How Goa crib-hopped in smaller numbers in 2020, but without losing its spirit and thrust on social dialogue
Across the state, people came together to create life-size Nativity scenes in cribs that were often themed on social issues. In the pandemic, the number of crib-hoppers may have reduced, but the sentiment remained unchanged.
Joanna Lobo
January 10, 2021 14:06:21 IST
A crib in Goa. All images procured by the author.
The hill plays the perfect backdrop. Down its side cascades a waterfall in cloth, leading to a green pasture. The grass is real, the sheep are cotton clouds, like cartoon characters with round eyes. Over boulders and scraggy rocks are mud huts and castles with little pathways; round the bend is a life-size carpentry workshop with women busy at work. At the end of the tableau is a crowded manger with a hen laying eggs, and two figures looking over a new-born baby. From outside, flutes of carols stream in.