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**** http://www.GOANET.org ****
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The Rape of Goa - A photo documentary
by
Rajan P. Parrikar
Venue: Menezes Braganza Art Gallery, Panjim, May 21-24, 2008
http://www.parrikar.org/misc/doc-notice.pdf
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Interesting how various tourist-sending destinations go through a
honeymoon phase with Goa ... and then move towards dumping her! FN
You've got to Goa!
We were dancing in the streets
The Province
We arrived in Goa -- the former Portuguese colony on the southwestern
coast of India -- late at night on the train, in the rain.
We took a cab from the station to the city of Mapusa and, after
hearing the prices from cabbies for taking us the rest of the way to
Arambol, we decided to get a hotel for the night, and to try again the
next day.
In the morning, we walked over to the bus stand to see if we could
find a bus to Arambol. Unfortunately, there is only one bus daily and
we missed it by an hour or so. So we priced out a rickshaw and got a
good deal.
A high-prowed fishing boat rests on the picturesque beach at Goa.
Paul Bennett for the Edmonton Journal
Many people were covered in colour, as this was the first day of the
Hindu festival of Holi, the festival of colour. Our rickshaw driver
had some yellow and orange on him, and many people were chasing each
other around, trying to throw coloured powder on them.
Well, we arrived in Arambol midday. Our cabbie suggested a place for
us to stay, which is usually a bad idea, because they are simply
trying to make some extra money by taking you to a place that will
give them commission. But when we checked out the guest house, it was
great, and for a great price. It turned out to be a really nice place
to stay as it was run by a very friendly family.
We were unsure as to how good the Hindu festival of Holi would be as
the province is almost 75 per cent Christian.
We walked around Arambol and noticed a few people were covered in
coloured powder, with the occasional person covered nearly head to
toe.
We walked down to the beach and had a swim in the nice warm water. On
our walk back, we came across a group of young Indian guys just
covered in colour, dancing around to Goa psy (a type of music).
One came up to us and asked if we wanted colour, to which we both said
an enthusiastic yes! After some splashes and dashes, we were both
nearly fully painted from head to toe.
We danced around with them for a while, occasionally grabbing handfuls
of coloured powder to throw at each other. As cars drove by, the guys
would attempt to hit the people inside the car, and some did not look
impressed. There were a few other tourists who also got the same
treatment we did, and were both nicely coloured.
After a few hours of merriment, we went back to the guest house to
clean up. Thankfully, the coloured powder they were using is the
organic kind and washes off fairly quickly.
These Indians definitely know how to have a festival. Why don't we
have a colour festival back home?
Much of Arambol revolves around tourism, every store and shop is
somehow related to the trade. We found it to be a very nice place, the
people were friendly and it had the nicest beach. For several days, we
rented scooters and spent some time driving around Goa to check out
the other beaches.
We spent much of our time on the beaches, our favourite being a nice
beach just a short five-minute drive to the south. This beach had
three small restaurant huts on it that offered food, drinks and beach
chairs for a small fee.
For several days, I rented a boogey board and spent hours catching the
medium-sized waves that would crash in on the shore.
These were some tough days at the office, that is for sure.
When you visit India, this is one place you simply have to Goa!
(c) The Vancouver Province 2008
