Zomni khell during the Carnival

Here is a short account of the zomni khell during the Carnival in my village, Chinchinim.

Zomniche khell were mostly popular during Carnival (Intruz) and Paskanchem
fest (Easter). After the New year and three kings feast, people eagerly
waited for the Carnival
because of the khells, especially in the villages of Salcete.

In Chinchinim, there are 15-20 wards or Vadde. Each Vaddo has a place
called 'Mandd',
which was usually located close to a Chapel which was surrounded by trees.
Khell was mostly performed at the "mandd" or near Regidor's residence
and sometimes in pvt homes if they could afford.(mostly tarvotti )
The ward committee members collected a small amount (Rs 5 at my time) from
each house to organize a khell.

A Khell was formed by a group of artists. The head or the writer/director
was called ‘Mestri’ and other participants were khellgaddi.
The band consisted of instruments like drum, trumpet, clarinet and at times
a banjo.
With the exception of band members, all other members of the troupe wore a
colourful uniform. There were no ladies taking part in the khell, but some
gents enacted ladies’ role; they wore a sari or a dress. Anita Pereira from
Chinchinim was the first girl to act in a khell called "Mundkar Nores'.

The famous khell groups came mostly from the coastal villages of Carmona,
Varca, Benaulim, Colva, Betalbatim (Bettpatte), besides some groups from
Chinchinim, Verna and St. Jose de Areal.

In those days, they mostly travelled on foot from one village to another
and/or from one ward to another. In the late 70's and 80's, they started
travelling by mini buses or open tempos. Wherever they traveled, they
always played music .. the drum, snare drum, trumpet and clarinet.

When a khell reached a 'mandd', the ward members negotiated the price of an
act/play..depending on the popularity of the group. If a group was famous
one,
then they would agree for two acts/plays. At times when the mestri or
ward members could not reach an agreement, the troupe would leave the
'mandd' but not without singing one or two songs at the 'mandd'; this was to
give respect for the 'mandd'. If they reached an agreement, they would give
time for the mestri to start the play till most ward people arrived.

As kids, the moment we heard the beat of the drum, we used to run, leaving
whatever work we did, and so did our elders. A round circle was formed and
the children had to sit on the ground; the elders stood around them. Some
would get chairs if their houses were close by; others would make it on tree
tops.

One got to see many khell in my ward ‘Dandeavaddo’ in Chinchinim as it is
located on the main junction of Cuncolim-Sarzora road.

The khell would start with an Imno - opening chorus, wherein the khellgaddi
would stand in two rows in front of the band and introduce themselves, and
the act that was to follow. After the Imno, they would stand in a circle
and then start the play with dialogues, followed by a song which was sung in
two pitches. – primeiro and segundo. The songs were mostly related to the
story or dialogue. At the end of the song, if the act required them to
visit another house, they would say: “Atam
hanv kit kortolom?” .. “Matxe bazrant voitolom” and then as he started to
walk, the music would play. If there was a police, the popular police march
would follow.

The plays were mostly based on short stories of bhatkars..kunbis, Akbar and
Birbal etc. Children were fascinated with the 'Rakhos' or Rakesh...(Giant )
part wherein the actor would wear a black dress covering his whole body from
head to toe with a tail hanging from behind.

At times there would be 2-3 groups waiting to perform at the same "mandd".
This way, all the 3 days of Intruz would go on. But their performance was
best on the first and the second day, as by the third day they would be
exhausted and their voices would become rough.

There was khell competition during the Carnival, which was performed on
stage. The competition was mostly with rival groups; whoever won, was
awarded a big trophy. In course of time, these competitions were with the
Tiatros. The first to perform was a tiatro, a short one, and then a
khell...ultimately it gave rise to what is now called ‘Khell Tiatr’.

Mestri Kuddo Minguel from Chinchinim was famous for the ‘opari’; also Sucor
Piedade from Verna. There was another mestri from Carmona..Anton Marie
whose khells with emotional dialogues and opari mesmerized the hearts of the
people....Francis Mestri from Durga was famous for his songs while Buk Buko
from Chinchinim and Xempea Minguel from Benaulim made the people laugh.
Mestri Niclau Marian from Nesai and Santiago Pereira from Padde khells were
also good. The only Hindu to act in khells in those days was Gunno from
Chandor. Marian from Vhodlem Bhatt Benaulim and Don Toklo from Colva were
also very famous mestris, besides the well known Xalibai, F.Coloi and
Bhataghotto.

Antonio Moraes .. well known as A. Moraes was the first to make changes and
take the zomni khell on the stage...and thereafter the best of the Khells
were seen on stage; the famous groups refused to perform on the ground; they
performed only on stage...Vitorin Pereira, Patrick Dourado and Ligorio
Fernandes were famous on stage. Slowly, these khells were aired on Akashwani
as 'Lokham khell'.

It was in the early 70's, the late Rosario Rodrigues came up with a non-stop
show...'Ekech Ratri ani Ami Fator'. This show was well received by the
people and it completed more than 100 shows in Goa and Mumbai. From then
on, every show of Rosario was a hit!

A lot of changes have been made from the original zomni khell to the present
Tiatro, but the smaller groups still perform the zomni khell. The present
day Tiatr is a combination of the old zomni khell and tiatr, in that the
Khell had songs which were related to the story, whereas in a tiatr, the
songs sung were not related to the story.

Some of the current well known khell-tiatrs come from: Prince Jacob, Mario
Menezes,
Roseferns, Menino Mario..Jose Rod, etc.

Dev Borem Korum
Edward Verdes
Chinchinim/KSA