Recently a very respected literary and film personality expressed concerns about Goa’s rapidly growing trend to act like Bangkok . Meaning, Goa’s youth, particularly from the poor sections of Goa’s society were being drawn into illegal activities and rave parties. Bangkok has been held out internationally as the worst example of the anti-social consequences of tourism on the community. The irony is, on one hand, the chief minister and other tourism officials of Goa keep speaking rhetoric about attracting the more influential market tourists. But, influential market tourists are not going to come and book a Goa Resort Spa when the city is going downhill.
Absurdly enough, the naive innocent Tourism Minister, Mathany Saldanha , claims that he is unaware of the existence of rave parties and in fact he doesn’t even know what a rave party is. The Goan Observer has offered to take him on a tour to all the hundreds of raves happening nightly. Or, the Goan Obseverer told him to ask the Chief Minister’s best friend, Nandan Kudchadkar, to invite him to Paadiso’s which holds the biggest and most known rave party through out Goa.
Rave parties are not a new phenomena in Goa, but Goa is has been better known for its rock and techno music for almost four decades. But, the rave parties of the seventies and even in the early eighties were not the commercial affairs of which they have become. They were really a get togetherness for the backpacking tourists. In the nineties they have become very organized commercial events. They are advertised not just on the net, but now they gone mainstream posting in publications in Europe, the UK and upload postings on Google. Including detailed schedules of where they will take place, who the DJ is and various other highlights. Goa is increasingly large numbers of travelling Russians and Israelis are not just coming for the sun and the sea, they are coming for the rave parties. Hopefully, Goa’s government will finally get a handle on this newly dangerous trend of it’s youth and come up with other more productive ways for the younger generation to spend their time.
No related posts.