Goan Crazy

Famous hill stations like Shimla,Nainital,Mussorie and Matheran,built by the British as retreats for rest and relaxation,were gradually overrun by marauding tourist hordes and Goa is now regrettably now facing the same threat.

Unscrupulous politicians in cahoots with builders have desecrated much of the countryside as massive hotels,resorts,gated communities and malls have begun to spring up everywhere.

About five years ago it became hugely fashionable for people from Mumbai and especially Delhi to own a vacation home in Goa.

But rather than buy and restore charming Portuguese-style villas,they elected to purchase tracts of land and build ugly,modern monstrosities that look entirely incongruous in this provincial landscape. Flaunting an ostentatious Delhi-style farmhouse as a status symbol is now absolutely de riguer here. The same set of rich and almost-famous people who socialise and air-kiss in Delhi,Mumbai and Bangalore now do so in Goa as the entire beau monde descend in droves for the New Year celebrations.

Not just the glitterati but also the Great Indian Middle-class arrives en famille to partake of the festivities.

To cater to their palate,which doesn’t really appreciate the local vindaloos,cafreals and xacutis,hundreds of restaurants have sprung up serving tandoori chicken,aaloo jalfrezi,vegetarian Jain pizzas and pav bhaji.

Once a bastion for naked sun-bathing hippies,Goa has also become a haven for international charter flight tourists who are looking for cheap hotels and cheaper booze. Pasty beer-bellied Brits and Germans loll about the beaches in various states of undress as busloads of gawking Indian tourists arrive fully clothed to excitedly take pictures of bikini-clad and topless white women.

The charming,narrow,winding streets and bylanes of sleepy hamlets are choked with fancy cars bearing non-Goan license plates. The hotels charge astronomical rates for the peak season and the airlines simply charge whatever they feel like. It is apparently cheaper to fly to Bangkok or Dubai at this time of year than it is to Goa. Despite all this,the throngs still arrive in planes,trains and automobiles to ring in the New Year.

Goa,the die-hards will tell you,is simply Goa. More than a place,it’s a state of mind. It’s no surprise,therefore,that I am typing this column sitting on a Goan beach,sipping my Feni and watching a glorious sun set on 2011.

samarofdiscontent@gmail.com