Abolianchem Fest Celebrates the Coconut Tree
The 9 th of February 2019 saw a flurry of joyous activity at Nirmala Institute of Education. It was time again to celebrate that vibrant flower that is endemic to Goa, the abolim , or firecracker flower, with the Abolianchem Fest . The concept of using the flower as a symbol was integrated into Nirmala Institute’s own Project Goa, which highlights Goa’s socio-cultural features with a variety of typical Goan music, games, songs, dances, food, art, craft, etc that existed before 1975. The campus of Nirmala Institute of Education was alive with the abolim abounding in great clusters in one section. Missing in action was Goemcho Festakar Marius Fernandes, the man who suggested the use of the symbolic abolim and has in recent times been a great promoter of Goan culture. His absence was sorely felt. Project Goa was first developed on the basis of ex-English Methodology lecturer Ms Sharmila Veloso’s own English project. The goal of this project, which evolved into Project Goa, was to re