Now in its fifth edition, the Chikoo Festival continues to burgeon at the Bordi beach. Though the venue remains the same, the flair and scale differ (See "Championing the chikoo,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, March 7, 2013). Held on January 21 and 22, 2017, this year it was grander, bigger and more of a fair than a festival.
On the eve of the inauguration, the Maharashtra Rajya Chikoo Utpadak Sangh received the welcome news (after almost six years
of trying) that the "chikoo has got its geographical indication (GI) tag from the Government of India,” reported The Times of India (TOI) of January 19, 2017. This will entitle fruit only from this area to use the label of chikoos from Dahanu-Gholvad-Bordi. TOI draws a parallel to Nagpur oranges, Mahabaleshwar strawberries or Nasik grapes. The Sangh will permit only those registered with them to use the GI tag of Dahanu-Gholvad-Bordi chikoos and their products.The fruit from this belt in Palghar district is credited with greater sweetness owing to the calcium rich soil. Percy Jamshedwala unassumingly worked behind the scenes to obtain government approval while simultaneously attending to the administration of the annual festival.
About 25% of the stalls sold chikoo related products or fruits that were locally harvested. Kokum, amla, jamun and mango juice were available as were value added products such as chikoo flavored powder, shakes, toffees, chutney, lassi, milk shake, kulfi and of course ice cream, chocolates, halwa, burfi and the well-known chikoo chips. Locally made pickles, masalas, laddoos, papads, snacks, etc all fought for space. Kerfi Irani, a chikoo grower, lamented that due to soil contamination and environmentally unhealthy practices the output of chikoos per wadi (farm) comes down dramatically from three tons to half a ton per acre per year in a bad year. He rattled off figures of price increases for cow dung fertilizer (considered to be the best), khol (a mulch made from groundnuts) and escalated transport and labor costs — which marked the steepest rise.
Nagesh and Priyanka Pai have a chikoo winery six kilometers from the festival venue where visitors could sign up for tasting and viewing wine making. The Pais also sell chikoo wine. Latika Patil is trying to create a chikoo based breakfast cereal. These are among the many value added products that are being tested and initiated.
(Clockwise from top l): artist, artefacts, Warli stalls Photos: Mehroo Kotval
The most sought after stall was the "The Magical World of the Warli,” an animistic tribe of the area which is fiercely environmentally protectionist and deeply rooted in earth traditions. Kiran Gorwala, a proud Warli, obtained his master’s degree in fine arts from the Raheja School of Arts in Bombay. He had heard traditional stories from his father, grandfather and other elders and now translates these into color depictions. He started painting as a mode of expression when he was in Std V. At the festival he had decorated the Warli corner where Phiroza Tafti highlighted their daily practice with a real staff to grind masalas and a grain wheel to make flour. Tafti, passionate about the environment and one of the initiators of the festival, re-created a realistic Warli setting — a woman with her child sitting at the foot of the bullock cart and Subhash Bhagat Devla, called Bhagat, considered a shaman. The enthusiast tells us about Bhagat being a medium, practicing rituals where they address inanimate objects as persons and believe life is a combination of the fantastic, imaginary, unseen and the tangible. Tafti is also convener of the Dahanu chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
There were other stalls peddling products so visitors could shop till they drop – selling shoes, sandals, bags, organic soaps, mosquito agarbattis (joss sticks), pens, saris, yardage and readymade garments, books, as well as computers, washing machines, refrigerators, television sets, etc! Omkar Chavan and Ajay Shirawat sold made-to-order bead torans and mobiles. Soham from Goregaon, Bombay sat on the floor surrounded by his painted canvases denying any potential buyer the opportunity of acquiring his paintings. The 11-year-old said he painted for pleasure, not income!
Thousands of visitors swamped the venue over the two days despite lack of signage indicating the location of Bordi beach. For the first time fresh chikoos were on sale at the festival and not just their by-products. This found favor with many!