All roads lead to the Juhu carnival
Dancing Kolis, East Indian weddings and live music — the original inhabitants of Juhu took to the streets in an attempt to get in touch with their roots....Sandeep Ashar

 

For a couple of hours on Sunday morning, the plush region of Juhu forgot its upmarket and elite ways. The tall buildings, luxurious apartments and Bollywood personalities, which the neighbourhood is famous for, took a backseat as the district’s almost-forgotten rich village culture came to the fore.

 

The region’s original inhabitants, the East Indians and the fisherfolk, came out onto Juhu’s streets in large numbers, clad in traditional attire — lugdis and surkhas. The rest of the residents were treated to a spectacle as the original inhabitants marched across Juhu’s lanes swinging to the tunes of East Indian music played live by the popular village band the Starlet Boys.

 

More than 200 people from three gaothans — villages dominated by the East Indian community and the fisherfolk — namely the Juhu Gaothan, Pakharwadi and Moragaon, participated in the procession. The event was the first of its kind and was organised by the group Garaj, in association with the locals.

 

The 10-day long festival began on May 1. Among the activities planned for the festival, which basis its theme on village culture, are the traditional food festivals; drawing competitions where children will be asked to crayon their idea of a village; exhibitions; and sports tournaments including carom and cricket. To make the festival lively and interactive, the organisers have also tied up with 16 businesses based in and around Juhu, which will offer discounts to visitors.

 

Hector Tixeira, one of the conveners for the event said that the idea behind organising the festival and taking out a carnival procession was to celebrate the rich village culture and tradition that was once synonymous with Juhu — one which had been lost in the modernisation race. He added that many residents in Juhu are not even aware that the district has such villages which house original inhabitants.

 

And villagers, too, were able to reclaim a part of their lost identity, as community members across all ages participated in the carnival with gusto and passion.
The action-packed procession also saw two widows Philomena Creado, 65, and Clara Creado, 75, portray a traditional East Indian marriage.

 

But while everyone — onlookers and participants — enjoyed the show, there is a more pressing message. The community aims to use the festival as a platform to voice their anger at being neglected by the city fathers.

 

Displaying posters and newspaper cuttings on how their welfare was overlooked by the authorities, and in many cases even sacrificed to benefit the more “urban masses”, the residents of the three villages — who recently formed an organisation AVAJ, which stands for Active Villagers Association of Juhu — took out a memorandum of their demands. This was handed over to local corporator Adolf Dsouza during the procession.

 

Dashrath Mangela, a resident of Juhu Moragaon and AVAJ member, says that the original inhabitants have been neglected in the race for development. The villagers have demanded development of plots reserved for fishing and other ancillary activities at Moragaon and the setting up of playground facilities for residents of Juhu Gaothan and Pakharwadi.

 

Reacting to the recent talk on the development of gaothans using increased floor space index, the residents have stated that they fear the authorities want to parcel out their land to the developer lobby. They have demanded development by choice and not by force.

 

But on Sunday morning, residents of Juhu were treated to a glorious carnival — fun, frolic and traditional food.

 

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