Much has been said about the decision of the
Supreme Court to ban the sale of liquor along the highway. Herald itself has
reported extensively on the damage that such a decision would have, with many
thousands of licenses being threatened. However, there is another side to this
same story. Beyond the cold, hard facts and numbers, there is a more emotional
side to the bar in Goa.
At the end of the day, the institution that
is the bar in Goa has been central to many stories, ranging from heartbreak to
adventure. It has been central to the plot of countless tales of renown; it has
been the topic of many sketches by Goa’s legend of cartooning, Mario Miranda,
and Goa’s Nightingale Lorna certainly wasn’t belting out lines about a social
drinker mildly sipping cosmopolitans while wearing Harris Tweed, in her massive
hit- Bebdo. The bar is and has been instrumental in shaping much to
do with local culture, far beyond drinking.
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Bollywood has often blown out of proportion
Goa’s relationship with one of its dearest locales: the bar. The bar is, in
fact, incidental to drinking over good conversation and getting together,
rather than being an institution that only promotes the consumption of liquor.
At least, such has been the case in Goa since time immemorial.
It’s therefore a very unfair assumption to
say that in Goa, anything goes, just like the Supreme Court suggests that these
licenses might. However, social drinking is a norm in many places, and Goa is no
exception. One establishment owner, who preferred to remain unnamed, went as
far as to say, “At the end of the day, our culture is such that we may offer
you a glass of water as a last resort. You’re offered a cold drink or perhaps a
beer. So this is going as far as stifling, to an extent, even our culture.”
Some establishment owners share their views:
We as establishment owners are still very
unclear as to what exactly this new ruling is going to stipulate. Quite
frankly, it’s extremely difficult to even fathom how we are supposed to proceed
with operations, should we be prohibited from serving liquor. However, I hope
that there is more clarity on how this is going to play out in time.
Ralph De Gouveia Pinto
Proprietor, Maracas
This is going to adversely affect tourism in
a huge manner. After mining being clamped down upon, tourism has been the
primary source of income, and this decision will clearly affect that. It is also
left to be seen as to how this distance from the highway is calculated, as
accordingly, licenses can be reworked. I think that there has to be some kind
of representation that points out how this is not a feasible move.
Lyndon Furtado
Proprietor, Down The Road
