Tailing Mad Dog and Englishmen

  

Goa is overflowing. There are people everywhere and finding a room on the beach will be a chore. Pulling into Palolem, we once again bump into Mad Dog and Englishmen and decide to form a convoy in search of lodgings. Mad Dog and Englishmen are actually four members in two rickshaws. They are also we are later informed more Mad Dog than Englishmen. It seems if you take the sum total of English in the four members, you could create an Englishman.

We find the name of two hotels to try in Margao. Once in Margao, Raj (Mad Dog and Englishmen) scouts ahead for rooms. After being assured that three rooms are available in one hotel, we are told that ze Germans phoned in and snatched the rooms before we can register.

We scramble and decide to split up and find individual rooms. By some stroke of luck, the D(harma) Bums find a room on the beach in Colva.

While having dinner, we once again bump into one half of Mad Dog and Englishmen, who have scored a room just around the corner from ours. In a stylish display of diffidence, they even manage to park their rickshaw directly in front of the hotel entrance.

War stories are traded and Mad Dog and Englishmen tell us of their miserable night in Ponanni (pronounced poo-nanny) while perversely relishing the pronunciation of the city's name.

After much driving in the day, we are exhausted and ready to turn in. Walking back to the hotel in the dark, we are confronted by a snarling dog (stray dogs and cows are everywhere in India). After the day's journey, we are fearless and march on. Three young Indian men pass by us in the dark; each wears a Santa hat and we enjoy a quiet chuckle at their expense.

Back at the hotel, the impromptu dance floor set up for New Year's is pumping with House music. Four young Indian men in tight fitting clothes are performing Bollywood style dances with each other. Heading into the room, I am once again reminded of the Englishmen's words:

"There is no word for homophobia in Hindi."

Posted at 07:00PM Dec 30, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]