This story is from June 27, 2016

Lure of a river cruise, minus the good times

What Goes For Entertainment Is Perfunctory At Best, While Tourists Try To Lap It Up
Lure of a river cruise, minus the good times
PANAJI: On most evenings, domestic tourists queue up at the entrance of Santa Monica jetty, all enthused, keen for supposedly, an exciting half-hour boat ride for 300. Their excitement is all palpable while they wait to jump aboard a bobbing cruise boat, the native wonders why tourists in their hundreds and thousands visit Santa Monica jetty with regular consistency. Is it the thrills of dancing on a moving boat or glimpses of half-hearted Goan folk performances? Certainly, it cannot be the latter.
The entertainment, cultural offering or otherwise, offered for the 30-40 minutes cruise ride has not seen any qualitative improvement, it nonetheless, remains a magnet attracting large number of desi tourists. The crowds at the cruise jetties comprise mostly of youth and families, who are happy to groove to Hindi pop music, indifferent to zero-aesthetic interiors on the cruise. And on a rainy evening, the insides of a cruise looks all the more sad, and drab grey.
Its 7.20 pm, the cruise has not started to move. The audience, seated are eagerly waiting for a programme to begin, while some engage in their “selfie” moments as deafening Hindi-pop music plays in the background. You can also buy a selfie stick before you climb aboard.
Finally, the vessel starts moving, and it’s way beyond its schedule time of 7 pm.
The host on the cruise, indulges in friendly banter and warns the audience about dos and don’t s, but there is no information forthcoming about where the boat is heading, or how long they will be on board. The host explains the format of the programme; three rounds of dancing - for kids, couples and others respectively, and there will be some Goan folk dances .
Whether it is “Hanv saiba poltoddi vetam,” or the kunbi dance, the three pairs of dancers try to, but can’t keep the audience entertained sufficiently. As their lifeless performance continues, many move to the top deck – due to rains there is programme on the top deck – to take in the surrounding views, though some seat around with expressions of sheer boredom.

A Punjabi man with wife and daughter is enjoying himself thoroughly except for the intermittent folk dances. “Why can’t they dance a little better?” he says to his wife.
The stage comes alive when the host announces the dance round for kids. The children groove to ‘Lungi dance’ and show their perfect Shah Rukh Khan moves while parents clamour to take pictures of their kids on stage. The host switches off the music and requests parents to back off, and not block the view of the audience seated .
Some relent, and lungi dance resumes. The kids dance ends with cheers from parents. The performance of kids is followed by another folk dance. At this point, most tourists proceed to explore the rest of the cruise boat, and only return when the next round of dance is announced.
Some head towards the bar. The men make a beeline for a disco on the deck. Entry fee: 50 for men and no charge for the women. It’s a joke.
The so-called disco appears more like a photography dark room, with light coming from three or four bulbs, and few figures can be spotted grooving.
No wonder, entry to the poor version of a disco is 50.
On the top deck, many are busy taking selfies even as it drizzles while some, probably first timers to Goa, are dazzled by the offshore casinos parked in the River Mondovi.
For a lot of the desi visitors visiting Goa for the first, the cruise ride is nothing short of out-of-this-world experience. The billboards of offshore look enthralling. A group of young men make a plan to visit one before leaving Goa.
The cruise has begun its return journey, and the host has exhausted his limited stock of local dances. He is now playing latest hit Hindi dance numbers while some children and couples continue to dance till the vessel docks back in Panaji.
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About the Author
Bindiya Chari

I'm a journalist with experience of more than a decade. I have covered politics, tourism, health and also done some off-beat stories. Apart from passion for journalism I have penchant for photography, trekking and travelling.

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