We are fast approaching that time of the year when the streets will fill up in excitement and anticipation of that one gilded float carrying that jolly nobleman we know as King Momo, throwing open the colourful parade and four days of festivities. The selection for this chosen one has begun and the last date to apply for the position of King Momo is January 25, 2016. This year, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has formed a seven member committee to select this year’s King Momo.
Timoteo Fernandes was the first King Momo for the Carnival Parade in Panjim. He has been a part of the Carnival committee for 49 years. The 79-year-old, who is now part of the seven-member panel set up for the selection of King Momo, says, “From the list that will come to the committee, I want to select someone who is fluent in English so that he can read the decree confidently. He should have good height and should be prepared to constantly wave out to the crowds, with a grand smile on his face when on the float,” says Timoteo. King Momo will be heading the float parades organised by the Tourism Department in the cities of Panjim, Margao, Vasco and Mapusa.
Today, the streets
of these cities are neatly cordoned with bamboo sticks and colourful cloth to
add more fervour.
However, when the first King Momo made his presence felt in 1965, the narrow
lanes were with just a few cars, horse carts and bicycles dominating the
glorious tree lined streets. It isn’t difficult to picture a troupe of youngsters, emerging in the
silence of the afternoon,
parading the streets on a bullock cart, playing musical instruments and
bringing cheer to the city.
“I used to
lead bands with string and wind instruments. I once visited the home of Vasco
Alvares, President of Club Nacional, and found magazines of the carnival
celebrations at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. I went on reading about the
preparations and decided to organise the same in Goa on a smaller scale. It was all for fun; we had no expectations. I knew
someone in Merces who owned a bullock
cart; we got it decorated at Patto Bridge, Panjim. I stood in front dressed as King Momo and asked my
15-20 friends to come along with me, singing and dancing till the Municipal Garden. We almost lost control of the bull as the
commotion must have made him nervous, but the owner quickly calmed him down and
we reached the garden safely,”
reminisces Timoteo. This was the first Carnival held, three years after Liberation.
The
following year, Timoteo was allowed to use Vasco Alvares’ open jeep of the
Panjim Municipality. In 1967,
the idea was forwarded to then Chief Minister, Dayanand Bandodkar, and a committee for Carnival
celebrations was constituted which started with the Panjim parades and Timoteo
as the official King Momo. Interestingly, Timoteo and his three brothers,
Lawrence, Tome and Jose (famously known as Bondo), have all been King Momo over the years.
Tony Dias, a member of the Panjim Carnaval Committee, is also a big part of the Panjim Carnival and was selected as King Momo nearly 20 years back. “The Panjim Carnival has grown over the years. When I was selected as King Momo, they wanted a candidate who could deliver the speech well and continuously smile to the crowd. King Momo is also required to be stout and as I didn't have a fat stomach then, I had to wear something that could make me look fat. Those days it was just two days of Carnival in Panjim, on Saturday and Sunday. The Carnival parade was gradually taken to other cities of Goa,” says Tony.
Known as the ‘King of Floats’, the Panjim Carnival would by undoubtedly bleak without Francisco Martins. he has designed numerous floats in Goa, India and around the world. “I was never King Momo but am called the King of Carnival as I won the best Carnival float in Goa for seven consecutive years and I won the first prize in the Parade of the Nations in Mumbai. I am very interested in making Carnival floats and started participating in 1976.”
Geovani Bosco Santimano, Joint Commissioner of Goa Customs and Central Excise and Service Tax, donned the crown of King Momo and headed all celebrations in the state, last year. “I had a fabulous experience as for the first time a family participated in the parade on the main King Momo float,” says Geovani, who was accompanied by his wife Jennifer, daughters, Rochelle and Danniella, and niece Serena on a grand float called, ‘The King Momo’s Royal Family’. “I have been working on creating Carnival floats for the past 25 years and it was my childhood dream to one day become King Momo,” concludes Geovani.