Night of song & dance with a Goan troupe

Mumbai: ‘‘Our Konkani is not brilliant but we’ve done it,” says Virginia Bras Gomes triumphantly. Gomes is part of Ekvat, a group of Goan musicians from Portugal which is in the city to perform. Their Konkani isn’t perfect as all of them are Portuguese speaking immigrants from India as well as countries in East Africa, which had large Goan populations.
The 22-year-old Ekvat, which is a wing of Casa de Goa— an organization of migrants from Goa and Daman and Diu— will perform traditional Goan songs such as mandos and dances like dekni. Gomes says that they have tried to be as authentic as possible. It’s not easy as only a small number of immigrants actually grew up in Goa. Gomes is one of them. Goans born before 1961, when the state became a part of India, and their children and grandchildren are entitled to Portuguese citizenship. Gomes left home for Portugal in 1970.
“My only possibility to see the world was to go where I had family,” says the 60-year old. While she spoke Portuguese at home, Gomes can speak Konkani as she grew up and studied in Goa. “We buy books. But basically, it’s the memories. We have shared memories of traditions and grandmothers with huge houses.”
The mando is a plaintive dance song that usually tells sad love stories. But there are also wedding mandos and political mandos that were sung when Goans resisted the Portuguese. Some like Maticha bangar are original compositions. The song, which means ‘gold of our soil’, is about memories of summer vacations.
The group also writes mandos for couples who meet through the group and get married. “This was the tradition in Goa long ago,” Gomes says. “We look for something specific in the couple to write about.”
Keeping Goan traditions alive is hard, Gomes admits, especially since the younger generations don’t speak Konkani, the language in which songs are sung. At the same time, she says, the younger ones are excited to renew their Indian ties as they are impressed by the country’s economic growth. “In these days of globalization, it’s important to have something of your own,” Gomes says.

The Ekvat group will perform traditional Goan songs such as mandos and dances like dekni

Ekvat will perform at Tata Theatre in NCPA on June 9 at 7 pm . For further in-f ormation you can call 22824567 . Entry is free.