When the tempo could carry no more we would return to SFX school where the exhibition was to be held in order to unload the pots and start out again. Each round was an experience of new people, new homes, new gardens. On one round we visited the famous pop singer Remo's house. His mother was taking part in the exhibition.
It took us all day to complete the list and we eventually made three trips round the village. We then arranged the pots on the benches in the school hall. Miguel Braganza (an agricultural officer of the Government who at that time was posted to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Old Goa) and Francis Borges (the same person who gave the talk on organic farming at the Saligao Plant Exhibition) were also there along with several other village boys and girls all helping in various ways to set up the show which was to begin the next morning. In fact by the time we finished it was already one a.m. of the 13th. We would have only a few hours of sleep before we would all be on duty again at 9 a.m. to complete the last minute jobs before the festival got started.
The Green Heritage Plant Festival lasted three days. The Director of the Agricultural Department, Mr P.K. Desai, inaugurated it at 11 a.m (instead of a ribbon to be cut between the doors of the exhibition, there was a creeper). He also released a book titled, Green Aid III-Total Gardening that the Green Heritage had published. The book was wrapped up in a large money plant leaf instead of wrapping paper. I thought this an unusual and apt idea. After the inauguration and the release of the book, the official made his speech which was followed by a funny speech made by Alexyz.
The Green Heritage programme had several aspects: (i) the exhibition, (ii) lectures and talks on different subjects and (iii) competitions of different kinds-all related to the green world.
The main exhibition hall was very big and it was filled with all kinds of plants, arranged in such a manner that people could move around easily and view the plants without too much difficulty. Altogether there must have been about two hundred pots. There were vegetable plants such as chillies and brinjals. There were flowering plants, cacti, creepers, ferns, bonsai of Banyan trees, peepal trees, etc. There were also lime trees, orange trees and chickoo trees all growing in pots.