Comments on: Getting to Know Goa, Slowly

By: Getting to Know Goa, Slowly | Sepia Mutiny - - worldhistory.vno.bz

Getting to Know Goa, Slowly | Sepia Mutiny - - worldhistory.vno.bz — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:42:00 +0000

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By: Neale

Neale — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:22:05 +0000

Amardeep, Thanks for the detailed post on Goa. I wish more Goans would read it. To know what is being lost. I talked to my Dad and Mom on Xmas – and they mentioned it is the first time they remember the Panjim church bells silent after midnight mass. There were metal detectors and snipers on rooftops. I guess Goa has arrived. Tourism is a mixed bag in Goa – those who profit love it . Those who do not hate it. Times Square has nothing on the Arpora – Anjuna road on New Year’s Eve. My sister lives a block back from that road and i hear the worry in her voice when she considers the influences her teenage children are exposed to. But her hubsand’s small convenience store thrives from Nov. to March. I have overheard sheepish Scandanvian retirees inquruing about non-prescription Viagra purcahses. All this is nothing like the Goa i remember – carefree and safe. Bike rides and picnics and peaceful hippies not threatening to turn every beach into a suburb of Tel Aviv. Or a Russian fortress. True, the political identity of Goans is getting an airing with the Goa Bachao Andolan – but individuals are hurting. Public transport, those languid and humid bus rides (the best way to see Goa) are a thing of the past. I stood all the way from Calangute to Panaji at 10 pm one night packed like a sardine with scores of Kannadiga construction workers headed for home – me to my parents aging apartment, the workers to the one room slums that have sprouted in Chimbel. Diversity of abodes notwithstanding, I am sure everybody had a water contingency plan for the following morning.
As teenagers, our interests centered on music and girls (surprise!), we’d snigger at the tourist brochures that sold “our” Goa as a land of white beaches and swaying palm trees. How boring, we’d say, gazing out at the ferry boats and barges lumbering down the Mandovi as we smoked and swigged rum oppsite the Customs House. Nowadays the image of Goa as some party place fills me with revulsion. Those “floating” casinos on the Mandovi are the epitome of the bastard culture that has taken hold. In other uplifting news, I have observed Hooligan behavior from close up. In Candolim. I have seen piles of plastic bottles behind Benaulim shacks that would shame Colorado Blvd after the Rose Parade. Cue the Paul Okenfield soundtrack. There are more air kisses at Tito’s than bangde in the sea.
So, grumpy old me, I’ll take refuge in memories. All i’ll see is white beaches and swaying palm trees. Hope to read more of your posts Amardeep.

By: Kumar_N

Kumar_N — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:41:50 +0000

Great post, Amardeep.And the links are very good.Thanks.

IMO, the best time to visit Goa is June (not because I am a Gemini ! ).

Reason: The last of the Indian summer tourists leave by May end.There are a few foreigners (people who have come to spend 1-2 years or possibly longer), and the beaches will be empty.You can get beach front accommodation at throw away prices.The chefs are relaxing and try out some new dishes on the few customers.

And then we get the first drops of monsoon rains. Oh to be in Goa to welcome the south west monsoon !

By: portmanteau

portmanteau — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:59:55 +0000

21 Â· tiglath pileser said

We will be popping up to NYC this weekend, and to other destinations in April (Easter), somewhere else in Summer, and then probably India in Dec.

awesome. our parents were also traveled with us extensively when we were younger. but we were very pliant i think: getting up very early in the day, sightseeing until we were exhausted, and not minding the relatively spartan places we stayed at (and we didn't whine at all those days, but even if we did, i doubt we'd have gotten anywhere; my dad used to abhor the resort-type vacations). now, of course, we're all grown up and hardly ever vacation with our parents (when i make more money, hopefully that will change). but i'm really grateful that they took the effort to plan for holidays in diverse locations, despite the expense and trouble. i'm sure your kids will thank you also when they're old enough to realize what goes into planning a vacation, especially in out of the places in India.

By: fazgun

fazgun — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:37:35 +0000

Visit LLoyd’s on the Calangute-Siquerim road at 3 AM,have his mom’s Fejado and poi, drink a cold one and listen to the local boy’s (everyone from owner’s of the fancy resorts and restaurants, the local MLA and an occasional celebrity) solve the world’s problem with the absolute knowledge that tomorrow it starts all over again.

By: tiglath pileser

tiglath pileser — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:58:30 +0000

One day, when you do have the time and appropriate distance from the present, I'd love to hear about how it is like to travel with a young family. That is the one of the small things that scares me about marriage and children: the loss of the ability to just get up and go, to move around with very little planning and provision.

we had our kids (2 boys) late, and prior to that did a fair amount of travelling. No question that kids take out the spontaneity of being able to go on a whim. But, with careful planning we still travel a fair amount. The older one sleeps or reads, so he is not an issue at all. The younger one is a lot more lively, and was initially a handful, but we have developed coping and control mechanisms eg portable video, musuems in 1 hour max chunks and so on. We are reasonably ruthless about dumping them with baby sitting in reputable hotels (where we are staying) if we need time off as adults. It does need more planning (which costs nothing) but we are pretty happy with our ability to travel. We will be popping up to NYC this weekend, and to other destinations in April (Easter), somewhere else in Summer, and then probably India in Dec.

By: Amol

Amol — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:42:44 +0000

The best part about konkani - ALL variants proudly serve some of the most colourful swear words in India. Itâ€™s an honour to get cussed out by konkani grandparent.

Happy new year all.

By: oldtime-SMer

oldtime-SMer — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:36:52 +0000

Amardeep, very interesting post. There are some really thoughtful essays on Goa here. There's a wonderful flickr photostream of Goa by Frederick Noronha here.

As you mentioned, many artists, artistes, writers, musicians, etc are moving to Goa from elsewhere in India and abroad. Amitav Ghosh, for example. (Check out this first person account by an expat).

Goa being the locus of the longest period of continuous colonial presence in South Asia, one of the longest in the world, I have to wonder what it means when writers choose to move there to write their trilogies on the British colonial period? Perhaps you will tell us! I look forward to your future posts on/from/about Goa.

As I write, it is already New Year's in Goa, though this one is set to be more subdued, with cops on the beaches, sandbagged as if expecting an invasion! (The cop chief interviewed in the clip is a real wordsmith, he says "We have sufficient capability, but it's not enough, yes".)

Happy New Year to you and all at SM!

By: khoofia

khoofia — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:34:06 +0000

Do Indian women there wear bikini’s on the beach or really long shirts with men’s trunks?

the answer might surprise you. this is an indian mataji’s backside resplendent in nothing – and this is a lady bodyboarding.

khoof, i can’t tell you how many times i’ve fallen for that one. i’ve paid for it in tears as madonna aunty puts it. dhanyavaad ji, but no thanks

dang! foiled again.

By: ShallowThinker

ShallowThinker — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:19:58 +0000

A question that I have always thought about but never put any effort in getting an answer about Goa is

Do Indian women there wear bikini's on the beach or really long shirts with men's trunks?