On a warm and sunny Saturday evening, 200 odd little kids, 3 to 5 years old, parents in tow, assembled at the St Marys pre-primary school in Mapusa, Goa. As one parent put it, they were not used to being there in the afternoon. It was an unusual event for the little ones, one for which they’d been practising for weeks. The excitment was running high by the time the curtains went up for the pre-primary annual day event.

As the little ones trouped on stage for each of their performances, there was not a moment without excitement. The teachers and older students ensured continuous performances, as each troupe took a bow and walked off stage, the next ensemble was ready to get into the limelight.

The talent, the colours and the innocence were certainly not lost on the receptive audience. As the chief guest put it, parents need be proud of the alma mater, the school that encourages not just literacy but allround citizens. If this is a taste of future education at St Marys, the future is bright indeed!

The traditional Poubha art still breathes at a small double-storied old house amidst the crowded streets of Patan Doka. And Lok Chitrakar’s hands are those that keep the dying art alive.

The Poubha paintings date back to the 4 th century but were faced with a threat during the 17 th century towards the end of Malla’s era with the drying up patronage and consequent weakening of community structures in the valleys.

Meanwhile, the art form was carried to Tibet. It was there the Thangka took birth from the Poubha style.

The Thangka has gained immense popularity worldwide with its linkage to Buddhism but today’s generation mostly unaware of Poubha paintings, said Lok Chitrakar.

The Poubha genre developed as a unique heritage of the Newars and is a visual interpretation of the Buddhist and Hindu philosophies as practiced in the Vajrayan tradition.

As per the ritual for painting, the artist must seclude himself from the materialistic world and must be pious and holy. The Poubha is created on a cotton cloth across a wooden frame. Water based colors grounded by hand from stones from the Himalayas, sable-hair brushes; gold and silver dusts are some of the tools used in the paintings.

Text by: Kuenzang Choden, (Journalist: Buthan) | Made for the Panos South Asia Multimedia Local Content Development Training Workshop 2008, Kathmandu. View the full multimedia presentation
To learn more: Panos Multimedia

Artists Milan Khanolkar and Priya Kamat spent 6 days working on the walls of a day-care center at the Goa University. The duo worked their way up, from ground to the ceiling, bringing the blank concrete to life with colour and facinating characters. This, they tell me, was a labour of love.

The friends work together on murals, pottery and various art forms. “We get along well together as friends and that shows in our joint work.”

Find out how this two women worked together to transform the walls of this center, ready to excite and inspire the little ones who’s little feet will patter about in its halls.

Music by panu moon (http://ccmixter.org/people/panumoon). And, for background info on this post, visit my blog: http://dabblinginmultimedia.blogspot.com

On a bright September day, a group of students and university professors from Nara, Japan got together with a group of students from Goa University, Goa, India for a one day cross-cultural interaction. And a fine day it was!

Featuring interviews of professor Kyoko Matsukawa of Nara University, Japan and professor Alito Siqueira of Goa University, India.

For more information on the Goa-Nara project, visit the GoCreat website

And to read more about the making of this production, check out my blog: Dabbling in Multimedia

A large number of old Goan homes today stand abandoned, in varying stages of neglect and decay. Many of these, have already succumbed to the ravages of time or the bulldozer’s claws, only to metamorph into modern monstrosities that go by names like “exclusive villas” and gated societies.

Given a chance, what would the house have to say of its illustrous past and the people who lived within its bosom and then abandoned it?

Children are meant to be in schools, playing with friends, growing up. The street is no place for them. Yet many in India have lost their childhood, earning for their supper. And we call our selves an emerging super-power!

A group of 25 street children enthralled an audience of over a hundred adults with their spectacular performance in Calangute Goa. The kids were trained over a period of 10 days by volunteers from the Italian theater group Laboratory of Smiles under the banner of the “Theatre Per Caso” theater company. The children were from rehab homes run by El Shaddai Trust in Goa.

They descended on the shores of Goa in hordes, drawn by the lure of catching a glimpse of the Carnival spirit that sweeps the world, this time every year. This former Portuguese enclave is one place in India where the spirit of Carnival comes alive. 2008 was special in that the Brazilian community in India participated in the parade for the first time. A sea of humanity flooded the river-front promenade in Panjim as the riot of colour flowed down with each passing float.

The Carnival offers the chance for revellers to eat, drink and make merry. In Goa, it also offers a chance for traditions past to meet traditions future - most observed in the amalgamation of music. Old mandos melt into the blasts from Goa Trance, acid and techno music.

This to me is the striking aspect of the Carnival parade where floats bearing potters and fisherwomen, who, having long since given up their traditional occupations and dress, tell it like it used to be - even if for just one day. Such is the spirit of the day, where old traditions share a platform with present and future culture trends.

The Carnival tradition is said to have begun as a last gasp excuse for a good party before the forty days of lent, commemorating the Passion of Jesus. But is is also a mix of of traditions dating back to pre-Christian times. According to one school, the Roman festival of Saturnalia is probably the origin of the Italian Carnival.

As the King of the Carnival - Momo, issued his decree of four days of fun and frolic before Ash Wednesday, there is always the feeling that the Goa Carnival is much too commercialised. But as the old gives way to the new, the bystander is offered a chance to see Goa Past, Present and Future.”

On a dry Sunday afternoon, a group of 36 children gathered together at the Shanti Niketan school in Assagao and, guided by artist, Devi Prasad Rao, sought to explore their inner artistic selves.

That these kids came from Homes for destitute and street children could have easily been overlooked by a casual observer.

Working on abstract themes, these children produced works that could send art school students surrying for cover.

In the words of Dev, “Creativity has no favourites. All it requires is plain child-like innocence.”