on food, Michael Gracias and Prince Jacob on tiatr. Around 70 aspiring teacher trainees and staff members purchased the ghumots and received guidance from able and experienced resource personalities.
In the spirit of celebrating all that’s Goa and Goan, the the teachers and students at NIE are all looking forward for Abolianchem Fest. “Celebrate Goa, rejuvenate its life in Nature, in the youuth and in our state! May we bring back the beauty of the past, revivify the dying embers and let Goa shine resplendent through its natural beauty and it’s great people,” says Dr Rita Paes, director, Nirmala Institute of Education.
“It’s been an amazing experience working with the faculty and students to prepare for our Aboliachem Fest. It was truly great watching the talent and the skills of the students unfold day by day and merge into what we believe would be a truly enriching experience for all those who participate in our Aboliachem Fest,” Melissa Pacheco from team NIE says.
Through this fest, we got to learn a lot about the rich traditional cultural heritage of Goa and so much more. It is truly a learning experience,” feels Abigail Fonseca, a student.
Another student, Nidhi Tendulkar expresses, “In Goa, ghumots are played only by men but through the Aboliachem Fest ghumot workshops, the women teacher trainees were given the opportunity to learn the beats of the ghumot. Besides, we also learned the traditional dances and songs.”
For Tanya D’Costa, it was a great learning experience. “When it came to food, we always relied on our parents and mostly grandparents but through the food workshops, we were able to learn the recipes of Goan traditional food and sweets through the demonstrations that were given by the resource persons. From here, we can pass this down to the future generations.”
Rightly named as ‘Abolianchem Fest’, this is a tribute to the State flower of Goa Aboli, that come in two varieties. Saadi or simple ones are a lighter shade of orange, and which bloom. The Ratan Aboli is a darker shade of orange, and they remain buds. The flower reminds Goa of Marius Fernandes who is just like this flower - simple, humble and low profile because ‘Aboli’ in Marathi means ‘that which remains silent’ - just like Marius, the silent crusader.
