Parkonnem are riddles posed in Konkani. This verbal cultural heritage of Goa has come alive every year for the past three years through the annual ‘Parkonnem-Kitem Tem Sang’ riddle competition, organised by the Chicalim Bio-Crusaders, a village initiative in Chicalim in Mormugao taluka. The fourth edition of the ‘Parkonnem-Kitem Tem Sang’ riddle competition begun on December 19, 2023 and for the next 50 consecutive days, a riddle was posed every day without fail, thanks to the dedication of Cyril A Fernandes, President, Chicalim Bio-Crusaders. The prize distribution ceremony will be held at the Parkonnem Cultural Mahotsav held on Saturday, May 11 ,at Mohiddin Gardenia, Chicalim.
The popularity of the competition has increased over the years and this year, to smoothen the process of scrutinising the answers, the organisation used Google sheets. There were five Google sheets with ten riddles each. “This year, we received over a 1,000 participants which is double the number of the previous editions. The participants gave the maximum number of answers through Whataspp, Goggle forms as well as YouTube,” explains Cyril. The winners were judged on who had the most answers right.
The 4th edition of the Parkonnem Kitem Tem Sang contest 2023-24 concluded with Raisa Fernandes from Vaddem, Vasco-Da-Gama, co-winning the competition with Jacqueline Sequeira from Mangor, Vasco-Da-Gama. They both answered all 50 Konkani parkonnim correctly. Albert Jacques from Canacona took the third position by scoring 47 correct answers.
Raisa Fernandes created history by winning this popular and global contest by topping all the four editions since the contest began. Though she has not been the only winner, she has shared the top spot with various winners in the past. Raisa and Ashley Afonso from Porvorim were both declared as the joint winners of the first Goan heritage ‘Parkonnem –Kitem Tem Sang’ competition. The second edition was won jointly by Raisa, Ashley Afonso and Aquila Rodriques, originally from Verna and working in Kuwait. For the third edition, the tie-breaker system was applied as Ashley and Raisa were both competing for the win.
Speaking about her win, Raisa says, “This competition has been a rollercoaster ride. It was very exciting answering all the riddles. I thoroughly enjoyed answering each and every riddle. Some of them gave me sleepless nights and I was thrilled when I found the answers. Some riddles were very simple and could be solved in no time whereas some took days to comprehend.”
She further adds, “This competition was unlike any other and one of a kind. It helped me understand Goa's heritage and how our elders used to live and pass their leisure time. When this contest started I was not aware what a Parkonnem was. And now I have managed to win this contest from the past four years which feels simply amazing. It has been a learning experience.”
Did she find any riddle difficult? “I cannot point out which is the most difficult Parkonnem because many seemed difficult until I guessed it right. And that was the beauty of the contest,” she says.
After being runners-up on all last three editions, Jacqueline was thrilled to be informed that she was a joint winner. “Every year, I would try my best to answer all the riddles but for the fourth edition, I finally won the competition as a joint winner answering all 50 riddles. I was very fond of riddles right from my childhood and I was intrigued by the different words and the language. The competition brings back those old memories. I would wake up in the morning and look for the riddle of the day and sometimes even ask my husband if he knew the answer. But the beauty of the riddles is that the answer is not what one thinks of initially. It is not based on the exact meaning of the words,” says Jacqueline.
This year, the organizers have also increased the prize money to Rs 15,000 for first prize, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5000 for second and third prize respectively. There will be five consolation prizes of Rs 1,000 each. The other highlight of this contest is that every participant who provides right or wrong answer qualifies for two prizes offered by Nirvana and Goa Chitra Museums. The winner will also be entitled to lay hands on the heritage silver trophy, the CG Varkey Heritage Silver Rolling Trophy.
This year’s Parkonnem Cultural Mahotsav will see top folk artistes present some of Goa’s rich folk dances such as Fugddio, Dhalo, Morulo, Kallshi naach, Manddos and Dulpods and popular Konkani songs. The event will begin with the traditional Naman, an invocation prayer long lost on the Goan folk horizon.
Honours for the consolation prizes are shared by Remedious Fernandes from Margao, Angelo Pires sailing in USA, Sophia Fernandes Borate from Sweden, Jovito Fernandes from Quepem, Mita D’Costa from Cuncolim, Thelma Fernandes from Pune, Maria Olga Pires from Ponda, Melvita Anne Braganza from Belgaum, Jovann De Souza from Curtorim and Austin Fernandes from Tisk, Usgao. Each and every quiz masters will be also awarded mementos for their participation in the presentation of the Parkonnem or Konkani riddles in the contest.
Cyril had a special word of praise for Group Herald for the staunch support extended to the 4th edition. O Heraldo had extended its support in the news and audio-visual media to popularize each Parkonnem on the daily edition of Herald newspaper and also on every day news bulletin on Herald TV. “O Heraldo’s support turned into a major boost to take the event to maximum Goan diaspora settled across the world. It also led to a huge response to their riddles from every corner of the world where Goans have settled. This turned out to be the most popular contest from amongst the past four ones and the credit goes entirely to O Heraldo,” says Cyril.