The second Sunday of May in Bhatti Ward, Nerul, North Goa, unfolds a bit differently. While the usual Sunday chaos reigns in homes, a curious sight disrupts the routine.
Local women can be seen emerging from their houses clutching an 'adoli', the traditional tool used for scraping fish. This unusual scene piques your curiosity, drawing you to follow their path. Their hurried steps lead you to a single destination – a house where you see several other women seated in the courtyard, cleaning clams.
This cleaning is for the feast, celebrated later in the evening, which the locals call 'Tisreachem Fest' or 'Feast of Clams'. It's a cherished tradition that binds the villagers of Nerul together. "What makes this celebration unique is its community spirit," says Philip Dsouza of Bhatti, Nerul, whose family was chosen to celebrate the feast of 'tisreo' this year.
"Members from every house in Bhatti village come to participate in the preparations. Even those having strained relationships with their neighbours come together in the morning to help out," he adds.
For the residents of Bhatti Ward, this feast acts as a reunion. "Everyone who has moved away to Bombay, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, etc, comes back to the village for this feast," Dsouza adds. The main celebrants of the feast this year were the young sons of the Dsouza family – namely Kegan, Kayden, Jason and Sanroy Dsouza – some of whom came especially from Bombay to be part of the feast.
The scene at the celebrant's house is a happy one. Women seated in the courtyard chat, laugh and clean clams together. This gathering serves as a cherished time for them to bond with neighbours and family. The excitement and enthusiasm are palpable, with everyone eager to help and contribute without hesitation.
Now, you would ask, why clams? Well, Fr Apolinario Cardozo SJ writes in his book, When Goa Celebrates, that Nerul was known for its abundance of clams. As a thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest, they celebrate this tradition.
The book also mentions that most villagers would spend their summers harvesting clams, and that's where the tradition became integrated into the people's lifestyle.
The feast day is a flurry of activity. Over 20 baskets of clams are brought, and the women work through the morning, some cleaning and opening the clams, others chopping onions, tomatoes and chilies.
The men can be seen seamlessly handling logistics, assisting the women with the clams and tending to their needs. They also turn their attention to decorating the chapel of St Anthony, where the evening litany will be held.
Once the cleaning and cutting is completed, the senior lady among them, Dinizina Vaz, whose family holds the secret recipe to the preparation of 'tonak' or 'xacuti' of clams, instructs the other women, or 'randpinn' (lady cooks), on the traditional preparation method. "My family has been doing this for many years," she says, "and we want to keep the tradition alive."
Once the preparations are completed, in the evening around 8 pm the villagers gather at the chapel, which is well-lit and beautifully decorated. The ladainh (litany) is held, joined in by all the people, with members of other faiths participating as well. "The unity and tradition that are kept alive, even with changing times, are what make this feast worth attending every year," says a local resident.
Though the Meteorological Department in Goa had issued a yellow weather warning for May 12, 2024, and it rained during the service, the villagers went ahead with their celebration and could be seen enjoying the 'tisreo' preparation.
People raised a toast with a sip of wine, savouring the traditional preparation and promised to carry forth the tradition of the Tisreachem Fest and continue to bind the community.