Day 1 of 2024 portends a year of lies for Goa

The year 2024 started with very loud music being played not only well past 10 pm but through the day and night and that too right in the vicinity of the Anjuna Police station.

When informed, the cops pretended they could hear nothing. So, the New Year foretells that 2024 is going to be a year of lies by the cops, for the politicians and of the cops. This is a sorry state of affairs because it indicates that the government is ridiculing the courts.

With the government unable to help the people in matters as simple as controlling noise pollution around residential areas, most laid their hopes on the High Court of Bombay at Goa.

But that the High Court had to intervene in a matter that could have been easily handled by the government shows politicians in bad light. That a government cannot govern is also a sad reflection on the electorate.

The High Court came into picture because Sunburn thought they could buy all and sundry. They did manage most but could not manage to choke some gauncars from Anjuna Comunidade and of course their advocates and the High Court judges.

So Sunburn was held and despite flaws in rationalising sound decibels, the focus was on stolen mobiles and stolen bands. Ironically, the guys who allegedly stole the armbands were nabbed when in reality the first day of Sunburn was held illegally. So, how is someone caught for something that never happened legally?

Such questions come up in Goa or in Anjuna Police Station specifically because that is the hotbed of everything dirty that comes with the seal of the government and the lieutenants enjoy the remains.

Sunburn shut down every night but the sound mayhem started thereafter and ended only the next morning and, yet, not an eyebrow was raised. It appeared as if the role of the police ended after Sunburn stopped at 10 pm.

There were candle light vigils; there were other protests by senior citizens because of the nuisance of loud music but no one seemed to care about the elders and their concerns. The Police Inspector, the SDPO and SP all seemed to know the chorus before the song could be sung.

The traffic police or someone in the police did a good job in manning the traffic not just during the show but also during the after parties that normally accompany every Sunburn evening. For a change, there seemed to be some method in madness.

Siolim MLA Delilah lobo was spotted at Sunburn and her movements brought back the vibes of Manohar Azgaonkar who had a more Hindustani swing to his rhythm than the former's western inclination.

As Sunburn came to an end, so did any doubts about the halo of drugs on a festival of such proportion. The bigger the event, the more transparent is the mathematics and Sunburn clearly showed that 1+1=2 is just not a mathematical hypothesis.

Strangely, as Goans were debating whether Sunburn should be allowed permission on December 31, the police from Telangana shot into the news for booking cases against directors of Sunburn and their ticket vendors.

Why? The why now was similar to the why when Steve D’Souza of Hill Top and Edwin Nunes of Curlies were nabbed. The assumption then was that the duo from Goa was being apprehended for something that happened to a VVIP kid from that area during a party.

There were no clear cut answers then and there are no clear cut answers now. The only probability is drugs and that the Telangana police is taking it dead serious, is something commendable and something for our own men in khaki to learn.

2024 has started in a mess. And, it appears the mess will get worse with the Lok Sabha election due anytime. Late night parties means money and elections means money. With money as a common denominator, 2024 may well be a year where we concentrate on ME because everyone knows that the story of money is dirty.