Good ole Goa

Girls in bandanas and tie and dye tasseled apparel and men in faded drawstring pants and beads walked down toward the hang out restaurant Busabong. The sides of the street peppered with plenty of such joints8217; with hippie-like foreigners and Indians partying, the luxurious air permeating it all. The eve of the new Century had Tito8217;s at Baga jamming with an entry fee of Rs 2,000 and upwards being slapped on to 8220;keep away unwanted elements8221;. So one presumes that the wanted elements were Madhu Sapre, Noyonika Chatterji, Namrata Shirodkar, Arjun Rampal and Meher Jesia Rampal, Nina Pillai and Gautam Kapoor, all seen inside rocking to the music.

Some graduate students down for their winter breaks from Duke8217;s, Wharton and Massachusetts Institute of Technology were looking for raves and had come to Goa only for the freedom with which they could indulge in coke, speed, acid, Ganesha, Parvati and 8220;designer drugs8221; like Ecstasy. But we don8217;t go to raves only for drugs, the trance music is something all of us share in common which sends us into another state of existence. A whole lot of us meet at these open-air vacated fields at Anjuna or places like Disco Valley, Bamboo Forest, Hilltop Hotel, Paridiso De Goa and rave together.

Fort Aguada Hotel and the Taj Holiday Village was where the scene was more upmarket, with all the regulars there in full force to add style to the extravaganza: Parmeshwar and Adi Godrej, Adi Dubash with Uma the princess of Morvi, Vinod and Kavita Khanna, Naresh Trehan, Vijay Mallya with entourage, the Oswals, Ravi Ghai, Raja and Queenie Dhody, Praful Patel, Nusli and Maureen Wadia, Ram Jethmalani, Ritu Nanda, Karan Paul. Ronnie Lobo and his team from Taj had orchestrated a Goan Portuguese Extravaganza8217; to turn on the millennium magic. Every corner of the hotel was booked and those who wanted to bring in the new century in solitude stayed inside their cottages at the Taj Hermitage.

One of the talked about parties which many flew into Goa all the way from Bombay and Delhi to attend was that of Jimmy Guzdar. Up on the hillside facing the sea at his dome bungalow, set on four step-levels Jimmy had a huge divertissement. The much spoken about happening8217; at this party was a celebrity falling into the pool in a strapless dress, which with the weight of the water fell off a la Princess Diana on her engagement.

This added to the high drama of the much charged evening. Seen there were the Dalmias, Chowgules, Dattaraj Ambani and Deepti Salgoankar Ambani, Simrat Duggal and Tavleen Singh. Guests complained that despite paying an entrance fee of Rs 2,000 for the party there was scarcely any champagne though the food was lavishly spread over all three levels with the desert at one level, the entre at the second and au derves at another. Xavier Marquis at the Marquis resort and Ajay Lakhanpal of Novinoo Batteries had their annual bash with more than the usual pizzazz and a smattering of celebs as well.

Goa was the place to be; the special thing about it has always been that there8217;s place for everyone. Whether it is just chilling out at the beach or at a high profile party , there8217;s fun to be had and the spirit of excitement paradoxically intertwined with a leisurely, drowsy feel permeating every thing that happens. It was no different this time.