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Have Panjimites changed the way they party? Cedric Silveira finds out. Priyanka's 5th Birthday is just a week away. Her father Pravin is away at Singapore attending a company meeting. He is expected just a day prior to her birthday. Her mother, Neela, is working as a fashion designer, and as she has an important assignment to complete, she has hardly any time at home. But Priyanka, like any other child of her age is looking forward to her bithday and to invite all her friends for it. What can Pravin and Neela do in this case so as to realise Priyanka's dreams? Today in Goa unlike in the past Priyanka's parents are presented with many options to choose from. It is a known fact that Mumbai or Bangalore are the places to party. However it will be a misconception if one perceives that people in Goa do not know to party. From mascots to party themes and caterers to hotels, all form part of the manner in which one parties today. So have Goans and Panjimites in particular changed with respect to the way they party? Certainly the way one parties in Goa has dramatically changed over the years. On birthdays, mums rarely sweat over the cooking or baking of the cake, and dads do not ponder over what should be done for the entertainment of the guests. For weddings and anniversaries it is also no longer the families who do the decorations or the organisation. On such occasions it is now left to the professionals in the field, at a price of course. The food aspect The food aspect in smaller parties can be looked upon from three angles. One is wherein the hosts get 'take aways' from any restaurant. The second is where they call in the caterers to come with all the food and crockery or cutlery, and the third involves having the party at a hotel or restaurant. When 'take-aways' are utilised it results in one having to arrange for the crockery and cutlery serving the guests and seeing to their needs. The beauty in calling caterers to your home is that all this is taken care of , besides the added advantage of spending quality time with those invited. Renna a resident of Panjim had this to say: "Formerly birthdays were a nightmare. We had to plan out the menu, go to the market and purchase it, cook it and serve. All of this is now looked after by the caterers whom we call upon for our children's birthdays. We are less stressed out as a result." Shoba Tarcar, proprietor of Sai Samarth Caterers is of the opinion that with most ladies working, little room remains for grinding masalas, doing the cooking and so on. "The ladies are so tired after a hard day’s work that there is no alternative but to bring in readymade food on special occasions," she remarks. "Our food is of the finest quality and the good taste makes all the difference," she adds. Besides, all the plates and utensils are brought by the caterers which they take back once the function is over. On the other hand, Victor Dias from Dias Caterers, who are one of the leading caterers from Santa Cruz, feels that with new entrants into this business, competition has got stiff. However, on account of his excellent non-vegetarian dishes and tasty desserts, he is always in demand. Restaurants and hotels too are in vogue if one can afford them. Also, if the number of people invited exceeds 25-30, home is not the best place to have a party, especially if your house is small. The trend to celebrate children's birthdays from the age group of one to five is ever increasing and so is one's 21st, 50th, 60th, and 75th birthday. Vijay Shetty of Hotel Utsav is of the opinion that people are partying more than ever before at Panjim and many families are hosting parties at his hotel. Satish Prabhu, GM of Hotel Mandovi also agrees and adds that even birthdays and engagements which were held at home formerly are increasingly being held at hotels. "With the one- or two-child norm being followed, the trend to celebrate such events on a grand scale has escalated," he adds. According to him for an engagement a crowd of 250-300 people is seen at times and it usually begins around 6.30 pm followed by dinner. Satish feels that the upper middle class are the ones really spending as their disposable income is much more. However, he is of the view that the comperes', party organisers' and magicians' charges are on the higher side on account of lack of competition and greater demand. "With more new entrants into this business the prices will be slashed," he voices out. This appears to make sense as earlier, the cost of video filming would be anywhere near Rs 5000, which has dropped to Rs 2000 as of today. Private parties contribute almost 30 percent of Mandovi's party business, while corporate parties make up the balance. Partying out of Panjim However, it is not only at Panjim that a person may party, but one may go beyond Panjim many a time to hold parties for privacy, the ambience, good food or simply a change of place. Dinesh Singh from deSouza Group’s Sun Village feels that the number of people partying from Panjim at his hotel has shot up almost by 20-30 percent since last year. They have weekend packages at Rs 1450 for adults and 650 for children and groups of people do come to have a restful weekend. Gazals, live Western music provided by August Braganza, Newton and Nez, games, and use of the swimming pool form part of the entertainment. BBQ buffet, lunch buffet and unlimited house brand beverages is also included in the package making it all the more enticing for the people of Panjim to make the trip. "Various groups like Jaycees, Kamat Group, Lions and Doctors, apart from families come out here," he adds. Sidney D'Cunha, GM of Hotel Goan Heritage concurs with this theory that Panjimites are going out of Panjim to party. "Business from Panjim has increased by over 30 percent," he says. Groups like Panjim Round Table, Lions and others frequent the hotel. It is almost a sell out during weekends as they have also introduced a Monsoon Weekend Holiday Package at Rs 1500 per head. Moreover the venue is ideal for weddings, parties, social get-togethers and corporate dinners. Party organisers -- a growing trend Yet it is not only food that is required at a party, although years ago it was considered to be the main thing. Today, people expect games, music, decorations and take-home gifts. Hence a party organiser or event manager comes into play. A party organiser infact organises the entire party right from the invitation cards to the take-home gifts sans providing the food. Says Bharti Nadkarni, proprietor of the Party Shop at Panjim, "We provide multiple benefits to our customers. The package by us for birthdays include the invitation cards, decorations of the hall, whistles, caps, designing the backdrop with the name and photo of the person, fireworks at the time of cutting the cake besides ribbon/snow sprays and live karaoke at the time of serving the food. Games for children and adults, magic shows, clowns and take home gifts complete the package. We also cater to a color theme or a character theme." she says, adding that it all works out anything between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. She also caters to weddings and anniversaries but 80 percent of their business is birthday parties. "Once a person sees our work, we get further orders," says Shyam Nadkarni, who assists his wife Bharati in organising these events. Almost every week they are called upon to arrange a party and they are in this business since the past three years. Few children will settle for anything less than all that is provided by Party Shop. Especially when one sees it at a friend’s party, they desire to have the same for their birthday too. Yet, there are other party organisers who bring in something more innovative and exciting. Jesus Ribeiro who is a pioneer in organising parties says he is in the business since the past 15 years. Whenever he organises games or a singing session at a party, he does so with a view to building up the confidence in the children and adults alike, as they have to perform in front of a number of people. Thus he brings in the educative aspect into the parties which he organises. He feels that in the final analysis it is how a party is organised that makes a whole lot of difference, and one has to constantly monitor the mood of the audience to keep in step with them and thereby keep the party alive and rocking. Jesus has organised all types of parties, be it for anniversaries, birthdays, customer meetings and moreover he is called upon every weekend to organize a party and thus feels that Panjimites and Goans are partying more than ever before. A point to note is that since birthdays are throughout the year, the business of organising parties is also not restricted to any particular season, although the demand is heightened during the Christmas season. Financial constraints There are mixed opinions on the amount of money people are ready to spend on a party. According to Joyce who runs Avanti Collections and is in this business for the past 15 years, people irrespective of their social standings or religion are celebrating parties today. "However the amount that they are ready to spend is debatable," she adds. "On account of income tax authorities being vigilant, and black money not being easily available, people want to show their status in society, yet want their parties to cost less," she goes on. Avanti Collections brings a new dimension to parties. "We only design the invitation cards and decorate the cake and hall. We don’t organise the party, but we work on different themes," she adds. It is a fact that Goans love to party and any excuse will suffice for them to party. With the number of options available at present who needs any further invitation to party? Moreover, the fact that everyone engaged in party arrangements claims to be doing better than ever before is enough testimony that parties are on the rise in Panjim and in Goa. ================================================================ (Reproduced on Goanet courtesy Panjim Plus [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone 2464687 or 9422058131)