The Goan recently had the opportunity to have an informalchat with Premanand A Lotlikar, the President of The Dalgado Konknni Academy.Lotlikar is currently serving his second term as president and is a senior anda popular tiatr artiste and playwright, who has taken a break from the Konkanistage.
The conversation veered towards tiatr of yesteryears.Reminiscing the days of past tiatr life Premanand recalled, “My associationwith tiatrs began very early in life. I remember the tiatrs would be held latein the nights. Tiatrs would begin as late as 10:30 or 11 pm and finish at theungodly hour of 2 am. Moreover, these tiatrs were generally held in open air intemporary ‘Mattov’ (open air pandal) with no covering overhead. The tiatrs werestaged either on an open ground or in the open fields. During the winter, thenights would be freezing.”
Upon further probing, he added, “There were no restaurantsor café or fast food parlours around to serve one a cup of coffee or tea atthat hour of night. I remember vendors would come to the tiatr venue to sellconcoctions of ‘Moong’ (lentils) called Konn’ prepared with coconut jaggery andcoconut kernel. They would cook this concoction at home and set up a table withPetromax to carry out the sales outside the tiatr ‘Mattov’. Provision oftemporary fireplace would be made adjacent to the table to warm the drinkbefore the sale. This Konn’ was a hot beverage, a little watery though, like alight vegetable soup. Being prepared from ‘Moong’ lentil it had a rich nutritiousvalue and also generates heat to overcome the winter chill.”
He then went into the economical and organisational aspectof the refreshments at tiatrs. “A glass of this Konn’ would be priced as low as50 paise then. During the interval, there would be a mad rush outside the‘Mattov’ to pick a glass of Konn’ and gulp it down to beat the biting wintercold. It was a favourite among tiatr goers both young and old. The tiatrcontractor would make arrangements to order the required number of glasses tooffer them to the troupe during the interval. I remember this practice was invogue in the sixties and seventies in the villages. Later on, this practicegradually stopped when instant coffee and tea made its way to the fore as a hotbeverage instead of Konn’.”
