Undercover cops at nightclubs, regular incidents of molestation of foreigners at night and the worst scenario for the wannabe hippie: fake LSD.
Regular visitors miss the good old days
GOA: In Goa, the signs of a hash-laced decay are everywhere. Undercover cops at nightclubs, regular incidents of molestation of foreigners at night and the worst scenario for the wannabe hippie: fake LSD.
On Friday night, the most happening psychedelic joint in Goa, Nine Bar, was teeming with security men and plainclothes cops snooping down on drug peddlers, drug users and the party-goer.
“This is the first time I have seen security in this place,” says 43-year-old Johann Korda, an Austrian.
On Friday, many were caught red handed with their chillams filled with hash pellets. The old timers are clearly disappointed. Nine Bar was once the hub of trance and psychedelic music with non-stop 36-hour parties. “Now the music shuts at ten and a placard saying “Strictly No drugs” hangs at the entrance. In ten years, much has changed,” Johann adds.
First time visitors brought up on the hippie legend cannot help but notice the fear in the eyes of the foreigners in Goa. Some tourists who settled in Goa in the late 80’s told DNA that muggings and molestation have become a routine affair. The perpetuators are either local boys or gangs of Indian tourists who run amok on hired scooters.
“I have been staying in Goa for six months a year for the last 15 years and have never felt so scared. Men regularly follow me at night on bikes from nightclubs and occasionally people have tried to molest me. We have to accept the changes,” says 52 year old Sophie Gratten.
“Most first time foreign visitors without prior contacts for drugs land up using pop drops of brine thinking its LSD specially created for the season. They go back home disappointed,” says 56-year-old Andrei, a regular visitor. The 2007 edition of the Lonely Planet India talks of Goa as a place that deserves a visit not for what it is, but for what it used to be: the capital of the hippie universe fueled by flower power.
t_mayank@dnaindia.net
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