It is midnight at Vagator in North Goa, and it feels surreal hearing no music, not being caught in a traffic jam and seeing no tourists make a beeline to enter a club where music is on a high.
If Vagator is in a self-induced sleep, then the scene at Chapora Junction is far different, for if the former is empty, the latter is crammed with domestic tourists making the best of their Goa holiday.
Chapora’s tiny little bars are overflowing – pretty young girls stand by the street, a beer and cigarette in hand, and the diversity of the country can be heard through the different languages being spoken.
“This is a new Chapora, man. The vibe is different from the past because the present is being lived by a generation that is trying to discover itself through Goa,” says Subash with his back towards the banyan tree which has been the support to many visitors.
“Goa,” says Subhash to a tourist who is trying to discover Chapora through the eyes of a man who has lived through the highs of the village, “is not about discovering good times through its bars, but about discovering divinity in nature.” The guest looks stumped.
Chapora junction has always drawn tourists, especially international tourists who gave the village tinto a vibe of feeling at home on the street. Those were the days when the junction would be awake when the village slept, and vice versa.
At the other end of the banyan tree are Rita and her colleague Yasmin, both trying to kick-start their bike and surrounded by men ready to help.
“It has been a quiet Sunday in Goa, one of the quietest I have seen,” says Yasmin as they prepare to leave for their hotel room at an hour, in what is in their parlance, ‘pretty early’.
Chapora Street or junction has never been as busy as it is this Sunday, with there being no sitting place in most bars, and chatter being most voluminous. For Sanjit, this has been a weekend like the one witnessed during peak season.
“I think the junction is so full because most parties have been stopped today. With nothing else to do, many have come to feel the magic of this road,” adds Sanjit, as a rich aroma floats in the air.
Chapora junction is lined with seven bars with some serving snacks, though it is the ladies serving omelets that draw the maximum customers. “I hang around till there are customers. Normally, I go home around four in the morning but today looks different,” confesses Swati as she awaits clients.
“It is nice to see boys and girls from different states of India interact with each other. Normally, there is lot of chatter and laughter around except when someone has drunk a little too much,” says Kiran, a local who has grown up observing the nightlife at Chapora junction.
As the night wears on, the girls begin to leave and the boys begin to understand that tomorrow is another day and Chapora street begins to realise that soon the village will wake up to its routine.