TAG'S TIATR FESTIVAL BEGINS

TAG'S TIATR FESTIVAL BEGINS

The first Mega Tiatr Festival of commercial tiatrs organized by Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) got off to an impressive start with the staging of the tiatr “Matiechem Bhangar Korum’ written and directed by Comedian Domnick Coelho.

The Festival was declared open by the veteran Tiatr artiste Rico Rod by lighting the traditional lamp. Tomazinho Cardozo, President of TAG addressing the packed house stated that the aim of organizing the festival of commercial tiatrs is to make efforts to improve the standard of Tiatr. Stating that Tiatr is the most popular dramatic form in Goa, he felt that it has to improve qualitatively and this competition is the beginning of achieving that goal.

The panel of judges which includes Wilmix Mazarelo, Premanand Sangodkar and Joseph Mendes were also present on the stage.

“Matiechem Bhangar Korum’ which must have been staged many times in different parts of Goa earlier put up an impressive performance today. The acting, direction and even the background music was good. The songs (kantaram) were well balanced in which it presented solos, duets, trios and a quintet which is rarely seen in tiatrs in the recent times. The songs were well appreciated by the audience. When asked, a member of the audience who had seen the same tiatr earlier commented, “ This time the performance of all the artistes was good and I feel it must be because of the competition”. Thus this is an indication that the artistes of tiatr stage can do better when such competition are organized and that TAG’s competition will go a long way in improving the quality of commercial tiatrs.

Please Note:
Photo 1: Rico Rod, the veteran Tiatr artiste, lighting the traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of the first Popular Tiatr Festival 2009
Photo 2: A scene from the tiatr "Matiechem Bhangar Korum".




[As archived by gaspar almeida, www.goa-world.com]
Photos courtesy: TAG, exclusive for www.goa-world.com
23/02/2010

“Mhaka saiba vatt kollona?”

No more “vatt kollona”!

Prime Minister Manmohan Singhji vows to make Mumbai another Shanghai. This is acceptable to all non-Maharashtrians. Bal and Raj Thackerey (not Thakre?) find this difficult to digest. At the mere thought of Mumbai becoming Shanghai or not belonging to Maharashtra, they react violently and take out their anger on poor Bihari taxiwalas!
We, who call Goa “Amchem Goem” now already have people in thousands from other states. The economics imposed on us, which we accept, means we need outside manual labour. Goa needs them and they need Goa. Today, Goa and Goans have become two different entities.
Goa, it seems, has preferred the Mumbai model. Now Mumbai will be Shanghai and Goa will become Mumbai. In Shanghai, Marathi will never be accepted as the sole language. In Goa-transformed-into-Mumbai, Konkani will not be acceptable as the sole language. A few Goans will then take pride in stating that Goa is a ‘cosmopolitan’ state.
I always claim that my Indian-ness is inclusive, and different from that preached by the Thackerays. My Indian-ness desires a prosperous and tolerant Goa. We who think likewise – and there are many of us – will we ever get an opportunity to work for that Goa? Where is that ‘Bangor Boil’ gone; the bull with horns that by his mere presence gets what he wants?
There are some who say that it is impossible now to stop this process. Wisdom demands, they add, that we resign ourselves to what is to come. Then why the hell was Goa made into a state?
In 1963, I saw a cartoon in a daily in which Goa, depicted as a child, was walking holding the hand of Pandit Nehru. “Safe and secure!” was the caption, if I am not wrong. Today, Goans are frightened of Mother India. This may be because we are weak citizens, and therefore helpless. “Mhaka saiba vatt kollona!” has become Goa’s national song.
Sonia Gandhi says that Goa is a “diamond in the crown of Mother India”. I feel we need to ask Soniaji what exactly she means.
Kakasaheb Kalelkar always said Goans were a “manly” people (Purusharthi). “The language of a vital people can never be a dialect. That is why Konkani is a language,” was his argument. He expected Goa to become a model for other states.
Model? My God! Today, India calls Goa a model rape state…
“I belong to that race which composed the Mahabharata and invented chess,” said that great Goan who had only a forty-year life, and died two days before Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born. Do we consider ourselves heirs to that great sage F L Gomes?
My question is: Shall we come out of the syndrome: “Mhaka saiba vatt kollona?” Yes or No? Now or never!


Gurunath Kelekar
Margao
http://www.oheraldo.in/newscategory/Letters/13


01-02-2010
gaspar almeida