There was a time when it seemed as if everyone I met in Mumbai had a Goa story. The I'll-never-forget-that-time kind of story. The story about running away from home and sleeping on the beach, the story of strumming a guitar on the lower deck of a Goa-borne steamer, the story of best friends made on the bumpy bus ride, the story of the first whiff of cannabis. Some of the stories were probably true. Some embroidered beyond recognition. But there they were, constantly and compellingly evoking a promised land, a land of youth, rebellion and freedom just an overnight ride away.Over the last fifteen years I've been to Goa several times and found the myth standing up pretty well to scrutiny. Perhaps it's the Portuguese influence or the hypnotic effect of the sea but there is something in the balmy air of that palm fringed state that seemed to induce an ambience of easy tolerance making it a haven for defiant teenagers and Utopia seekers from the West. The latter, backpacking tourists and old time hippies or freaks as they are known in local parlance discovered Goa in the Sixties and have been coming in droves ever since sustaining a lifestyle that cannot be found anywhere else in India. Where, for instance, could you have found nude bathers, moonlight raves, clean, reasonably priced hotels, beachside cafes and an easy access to narcotics and alcohol all in one place?The curious thing was that all of it seemed to have emerged haphazardly, almost by accident. For despite the sophistication implied in the disregard for conventi- on, the average Go-an was a fairly unpretentious kind of person. It would not have been unusual for instance for a tourist to venture out to a highly recommended restaurant and find that the ice had run out. Or to find a cafe closed for lunch because the cook had overslept. And yet, with the same lack of pretension, a space would be rendered magical.Over the years things have changed. A number of luxury resorts have sprung up. Charter planes have been flying in hordes of new travellers from all over the world. Goa has become an increasingly popular destination for Indians too, not just ordinary tourists but the glitterati as well. Goa, as I discovered on a recent trip, has been usurped. The Utopia seekers now are as likely to come from other Indian cities than abroad. Ex-models, chefs, advertising executives, socialites and others have been flocking to the state, not to visit but to stay. Party hoppers flit between Mumbai and Goa as if between two homes. The growing crowds have encouraged the opening of a string of new stores and re-staurants. You have a whole new cultu-re emerging. Bohe-mia has gone chic.To begin with things aren't that cheap anymore. Prices at the newer restaurants are higher than they would be in an upmarket Mumbai restaurant. Cuisine tends heavily towards fusion (mussels with pernod and cummin butter, quiche with goan sausage and recipes inspired by `world cuisine'). Interiors are classy. No more seashells on the walls but expensively co-ordinated colours, long stemmed anthuriums in vases, matching linen and mood settings. There is nothing ostentatious about the design. In fact the aesthetic is a striking mix of the rich and the spare. Camelot, a lifest-yle store on the banks of the Mandovi, has golden kairis on its rustic walls. The Nilaya Hermitage, the hilltop retreat, has turquoise silk cushions strewn over wrought iron furniture. Pausada Tau-ma, the resort at Kalangute, has stone walls and ethnic crockery. Even the new Mariott hotel, though primed for the business traveller, has a homely, rough textured look about it. The meditative tone is deliberate.New age concerns such as the environment and `universal consciousness' are in evidence. At one upmarket resort lights are turned down in the evenings to save electricity, plunging the place into gloom; guests are expected to `understand'. Spirituality and traditional healing are equally high on the popularity charts with Ayurveda being the hot new craze. Big hotels like the Leela Palace offer specially trained massuers from Kerela alo-ngside swanky gymnasiums. A site calling itself the `alternative village' in Goa has a similarly diverse range of services : a bamboo tower for workshops on reiki, meditation and other spiritual tools to `empower yourself' and bungee jumping.For many Goa is of course primarily about music and drugs. A Website which claims to have logged over 50 lakh hits invites visitors to Starchild's psychedelic Goa Acid Techno Trance Galaxy dotted with landmarks such as the Spaghetti beach, the Disco Valley and the Paradise Trance Fortress. It talks about the advent of an alternative culture based on `esoterism and high adrenelin' and a space that `blends eastern spiritualism with western stimulation'.Is this what the Utopia of the new millennium looks like?
