Goa wakes up late, goes back to sleep in the afternoons and seems to wake up again just in time to party into the night. I love it.
Yesterday we had the first official press conference that went on for about a couple of hours at the end of which I did a coupla interviews with filmmakers Rahul Dholakia (whose film ‘Parzania’ starring Sarika and Naseeruddin Shah, about a Parsi family caught in the middle of the Gujarat riots is premiering at the festiva) and Mrunalini Patil Dayal (whose Marathi film ‘Manthan – Ek Amrut Pyala’ is showing at the fest too).
The press conference and the interviews were the easiest parts. Condensing them all into 600 words was the near impossible one. After the desk chopped off a coupla quotes from Mrunalini, this is what appeared today.
Since we have an early deadline for the national pages, I had barely an hour to send in the copy. And here I was thinking it’s gonna be a party.
There was a party happening in the night hosted by the organisers and a bus, after a little starting delay that gave the senior invitees ample scope to bitch about the system, left Kala Bhavan, the nerve centre of all activity for IFFI.
By 8.45, we were at Sweet Chilli, a really cool outdoor garden restaurant and bar, a few metres away from Fort Aguada.
After a rather sober start with a band belting out some soft rock, slowly the host of the evening convinced everyone to get on to the dance floor.
Now, I had this really terrible terrible cold, absolutely no friends in Goa and a company I can’t really say much about.
So my best buddies for the night turned out to be Miss Red Wine and Mr. Bacardi who met me with his icy cool date Miss Coca Cola to keep me thoroughly entertained.
There were a coupla Goan girls singing live, a bunch of Kenyan Acrobats who came up with fire-fighting daredevilry, a dance group that came up with Goan and Portuguese dance performances, a Portuguese singer and a host of revellers led by a character who was called King Momo.
King Momo promised everyone freedom. “I give you freedom to do what you want,” he promised. He sure must have regretted that line, for soon enough there was this absolutely drunk stag who snatched King Momo’s crown and wore it himself. The usually fun-loving King Momo was then seen chasing the drunk reveller and mouthing profanities. He he!
But King Momo was effective, he and his party people wearing huge masks, ensured that soon everyone was on the floor. The Goan dancers joined the party and everyone was having a rocking time.
The party had just started, announced the host. But with the hosts having an early morning today, we had to cut it short and get back into the bus.
King Momo’s crown-stealer, predictability, threw up all over the bus.
And he seems to have no clue about last night cuz he seems to be walking around all fresh and charged up, as I sit at the Media Centre typing out the journal. Time for some pics now.
MADRAS INK. 
“I had barely an hour to send in the copy. And here I was thinking it’s gonna be a party.” — hehe Sudhish. Life’s tough, and Life for us guys includes filing a story within the deadline(meaning – if u cross the line, u r dead). Watcha say?
Hope you have more fun in company of some lovel Goan girl by the time you start on Goan Journal : Day 3.. Have Fun..
Here’s an invite to request you to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/docuwallahs2
Frederick Noronha (Goa)