15 December 2019

Goa...

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Ever since I was a teenager I always wanted to go to Goa for the beautiful beaches and for those tempting rave parties and especially for those gorgeous foreign women wearing bikinis and roaming here and there without a care of the world. The conception or misconception was that if a man could impress a foreigner woman in Goa with his wit and humour then she would readily and eagerly sleep with him.








As any other average Indian, every year I made plans to go to Goa and every year the plans got cancelled. After seeing Dil Chahta Hai at Priya in the year 2001, me and my friends made concrete plans to go to Goa but sadly those plans did not materialise either. Dil Chahta Hai was shot in Chapora Fort in Goa. In the nineties I remember that I saw the film Trikaal on Doordarshan. It was a very interesting film which was about Goa and it was directed by the legend Shyam Benegal. Other notable films that were shot in Goa are Saat Hindustani, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Khamoshi, Josh, The Golmaal Series, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Guzaarish, Singham, Dum Maaro Dum, Finding Fanny, Drishyam, Dear Zindagi, Go Goa Gone, Dilwale, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Bhoothnaath etc. Among all these films my most favourite one is Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. 








This year was the Silver Jubilee of the Calcutta Film Festival. During the Calcutta Film Festival at Nandan, someone mentioned that this year was the Golden Jubilee of the Goa Film Festival. I immediately made up my mind to go to Goa by hook or by crook. I was determined this year. After all it was the 50th anniversary of IFFI. A historic occasion. So I immediately logged in to the website of IFFI and applied for a Delegate Card as a film enthusiast. Fortunately the very next day my application was accepted and I was asked to pay one thousand rupees. I immediately paid the money through my Credit Card. I received a confirmation email within seconds and I took a print-out of it. 








Next I logged into airbnb and looked for rooms with reasonable rates. Luckily I could successfully book a room at Serene Waters Guest House for seven days at only thousand rupees per night. The pictures of the Guest House looked very attractive. The place has a private swimming pool and a lovely garden with a hammock. The rooms looked cosy. The overall ambience looked good. Therefore without looking for any other hotels I immediately booked my room at Serene Waters and made the online payment instantly.  












Next I bought my flight tickets. First I booked a Calcutta to Goa flight via Chennai because it was the cheapest flight. The waiting time in Chennai airport was eight hours. For returning I booked a direct Goa to Calcutta flight because while returning I knew that I would not have the energy to wait at any airport for even a minute. This year IFFI was from 20th to 28th November. My initial plan was to reach Goa on 19th November. But then the problem was that the India-Bangladesh Pink Test Match was starting from 22nd November at Eden Gardens. Since 1996, I have been to all the Test Matches at Eden. And this was going to be a historic Test Match. Therefore I decided to go to Goa on 23rd. 







On 22nd November (Friday), I first came to my office in the morning. Around 1 p.m. I went to Eden with my office colleague. A good friend of mine has given me two Club House Upper Tier tickets. It was really nice to hear the national anthems of both the nations. It was a fascinating Day One at Eden. The Indian pacers bowled brilliantly. On day one, Bangladesh was all out for 106 runs. Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh Prime Minister, was present at the stadium. Since she was supposed to leave India on that day evening, therefore all eleven Bangladesh cricketers showed their skills to their Prime Minister on day one of the Test Match itself ! 








In the evening I bought a new phone for my Goa trip. I bought the latest Realme XT which has four rear cameras. Both the front and rear cameras of this phone is awesome and the processor is also very fast. I already have a Samsung A7 phone which has three rear cameras which I had bought last year during Durga Puja but I am not happy with this Samsung's camera. That is why I bought this new phone because it really takes good pictures. 











On 23rd November (Saturday), the first half of the day was spent in packing my suitcase. I took an Uber to the Calcutta airport. I had a Spicejet flight to Chennai. The flight was delayed by almost one hour. We were all sitting inside the plane and waiting for the engine to start. Though I was busy clicking selfies. There was some problem with the immigration procedures of some Bangladeshi passengers and that is why the flight got delayed. Moreover there were a lot of mosquitoes inside the plane who were also travelling to Chennai. Some of the human passengers started heated arguments with those beautiful air hostesses because of the delay and also because of the mosquitoes. I really felt sorry for those beautiful girls. After all they were helpless. The delay was due to the ground staff. I spoke to the most beautiful air hostess there and told her that Spicejet should keep a few of those electric mosquito bats inside the aeroplane. She agreed with me and told me that she would speak to her superiors about it.    



















Anyways I landed in Chennai around 9 p.m. From the airport I took an Uber and went to The Trident Hotel for dinner. In Chennai I saw that Uber has auto service also. I had a non-veg South Indian Thali at the hotel restaurant which was named Samudra. After dinner I went to the hotel coffee shop named Cinnamon and had a cup of cappuccino there. It was a beautiful hotel. Also spoke to this very beautiful receptionist there. She was a bengali girl.  


















At around 2 a.m. I came back to the airport. I had a 5 a.m. flight to Goa. I bought some Chennai souvenirs from the airport like fridge-magnets. Also became friends with a Tamil girl at the airport lounge. We talked about the Tamil film industry. She was really surprised that I have so much knowledge about their film industry. I also bought a packet of 'mysore-paak' from the airport. It was an eerie feeling to board the aeroplane around dawn.  












On 24th November (Sunday) I arrived at Goa around 7 a.m. Ola/Uber are not available in Goa. They have a phone based cab service called GoaMiles. I had already installed that app in my new phone. From the airport I took a GoaMiles cab and came to Serene Waters Guest House. Met Leo and his wife Jacqueline. They were my hosts. They are a lovely couple and very helpful. I had my breakfast there, then took a shower and then took a cab to Kala Academy. First things first, I went to the Film Festival office and gave them the print-out of my confirmation email. They gave me my IFFI Identity Card. They also gave me a lovely bag filled with film festival books and brochures. I went inside Kala Academy and clicked a lot of pics there. I had my lunch there too in the canteen. It was a beautiful place. 













  









After lunch I came out of Kala Academy and walked towards the Inox Courtyard. The whole pavement was full of art installations related to the film festival. At Inox I had a lovely time. Met with some of my friends who had also come to Goa from Calcutta. Also made some new friends. The Inox Courtyard of Panjim is almost similar to our very own Nandan Courtyard of Calcutta in many aspects. The Inox Courtyard is a place to watch films and have adda with like minded people and to engage in heated debates and discussions about films or politics or for that matter any other topic under the Sun and to eat delicious snacks and to just hang out and enjoy the beauty of the Courtyard.








  



In the evening I went to the park opposite Inox. An Art Fair was going on there. Some of the stalls were selling alcohol too. There were also a lot of food stalls inside the park. There was a stage also which was getting ready for some musical gig. But I was feeling too tired to wait for the concert. Around 7 p.m. I took a GoaMiles cab and came back to my Guest House. Had my dinner and went straight to bed. I was really tired that night. 















On 25th November (Monday), I had my breakfast and went straight to Inox. There I watched a Sri Lankan film. Also met the director of that film. Met some new people at the Inox Courtyard. In the evening I went for a walk around the old localities in Panjim. Saw many old but beautifully painted houses. Had coffee at a quiet coffee shop. I went to a wine shop and bought around 16 miniature alcohol bottles of all brands that were available there. These miniature alcohol bottles are not available in Calcutta. Later that evening I went to this cool place called "Soho" and had my dinner there. I ate 'Goan Chicken Xacuti'. From there I went to this place called "Down The Road", which was bang opposite "Soho" and had some alcohol there. I drank 'Cashew-Feni' and 'Sex On The Beach' cocktail. A live jazz performance was going on there. Recorded a few songs in my new phone. Around midnight I came back to my hotel and went to sleep.  






































On 26th November (Tuesday), after breakfast I first went to Inox. Saw an amazing Brazilian film named 'Marighella'. It was based on the life of the guerilla fighter Carlos Marighella. At Inox I made some new friends. Then went to a restaurant outside Inox and had my lunch there. Again came back to Inox. Made some more new friends. Around 6 p.m. I came back to my hotel, took a shower and went to the Deltin Royale Casino. Throughout my life I have seen so many Casino scenes in Bollywood and Hollywood films but never had the opportunity to visit one in person. So this was the first time in my life that I stepped inside a Casino. I went in around 8 p.m. The Casino was on a cruise ship which was placed in the middle of the Mandovi river. From land we went there in a medium sized boat. The Casino has four floors. The first and third are gaming floors. The second floor has the restaurant and the stage where live performances were happening. The fourth floor was the VIP zone. We were not allowed there. It was for the high rollers. The roof of the ship has the SkyBar. I first went to the third floor and started gambling. I played the American Roulette and another game called Casino War. After an hour I went to the SkyBar. It was an amazing place. There was a bar and a dance floor and a stage and beautiful seating arrangements. There was a good DJ who was playing catchy tunes. Russian belly dancers were dancing on the stage. A cool breeze was blowing. It was an electrifying experience. Later I came down to the second floor and had my dinner. It was a lavish buffet spread. The second floor also has a stage where there was live entertainment, which went on till 1 a.m. After dinner I went to the first floor and started gambling. I gambled throughout the entire night. I played American Roulette, Casino War, Wheel Of Fortune, Texas HoldEm Poker, Blackjack, Aandar Bahaar and also tried my luck in the slot machines. Before going to Goa, I saw a lot of youtube videos on how to play Poker and Blackjack and other games. I had done my homework well.        




















Here I must add that around seven years back I had seen the film 'Lucky You' featuring Eric Bana, Robert Duval and Drew Barrymore. I loved this film tremendously and also its background music. In this film Eric Bana plays the role of a talented Poker player in Las Vegas. After seeing this film I was totally hooked into the game of Poker and this game fascinated me greatly. So in Deltin Royale, for the first time in my life, I got a chance to play Poker in real life. 







On 27th November (Wednesday), I came out of the Deltin Royale Casino around 8 a.m. Took a cab and went to my hotel. Had my breakfast and went straight to sleep. I slept till noon. I had already pre-booked a car for sight-seeing. My driver came at noon. His name was Kishore and turned out to be a nice and friendly guy. I woke up, took a quick shower and went out with him.  








First I went to Vagator Beach. It was a nice beach but it was a bit crowded. Then I went to Anjuna Beach. It was a very rocky beach. I did not like it that much. I bought some "I Love Goa" tee-shirts from the beach for only hundred bucks each. After Anjuna I went to a local restaurant to have my lunch. I had a fish-thaali. Then I went to Baga Beach. It was very crowded. But it was a lovely beach. From Baga I went to the Goa Snow Park. The outside temperature was around 26 degrees and the inside temperature was around minus five degrees. One has to wear special coats and trousers and boots and caps to enter the Snow Park. I had a lot of fun inside and played with a few children there. From the Snow Park I went to Candolim Beach. Then I went to the Aguada Fort. The fort was magnificent. The view from the fort was superb. Then I went to Sinquerim Beach. Loved this beach very much. Lastly I went to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church. It was a majestic Church. There I again met that Sri Lankan film director. He was there with a Buddhist monk. I had a lovely conversation with the monk. Told him that I am a follower of Osho and how my Prophet Osho has the highest regards for Lord Buddha.  







































































































































I came back to my hotel around 8 p.m. Took a shower and went again to the Deltin Royale Casino. Had my dinner there and again gambled for the whole night. Also saw a lot of belly dancing and live music. Had a lovely talk with the Manager of this Casino. Made some friends inside the Casino while gambling. Boozed a lot. Time flew fast and suddenly it was dawn.  













On 28th November (Thursday), I came back to my hotel around 8 a.m. and had my breakfast and went straight to sleep. I slept till noon. It was the last day of the film festival. I woke up and took a shower and went to Inox around 2 p.m. Had my lunch there. Saw an Indian short film. All the film enthusiasts over there were a bit sad because it was the last day. The official magazine for the Goa Film Festival is called The Peacock. They have a new issue every day of the Film Festival which is given free of cost to the people. I went to their office and collected all the issues from 20th November to 28th November. My picture was published on the 26th November issue. This lady reporter from The Peacock had asked me about my experiences at the Goa Film Festival. I told her that in the Calcutta Film Festival I would generally watch five films per day but in Goa its very difficult to reserve seats as they fill up very fast. In Calcutta Film Festival, even if it is house-full, one can still enter the auditorium and sit on the stairs or on the ground or even stand and watch a film. But in Goa Film Festival, one has to reserve seats in advance at the booking counters and once all the seats are full then no one else is allowed inside the auditorium.











































In the evening I went to a Spa near Inox for a full body massage. I really needed this massage very badly. Came back to my hotel around 8 p.m. and took a shower and then went to the Big Daddy Casino. The Deltin Royale Casino was very good but this Big Daddy was even better. They have Russian pole dancers right in the middle of the gaming floor. Imagine you are gambling with unlimited free food and unlimited free alcohol and you also get to see Russian pole dancers! Its like Heaven on Earth.      


















On 29th November (Friday), I came back to my hotel around 8 a.m. and had my breakfast and went straight to sleep. I slept till noon. My driver Kishore came on time. First I went to the Goa Aquarium. It was a beautiful place. There I also dipped my feet inside the Fish Spa. These little fishes came and started eating the dead skin from my feet. In Calcutta I have seen fish spas in Shreeram Arcade and Diamond Plaza at Nagerbazar. Anyways, after the Aquarium I went to this funny Haunted House and also saw this bullshit 12D show. I also bought a lot of beach shirts and shells and key chains and earrings and necklaces and bracelets and other items from the gift shop of the Aquarium. From there I went to Colva Beach. It was a very nice beach. Had my lunch there at a restaurant near the beach. I ordered a sea food platter. It was yummilicious. From Colva I went to Betalbatim Beach. This place was very less crowded and mostly foreigners were there. Near this beach I bought some Goa tee-shirts and towels. After that I went to Majorda Beach. Loved this beach also. 































Came back to my hotel around 9 p.m. Took a shower and went to Casino Pride. This Casino was good but not as good as Deltin Royale and Big Daddy. Had my dinner there. Saw some Indian dance performances and also some Russian belly dancers. Lovely entertainment. I started gambling from midnight. Gambled throughout the night. Around 7 a.m. I left the ship and came back on land. So after four continuous nights of gambling I managed to make a profit of ten thousand. At one point of time I was winning something around thirty thousand but then again lost money. I should have left the gambling table then and there only when I was ahead by thirty thousand. But its very difficult and humanely impossible to leave the table. One gets greedy and then starts losing money. Its very difficult to control one's urge to gamble. We do not have Casinos in Calcutta therefore I wanted to make the most out of my Goa trip. Overall it was an amazing experience throughout the four nights at the Casinos. I have to come back to Goa again next year for these Casinos. This time I could visit only three Casinos. Next year I would love to visit other Casinos like Deltin Jaqk, Casino Carnival, Casino Pearl, Casino Palms, Casino Paradise, Chances Casino, Crown Casino, Dunes Casino, Casino Strike, Grand 7 Casino, Casino Dice, Treasures Casino etc. 
    












On 30th November (Saturday), I came back to my hotel around 8 a.m. Took a shower, had my breakfast and went straight to the Goa airport. On the road I bought a lot of stuff like pickles, cashew almonds etc. My flight was at 3 p.m. I had to pay two thousand rupees more for extra weight in my luggage. I should not have bought so many things from Goa. Inside the airport I went to the Mario Gallery and bought some stuff from there. I really love Mario Miranda's creations. Some of the items were too expensive and was beyond my budget. In the airport lounge I became friends with this Spanish girl who was going to Delhi. The flight was on time. Slept a bit inside the aeroplane. Took a lot of pics from the window. I reached Calcutta around 6 p.m. 












This time I wanted to go to Dona Paula but did not get the time to go there. In the year 1999, when I was in Class Ten, I saw Jag Mundhra's erotic film 'Monsoon' most probably in Lighthouse or New Empire. This film was shot in Goa. In those days I had developed a massive crush on Helen Brodie. She was also seen in the music video 'Janam Sanjha Karo' by Asha Bhosle, which also featured Milind Soman. Anyways the legend around Dona Paula is that Dona was a beautiful and rich girl who was in love with Paulo who was a poor and young fisherman. Society did not approve of this and finally Dona and Paulo committed suicide together by jumping off the cliff. A statue was erected on the suicide spot in memory of these two true and eternal lovers. But the reality is different according to Times Of India : 

"But the truth is far from romantic and tragic and lacks the power to attract crowds. The truth finally puts all the legends and folklore behind Dona Paula to rest. Dona is the title given to married women according to Portuguese customs. And Paula Amaral Antonio de Souto Maior is the lady in debate. She is not a romantic figure but definitely a historical figure. She was the daughter of the Portuguese Viceroy of Jaffnapatnam, in Sri Lanka. She and her family arrived in Goa in 1644 and she married a Fidalgo from Spain in 1656. Her husband was Dom Antonio Souto Maior. The were an extremely affluent family and the entire property from the present day Cabo Raj Nivas all the way to Caranzalem belonged to the Souto Maiors. She later passed away on December 16, 1682. Prajal Shakardande has researched this topic thoroughly and has proof to his accounts. He has found the grave of Dona Paula Amaral Antonio de Souto Maior in the transept of the Chapel at the Governor's Palace where a part of her history is engraved on her gravestone. Shakardande also stated that, "Dona Paula was a woman of charity and is known to have helped the villagers and worked a lot for their betterment, so after her death, the villagers decided to rename the village as Dona Paula. Initially the village was called Oddavell."
Now that the truth is out, one more thing needs to be sorted out and that is the alleged statue of 'Dona-Paulo.' According to Heta Pandit in her book 'Walking in Goa,' the statue seen today at the jetty in Dona Paula is in reality the sculpture of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Knox. It was a Dutch sculptress, Baroness Yrse Von Leistner who etched the sculpture as she was in awe of the philosopher Robert Knox. Fiction, they say is always more interesting than fact, and that holds true here too." 







Thus ended my Goa trip. It was a hectic, tiring yet amazing trip. Enjoyed each moment in Goa. This time I did not have the time to visit many other interesting places like Calangute Beach, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Dudhsagar Falls, Club Cubana, Dona Paula, Chapora Fort, Arambol Beach, Palolem Beach, Agonda Beach, Se Cathedral, Church of St. Cajetan, Butterfly Conservatory Of Goa, Tito's, Sri Mahadeva Temple, Church of St Francis of Assisi, Cabo de Rama Beach, Monastery Of St Augustine, Fort Tiracol, Miramar Beach, Mangeshi Temple, Santa Cruz Church, Shri Shantadurga Temple, Mormugao Fort, Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Archaeological Museum etc. Next year if I again come to Goa then I would surely visit these places.  







P.S. There is a story behind this shirt that I am wearing in the above picture. Ten years back in December 2009, I was walking in Esplanade with my then girlfriend. We were going to Nahoum's at New Market to have pastries. There at Esplanade I saw this shirt in one of the shops. I immediately told my girlfriend that one must wear this kind of shirt in Goa. I did not even think about it. The words just came out of my mouth automatically. She also agreed with my viewpoint. On the spur of the moment I immediately bought this shirt. I think it was around 300 bucks. I told her that if I ever go to Goa someday then I would definitely wear this shirt there on the beach. Ten years passed. This year I finally went to Goa. And yes, I obviously took this shirt with me and wore it on the beach there. My then girlfriend is married to someone else now and has become the mother of a very cute little boy. Sweetheart, if you are reading this then I am sure that you would definitely remember that December afternoon that we had spent together at New Market...


If you want to see all my Goa pics then here are the links : 


https://www.facebook.com/rajgaurav.debnath/media_set?set=a.1899829753496966&type=3



https://www.facebook.com/rajgaurav.debnath/media_set?set=a.1907996826013592&type=3



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