*THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS :: ISSUE 02 :: 14 JAN 2008*
**
*Tourism or Cultural Carnival?*

*The Great Andaman Carnival is well and truly underway. It will be
inaugurated at the ITF ground on January 16 amidst great fanfare. For the
next 10 days all the roads will lead to the Carnival. As usual it will be a
riot of dances, music, orchestra, folk arts, drama, skits, and mimicry*

*By Govinda Raju*

Come January and the Andaman & Nicobar Archipelago comes alive with the
enthralling music, scintillating dances, captivating mimics and a general
mood of festivities. The only time for the entertainment-starved people of
the Islands to freak out, indulge themselves and their family members for
10-15 days, throwing all the worries into the Bay of Bengal. In a place sans
cinemas, theatres, discothèques and any form of nightlife, the annual Great
Andaman Carnival comes as a fortnight of great respite; a fortnight of
festivity, the only tangible sign of the administration's existence. This is
one occasion when the people get their full quota of entrainment to keep
them charged for the following year. Ironically, this mela is supposed to
cater to tourists, rather than locals.
The Great Andaman Carnival is well and truly underway. It will be
inaugurated at the ITF ground on January 15 amidst great fanfare. For the
next 10 days all the roads will lead to the Carnival. As usual it will be a
riot of dances, music, orchestra, folk arts, drama, skits, mimicry and the
works by over 200 artists of East and South Zone Cultural Centres apart from
over 300-500 local artists from over 30 cultural organizations spread over
the length and breadth of the territory. The event would enthral the
audience with scintillating dance performances in classical, folk and
modern, captivating music, vocal and instrumental, dramas, skit, jatras, and
the like. Bollywood too would be there in strength. Famous singer Hari
Haran, Aditya Narayan of Little Champs fame would also entertain the people
in addition to others who were being roped in till going to the press.
Those with a literary taste too have been taken care of. Hasya Kavi Sammelan
would also be there as usual led by Surender Sharma, the famous poet known
for his Haryanvi humour.
To cater to the ever-increasing appetite of the people for more, apart from
the ITF Ground, cultural programmes would be held at Dr BR Ambedkar
Auditorium, Netaji Stadium and the Amphitheatre at Haddo too. The Carnival
would not remain confined to the capital town of Port Blair. It would cover
all the three districts of South Andaman including Hut Bay, Madhyottar
Andaman and the Nicobar district.
In Madhyottar Andaman programmes will be held at Baratang, Rangat,
Mayabunder, the district headquarters, and at Diglipur. The programmes
selected for performance in those areas would match the taste of the local
people.
Subhas Mela, an annual pageantry held on January 23 on of Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose's birth anniversary has acquired the significance, substance
and status an annual event of Havelock. It is being held for over three
decades. This year, the plan is to merge the Andaman Carnival with Subhas
Mela there to make it more attractive for the people.
Similarly, Neil Islands celebrates the birth anniversary of Swamy
Vivekananda annually in a magnificent style. There too the Carnival is
scheduled to be merged with local mega event. Car Nicobar and other islands
there too shall not be left untouched by the jamboree this year.
The central venue of the Carnival at ITF Ground consists of shopping centres
put up by interested traders, some put up by reluctant state and central
government departments showing their ongoing works and future projects and a
couple of tourism related stalls. However, the main draw always remained the
makeshift restaurants and other eateries that offer mouth-watering
delicacies especially prepared for the occasion.
People would throng the venues in their thousands not once but at least four
to five times. Children specially love and enjoy the show and pull their
parents again and again to the Carnival.
The administration spends over Rs 2 crore on stalls, hospitality to the
artists of East and South Zone Cultural Centres, transport, hiring the
Bollywood artists and on honorarium. Rs 50-60 lakhs are spent on a couple of
Bollywood artists only.
In difference to the wishes of Gen Bhopinder Singh, Lt. Governor, local
cultural organisations and artists have been invited to participate in a big
way. Those organisations in districts other than South Andaman are also
likely to perform in different venues, according to reports. However, the
fee paid to the local organisations is as pittance compared to the total
amount spent on the mega event.
"The official content should give way to add more local flavour in terms of
handicrafts, sculpture, painting, photography, pottery …….etc and there
should be some tangible competitive sections to give a boost to the
art-forms. It will encourage local artists to do still better and compete at
national level," said Pratibha Sarkar, a local artist.


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