Fashion Fiesta - A Good Morning in Goa's Arc & Guzaarish

Fashion Fiesta -   A Good Morning   in Goa's  Arc   &  Guzaarish
  

 

Goa is a land of predominantly fun loving and jovial people depicting western aura in the mid-west coast of India.  The Portuguese influence is written large on the face of Goa even in the modern days.   The beautiful landscape of Goa is a most sought after tourist destination.

The Bom Jesus Basilica, the adjacent Museum with gigantic statues from the Goa History and the nearby Wax Studio - A La Madame Tussauds   Wax Art Gallery in London, are some of the most popular sights in Goa. Madame Tussuads was founded by the famous wax sculptor Marie Tussuads.  Madame Tussauds of London has wax statues of our own celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar.  The beauty is that if the celebrities are next to the wax statue, then you will be puzzled to identify the real living person. 

The famed state of Goa known as “Pearl of the orient” and a “Tourist Paradise” is situated in the western coast of India in the coastal belt known as Konkan.  The magnificent scenic beauty and the architectural splendors of its temples, churches and old houses have made Goa a firm favorite with travelers across the world.  Along with English a widely spoken language in Goa, Marathi and Konkani are the other languages spoken there.  Since the arrival of Hippies in the sixties, Goa has been a major destination in the itinerary of the international and domestic tourists. 

Goa was one of the major trade centers in India and was attracting the dynasties, seafarers, merchants, traders, monks and missionaries since its earliest known history. Goa has undergone continuous transformation, leaving an indelible impression on various aspects of its cultural and socio-economic development.   

Goa beaches cover about 125 km (78 mi) of its coastline.  These beaches are divided into North and South Goa.  The famous Goan beaches are Anjuna, Baga, Calangute, Vagatore, Agonda, Candolim, Colva, Palolem, Chapora, Miramar, Bogmalo and Dona Paula.

Goa is famous for its Light House, Coconut Lagoons, the moving barges in the river, exotic locales and awesome Sea food.  The wine flows like water in Goa due to the cut in excise duty from the days when it was a union territory.  The tourists and the locals enjoys the beer, wine and whisky on this count and exploit it to the hilt.

A famous quote –

                            “Even the darkest night will end

                              And the sun will rise”.

                                                                      -  Victor Hugo

Goa is a strip of land that permits celebrations of any kind without the crowd intervention.  Goa is a sought after outdoor location for Hindi film makers.  Sanjay Leela Bhansali has a penchant for Goan monsoon and his film “Guzaarish” portrays the rain lashing at a high risen stonewall structure with a big angel atop the same. The real beauty and grandeur of Goa is at its height during the rainy season and it offers a plethora of unique experiences.  I have loved the film “Guzaarish” and thanked Sanjay Leela Bhansali for his effort to make a sentimental, touching and artistic film on a high note.  The film “Guzaarish” deals with the concept of mercy killing known as “euthanasia”.  I am at the end of this post, separately reviewing the film “Guzaarish”.  Albela and Josh are some of the other successful Hindi films shot entirely in the beautiful country of Goa.

The International Film Festival of India is celebrated every year in Goa in recent times and that can be date back since more than a decade. 


The Goa Carnival    

This year edition of Goan Carnival is being celebrated during 14^th February, 2015 to 17^th February, 2015. The Goa Carnival reflects the rich tradition and culture of the state of Goa.  The Carnival was initially celebrated by King Momo, one of the legendary chaos Kings of the state and is one of the Portuguese festival. Since Portuguese ruled Goa for 500 years, this festival reflects some of the Portuguese lifestyle.

The Carnival is an eagerly awaited festival of Goa.  The Latin word Carnival means “to throw away meat”.  The people of Goa refrain from the usage of meat during the Carnival season. The Carnival of Goa attracts people from different parts of India and across the world.  The different kinds of celebrations of Carnival in Goa include singing, dancing, drinking, feasting and various other types of merry making. All major streets of the state become lively with graceful dances, strumming of guitars, lively processions and many more.  Apart from the non-stop festivity the streets are decorated with vibrant colors and floats. A number of acrobats, brass bands, clowns, dancers, fire eaters, jesters etc. are seen performing in the major city’s streets of Goa in the night during the Carnival season. A huge amount of zest and zeal are seen among the crowd during this state Carnival.   After Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival, the Goa Carnival is in which the world community rejoices. Goa Carnival is known for spreading joy and happiness.

A famous quote about Happiness –

                “A sound mind in a sound body,

is a short but full description of a happy state in this world”

                                                                                                    -   John Locke.

Goa is a destination to wine and dine, dance and merrymaking.  The Goans are a friendly, peaceful community and are entertainment seekers with a penchant for discotheque and fabulous fashion.  It is a favored destination for honeymooning couples as well. The revelry of music and dance is associated with this western like culture prevalent in the Catholic bastion of Goa.  The Goan cruises which offers food and drinks and present the native cultural programs are the sight one cannot afford to miss.  The loud thunderous music and with the dancing grooves, the illuminated cruises afloat in the water and slowly reaches to the anchor in the night is a marvel scenario.

The Catholic natives of Goa women prefers to wear frocks, gowns and men during occasion wear western attire like suit.  Goa undoubtedly is the fashion capital of India.  The Goans with their dress sense and accessories are considered to be the trendsetters in the India’s Fashion world. The various varieties of footwear, hand bags, hats and “tattoo” artists in the shacks are a regular sight in Goa beaches. One can lie down in the beach benches under a big colorful umbrella with bright sunshine from the sky showing its magnanimous presence, feasting your eyes on the ocean and the abundant nature’s splendor.

Goa is one of the most prosperous and literate states of India. 

Goa has beach water sports facilities like Jet Ski, Beach Volley Ball, Swimming and Para Sailing.

Goan cuisine such as hamburger, prawn balchao, sorpotal, sausages, pork vindaloo and goat meat or mutton are delicious offerings for non-vegetarians.  The Goans’ diet includes bread or pav and the Goan Catholics are popularly known as “Pavwalas” amongst their Indian counter parts. The shacks at the Goan beach serves fresh sea food and drinks. The fish, curry and rice are the three basic necessities for most of the Goans.  The sea food such as crab, oysters, pomfret, lobster, mackerels, sardines, clams, lady fish and mussels are Goan favorites.  Besides fresh sea food, the dried and salted fish dishes are also highly prized by Goans.  Most of the Goan food is chilly hot, spicy and pungent.  Items made from rice, fish and coconut abound nearly in every Goan meal.   The Goa serves Punjabi, South Indian, Chinese and Continental dishes for the visiting tourists palate.  Tourism is one of the biggest and rewarding industry of Goa.  Goa is famous for their “Cashew mango” and “Coconut” fenny, a local alcoholic drink brewed from Cashew fruits and tender coconut water. 

The south Goa is well known for its Hindu temples and north Goa is famous for churches.

Marmugao Port is engaged in hectic activities like cargo handling and the barges carrying Minerals, Bauxite and Iron Ore are a regular sight there. The Dabolim Air Port is internationally well known.  The expatriate Goans send foreign exchange currency   to their families and relatives in Goa.

The Mandovi and Zuari are two important estuaries in Goa. The main channels of these estuaries span about 50 km long with a narrow channel, the Cumbarjua canal interconnecting them.  Throughout the course of these rivers an intricate system of Wet Lands, Tidal Marshes, and Cultivated Paddy Fields are found which are interconnected by canals, inland lakes, bays, lagoons and creeks governed by regular tides.  The Mandovi and Zuari estuarine network along with Cumbarjua is used extensively for the transportation of iron ores.

Saint Francis Xavier’s mortal remains from Bom Jesus Basilica are kept in a cask for the public offerings of prayers and worship during some periods announced by the church.  This time catholic devotees from all over India and the world lands up in Goa to offer their tributes to the patron saint. St. Francis Xavier  came to India in the 14th Century.   St. Francis Xavier’s mortal body is still remains not decomposed to a large extent and considered a miracle and offered for public adoration in some intervals as per directive of the clergy of Bom Jesus Basilica.

The Se Cathedral in Goa is famous for its magnificent architecture.

Joseph Vaz, a Goan priest who spent most of his lifetime in missionary work in Sri Lanka is one of the Saints of Roman Catholic Church.

Goa, the Noah’s Arc with everything that is essential has to be stuffed in your traveler’s bag is the ultimate destination.    I have considered Goa as a second home to me in this universe.

Dona Paula – A tragic love story   

Dona Paula is a pristine Goa beach where the love birds a.k.a. young couple in love spend their evenings.  There is a statue of Dona Paula de Menezes who was the daughter of a Portuguese Viceroy.  The young, vivacious and beautiful Dona Paula falls in love with a local   Goan fisherman.   Rest is predictable and you knew it like many a love epic in the motion pictures like Romeo and Juliet and Laila Majnu, that the Viceroy opposes this relationship and the grief stricken Dona Paula threw herself into  the sea from a cliff.  The viceroy later built the statue of Dona Paula for the memory of his daughter at the sight where she jumped into the sea and committed suicide.  Dona Paula is a sought after picnic spot for visiting tourists.

The bay of Dona Paula lies at the Sangam (meeting point) of Arabian Sea and Goan rivers Mandovi and Zuari.  Dona Paula is located near the Goa capital Panjim.

The Mandovi Bridge and the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church at Panaji are famous landmarks.

Leander Paes the ace badminton player,  Dilip Sardesai the Cricketer,  J.M. Carvalho the hockey player, Kishori Amonkar the classical vocalist, Dinanath Mangeshkar the Dramatist and classical vocalist, Oliver Sean  the prominent Goan singer and song writer, the TV and film actors such as Kimi Katkar, Varsha Usgaokar, Kartika Rane, Frank and Dom Moraes the wizards of Fourth Estate, the famous Goan Ad man Frank Simoes who has written “Glad Season in Goa”, Jerry Pinto – poetry, Remo Fernandez the Bollywood singer and Goan musician are some of the prominent Goan celebrities. 

GUZAARISH  -   The  Movie 

The film Guzaarish has a story line that of a world famous magician, Ethan Mascarenhas ( Hrithik Roshan) has a fatal accidental fall during a magic performance and  becomes a quadreplegic.  His body starting from the neck is paralysed and he is  bed-ridden and on a wheel chair. Ethan and his fight for justice to allow him mercy killing, the concept of “euthanasia” and the ensuing court battle  and the people around his life and times makes “Guzaarish”  an engaging and rivetting view.

Ethan, now  a Radio Jockey recruits Sophia D’Souza (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), marrried to Nevil D’Souza (Makarand Deshpande) as his nurse.  Sophia obtains divorce from her wife-beating and torturing husband and assures Ethan of her support in his fight for mercy killing.    Ethan propose to Sophia and she accepts his invitation to become his sweetheart.  She is in Ethan’s life for twelve years. She brushes his teeth and spunge bath him and takes him for outing in the natural splendor.   This could be one of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s finest performance till date.   At the 14^th anniversary of his accident Ethan decides to file an appeal for mercy killing which concept is known as “euthanasia” with the help of his friend cum lawyer Devyani Dutta (Shernaz Patel).  Ethan’s mother Isabel Mascarenhas (Nafisa Ali) also support his petition and her son’s demand for “euthanasia”. A young man Omar Siddhique ( Aditya Roy Kapoor) enters Ethan’s life to learn magic from him.   Ethan’s never-say-die attitude doctor Naik (Suhel Seth) tries to keep the life of Ethan get going. The special moments of his song at his mothers burial ground  on a wheel chair and his farewell speech prepared for his last moments with the near and dear ones is remarkable for the execution of master craftsmanship for which  Sanjay Leela Bhansali is famous.   The scene where Ethan is lonely at the beach gazing at the vast ocean on a wheel chair and the  waves caresing his feet  is worth a mention.  The pivotal character of Ethan and the inseparable people in his life contributes to the crux of the movie.   The movie ends with Ethan’s emotional parting speech with a heart-felt laughter and all his aides hugging him on the bed in harmony.

The movie has a length of 135 minutes duration. It is one of the best film with its cinematograhy. Hrtithik Roshan gives one of his career best performance in Guzaarish.  The vintage Goan mansion with Gramaphone and mother Mary’s portrait shows the Goan catholic culture in its fiestive best.  The film has really moved me and is undoubtedly one of the most creatively satisfying venture.  The cinema is Director’s media and Sanjay Leela Bhansali reaffirms this popular belief with this film. The movie though not a commercial Blockbuster has received critical acclaim from the critics across the world wherever it was screened.

Besides the natural beauty, the fabulous beaches and bright sunshine, travelers to Goa love the laid back, peaceful, warm and friendly nature of Goan people.

Goa undoubtedly is a place to relax under the sky on the planet earth.