Joaquim Rodrigues from Vasco has been instrumental in introducing us to the tiartists who have been very prompt with their riddles,” adds Cyril. It is also the first time that we asked tiatrists to contribute to the competition. They have sleepless nights until they get the answers, yet they look forward to the next riddle. There has been a great response and I have people from Australia and the UK, calling me early in the morning if I delay posting the riddles. Through this competition, more people are learning-not just the language but also about the olden way of Goan life and simple objects which can be described very colourfully in Konkani.Ī few of the parkonnim include, ‘ Edo So Por, Faar Marpak For-Kitem Tem Sang?’, ‘Halta Dholta Pai, Xendri Mendri Maim, Kuchur Buchur Bhurgim - Kitem Tem Sang?’ and ‘Hath Lailear, Nidonk Voita - Kitem Tem Sang?’ “This year, the competition has reached a wider audience, in Goa and abroad. Simple fruits, animals and even activities can find their way into these complicated riddles. These parkonnim were usually heard in the villages of Goa when there was not much entertainment and the evening was a time to catch up with friends after work. These riddles have been passed down for generations and sadly have been gradually fading away from living memory. I posted one riddle on our Chicalim Bio-Crusaders Whatsapp group and it got a great response,” says Cyril. I convinced him to speak more about the riddles and I documented it. He didn’t stop at one and I was amazed at how beautiful Konkani is and these parkonnim have more of a musical feel to it because of the language. I was working on my research and Inacio, who is very much connected to his tribal roots, started talking to me in riddles, parkonnim. “During the Covid-19 lockdown, everyone was holed up inside their homes with no activities. A casual chat with Inacio Gama from Sancoale left him dumbfounded when Inacio started asking him parkonnim. Convenor of Chicalim Bio-Crusaders, Cyril Fernandes, the mastermind behind the competition, is also a researcher who writes about Goan history from the tribals’ perspective. What started out as a simple mind exercise, has now turned into the much anticipated question of the day. Till date, 31 riddles have been posed by Tiatr stalwarts like Prince Jacob, Roseferns, comedienne Janet, Antoneta de Maina, comedian Augustinho and Mario de Vasco and also Konkani actors like Rajdeep Naik, Suchita Narvekar, Prashanti Talpankar and comedian Paresh Parab. This year’s edition was launched by Goan Fadista Sonia Shirsat on September 5 and since then, the edition has featured parkonnim, the plural of parkonnem, by noted tiatrists and theatre personalities, activists and anyone who loves Konkani riddles. 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. Mind you, these one or two-liners can have really simple answers but solving them can be nerve wracking. Just like proverbs, riddles too have a beautiful rhythm to them when the riddle is posed in Konkani, and called parkonnem. Parkonnim, a traditional game of posing riddles, was played in the yesteryears in Goa.
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