Those three days of International Fashion week at Cidade De Goa, Panaji...!

The main reason to visit Goa in October in the first place was to attend, participate and walk on the runway of International fashion week 2021 and it happened in this luxurious resort on the shores of Vainguinim beach. Cidade de Goa is one of the 5-star stay chains from IHCL seleqtions. As mentioned, this resort is exactly how you expect the hotels by Indian Hotels company limited with extravagant space and elite ambiance. Being a model and most importantly being a constant traveler, I get to witness way too many hotels in India, and Cidade de goa always stay best in my heart, not because I walked over there, it's because every inch of the space spill typical goa nature vibes.

This particular resort resides in the heart of Panjim with its private beach on the shores of Vainguinim with two outdoor pools and a few restaurants for various kinds of cuisines. The way towards this hotel is simply amazing and authentically goan. So, for those three days of fashion week, we used to drop by in our car, attend the show and roam various destinations before reaching our hotel in Rua de Ourem, Panjim.

I attended for a brief time on the first day, presented myself as a support for my fellow models on the second day, and finally walked on the third day. It was typically a fashion week for me as I portrayed my fashionista avatar in three different looks and I felt no lesser than a supermodel. This place remains in my heart because I got the best appreciation from the audience for my walk. So, yes it was special for me.

On the first day, I reached Cidade De Goa in the morning to drop our model pals and attended rehearsals in Dona Paula's one of the treebo hotels organized by our agency, and had a gala time with my other models. In the night to flaunt my diva personality I have attended the show for an hour. As usual, I roamed around, explored, captured a few clicks, and even did a catwalk by assuming the lobby as my runway. It was fun as it elevated my model spirits. And when my other models' rehearsals were wrapped up, we went for a party in Anjuna again (which I will draft another blog to spill the details)

On the second day, I quite spent most of my evening till night in this 5-star space. My day was indeed going bad with all the mess-ups in schedules and transportation. Speaking of it, Goa is only better to explore if you hire a bike or car, otherwise, you end up spending hundreds and thousands of rupees to go even nearby spaces. We booked a 7 seater for 2000 rupees per day and 1500 petrol per day to roam around. Hence, the travel became affordable and comfortable as we all pitched in together.

One of the sequences from our agency was scheduled for the second day and it was all about summer collection for men. To match that, I wore a swimsuit frock and block heels by carrying my androgynous personality with pearls on my neck. That outfit lifted my moods indeed. I met many known people and also was roaming alone by smoking everywhere. Yes, it is allowed to smoke almost anywhere except in the main banquet halls and indoor restaurant spaces in Cidade De Goa. That space gave me the freedom to be me regardless of constant stares though.

As I was about to walk the next day, I had to retain over there till night because my ramp rehearsals were planned after the second-day sequences got over. We were there till 12 in the night and couldn't go anywhere because most of the models from our gang had to walk on the third day of the show. We needed the rest even though I felt quite restless with everything that has happened to me on that day. Don't think that I'm whining in my words. I just couldn't take them off my brain to date. It was the worst day of my goa trip.

But there comes the final day of the fashion week and I had to be my best to give my level best to pull the appearance that no one has expected from me. Yes, I was the only gay guy who tagged along with several females. I'm androgynous and hence there would be no gender barriers for me. Hence my designer has designed a special draped saree avatar and I was closing that Indian wedding guest sequence.

I always love breaking stereotypes and traveling allows me to do that more often by presenting my androgynous soul in fashionable avatars to let people know, understand, perceive and accept me the way I'm. My motto is to normalize it to make queer travelers feel safe anywhere. Hence, I don't hesitate in taking the initiative to be myself anywhere I go. I may not convince everyone but I believe in the presentation. Spaces like Cidade De Goa always get filled with people of higher status and mostly who plan for a resort vacation. But during fashion weeks, these hotel spaces witness the blended crowd and I took an opportunity to stamp the message right in their brains.

International Fashion week of Goa 2021 has happened in an artistic banquet hall on the ground floor and it was huge. The whole decor was absolutely sophisticated and very well organized with chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. But the main drawback I experienced was the backstage narrow paths. They were suffocating and the air conditioning was low. It could be because of too many people rushing here and there to present their collections. The time has arrived for my sequence and it was around 8.3o pm.

I was drenched in sweat backstage with my high heels, kanjivaram saree, skin fit denim under, makeup, and hair extensions. God, glamour was difficult that day for me because of the blended emotions of nervousness and suffocation. I was carrying the outfit since evening as my makeup and saree draping has happened in another place. I was all prepared and no matter how much experience I gathered in ramp modeling, I always feel nervous. But it all went away soon after I hit the ramp.

I was with Badassnation and walked like a true badass that day swinging my saree as if I didn't bother to carry it in a typical way like a kitchen-bound woman. I was something else on the ramp, the hall was elevating and looked completely different from the before the day where I sat in the front row capturing videos of other sequences. This particular walk is the best of mine to date I guess and people didn't stop clapping and applauding me for the way I carried myself. It was a goosebumps moment when the audience suddenly started lifting their phones and capturing every step I took on that very ramp.

The show was over and the result was overwhelming in a good way indeed. I came out and my people were congratulating me and all I needed was a place to sit, relax and smoke. But before that, we all posed for photographers, journalists, and our crew members. It was the happiest moment in Cidade De Goa to sit on the floor with my charming outfit to share the screen space with all my model pals. I was on top of my voice and I truly didn't care because it was the final day and the celebration has already started around.

I changed my outfit but remained with my heavy jewelry and my heels. I had my moment alone on one corner where I could see the dark sky and stars outside and there was a little drizzle that day quoting the monsoon ends in October. I spent some time taking pictures with other model pals and I called all my gang members to be present at the lobby so that we could get our car from the parking slot and make ourselves out of the beautiful Cidade De Goa. I planned for a late Sunday night gay party in Candolim. Yes, I was full of plans in Goa.

But those three half-spent days in Cidade De Goa were gorgeous in terms of fashion, alluring in terms of ambiance, appealing in terms of exploration.