Cheers Dears: The Colva Street Show
By Augusto Pinto
Dears
I love theatrical productions so I'm hugely pleased by what the Colva people did recently. I'm referring to the show they put up in response to a CD produced by their tiatrist panch.
I have not had the pleasure of watching the CD as it is now banned. But I'd love to and I'm ready to pay four times the cover price for it. But from what I'm told the people were excited because the CD took the Mickey out of the the Colva parish priest.
But after that the whole show was a super hit Sex! Politics! Religion! Bigamy! Adultery! Violence! It had everything! What Fun!
The Colva-ites who turned this explosive plot into a street play did a fantastic job. It was a come one - come all affair; everyone could play a part; anyone could say anything; there was no need for elaborate dialogue; there was no need to sing songs; if there was nothing else to do one could gherao some cops; or simply fling a stone or two. And it was all free!
I appreciate the Colva-ites for not consulting a lawyer regarding the CD. He would have told them to file a defamation case against the panch instead of putting up the show. Sensible people know that this sort of case would have taken about a million years to resolve, if at all, by which time everyone would be dead. Thank God they did not resort to the law courts.
Also, it is a good thing Colva-ites are very elite and do not watch Bollywood movies like 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'. Thus nobody has heard of Gandhigiri in Colva.
Gandhigiri makes one sentimental when one is angry. And it makes one do good when someone is bad. It would have been a very poor show if like Munnabhai the Colva-ites protested by flooding this apparently erring panch with bouquets of roses.
Apart from the fact that stones are cheaper than roses, the Colva-ites would have lost the pleasure of messing up this panch tiatrist's house. One day I also hope I get a chance to smash up the house of someone I hate just like the Colva-ites.
I'd suggest that the Colva-ites continue their campaign by reviving the celebration of 'Janeiro' 'Janeiro' involved parading in fancy dress in front of people's houses to usher in the new year. The Colva-ites can use this ruse to disguise themselves and safely stone more politicians' houses with no one recognising them. This is all pure, traditional, good natured Goan fun of course.
By the way, I'd like to congratulate the priest and the politicians concerned for not being so stupid as to go and stop the violence, and the disruption to the lives of those who were not concerned with what was going on.
After all, it is human on the part of any wounded individual, no matter that he is a politician, or for that matter, a priest who is supposed to turn the other cheek when one is slapped, to occasionally enjoy a little tit-for-tat. Especially when a particularly pesky parishioner is taught a lesson.
Also one must congratulate the Church for not intervening in the show and letting everyone enjoy themselves. Of course, some people will say that by keeping silent while the trouble went on they conveyed to the public that they are not in control of the Colva street players or even that they instigated it. Let these fools say what they want. As everyone knows it is a good thing that religious leaders do not interfere in worldly matters in secular India.
Besides it really is so boring when they start giving sermons to people and begin quoting passages from the Bible like:
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Finally the Magistrate who has banned the CD needs to be praised. It's common knowledge that once a work of art is banned everyone then wants to see it. Thus tiatrists can now sing songs in praise of this Magistrate, for making the tiatr popular as an art form.
Cheers
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