Panaji: For Rosita and Maria, two sisters in their 50s living with dwarfism, the Bonderam of Divar island’s Malar village was more than a day of festivity. It gave them something they rarely get at public events– a platform to showcase their work and a chance to network with others.The sisters were at the festival displaying their crochet work. Visitors stopped by, spoke to them and took their contact numbers, with some expressing interest in placing orders.For festival organiser Marius Fernandes, that is what inclusion should look like. “It’s not only including them; we have to make sure they also get employment,” he said.At Bonderam, the traditional celebration is increasingly becoming a platform for community participation, skills and small-scale entrepreneurship.Women from self-help groups play a central role in the annual festivities. During this year’s celebrations, a women’s self-help group prepared food for hundreds of visitors who thronged the island over the weekend for authentic Goan cuisine. The group has been involved in the festival over the years, with women taking responsibility for cooking prawn curry, boiled red rice, kismoor, beans, lentils, kokum juice and the traditional dessert, manganem.Across the four wards of Malar, children as young as seven and eight are choreographed by the experienced adults of the village. Women take up tailoring and costume-making, while residents work on themes, prepare performances and make the floats and other material required for the Bonderam procession.Traditional sweets such as patoleo, batik, pudde and bolo de laranja were prepared by different wards to form another part of the pasoi (walk). The scale of the exercise means that the festival becomes a collective effort involving hundreds of residents.“This year, around 700 people voluntarily contributed in different ways,” Fernandes said. “For nearly three months, the preparations spill out onto the village streets. From around 7pm to 10pm, children, parents and grandparents gather for rehearsals, turning homes and roads into informal practice spaces. The preparations bring generations together and keep young people engaged with their community, while allowing older residents to pass on skills and traditions that otherwise would have been lost.“The effort has also extended to music. Over the past three years, the village has been building its own brass band, training young people to play wind instruments rather than relying entirely on bands from outside the island.“In that sense, Bonderam is creating spaces for people who might otherwise remain on the margins, whether they are women seeking income opportunities, people with disabilities looking for a market for their skills, or young residents learning music and dance. The festival lasts a day but the impact of the community effort behind it lasts longer,” said Fernandes.
