An event page on Facebook invited Mumbai-Goans to the 'pao' meet
It will soon be a year since the land of sea and sand settrending on Twitter. Yes, you guessed that right. It was #BeingGoan that wastrending at #1 on January 11 this year. And along with the Goans from Goa,Goans from across the country contributed incredibly to this trend. However,this trend did something that’s worth appreciating. It brought together Goansliving in Mumbai. And this gave rise to a group that meets quite often toensure that we’re still rooted in tradition.
Unfortunately, some paos could not be a part of the eveningas they were tied-up at work. “The entire concept of meeting more Goansespecially after knowing a few of them through social networks was enticing. Ifelt bad I could not make it,” says Runcil Rebello. And here’s what Runcilmissed. “It was one of the best fun evenings I’ve had in months. It felt likehome with so many Goans around me,” admits Kyle Albuquerque who was born andbrought up in Mumbai.
So this time, there was an event page created on Facebook,and Mumbai-Goans were invited to the “Pre-Christmas Pao Meet”. The group wasasked to come wearing Christmas colours – Green, Red and White - to bring outthe spirit of the season. It’s a different story that we convenientlydisregarded the dress code.
As soon as all the paos reached the venue - Joggers’ Park,we kick-started our evening by standing in a circle and introducing ourselves.It was great to know that we were not only Goans who were born and brought upin Mumbai, but also typical paos who spent their childhood and teenage in Goa.These Goans are here to either pursue further education or are building acareer.
After we broke the ice, we stuck to the agenda and startedour first game - Elbow Tag or as we like to call it 'standing Kho-Kho' followedby Taboo. These games were heated with much enthusiasm and excitement and wereenjoyed at their best.
Unfortunately, as it was time for the park to shut, we hadto vacate as soon as the lights started switching off. So we walked along thesea on the westside of Bandra to treat our tummies to anything, but vegetarianfood. We chose one of the famous Shawarma outlets off Carter Road followed byheaped bowls of frozen yogurt.
After we fed our faces, we sat at Carters and enjoyed thesea breeze while playing yet another game called Mafia Wars. It was almost 12am when we decided to wrap up our fun-filled evening. But before we headedtowards our respective directions, we decided to meet again very soon.
