"When Indians Weren't...": Shark Tank's Aman Gupta On 2000s Goa Parties

Aman Gupta, the co-founder of boAt Lifestyle, took listeners back to a very different Goa during a conversation on The Prakhar Gupta Xperience podcast. It was a time when Indian partygoers were rare and the underground rave culture was dominated almost entirely by foreign tourists.

Mr Gupta, also a Shark Tank India judge, spoke about his early party escapades in Goa, long before it became a mainstream destination for domestic travellers. One of his most vivid memories is of the secret forest parties, where finding the venue was an adventure in itself.

Recounting his early 2000s party adventures, Mr Gupta said he and his friends often found themselves to be the only Indians among crowds of international revellers.

“These parties, they were such parties that we didn't know the venue. We would take our scooter and ask our foreigner friends, ‘Aaj party kahan hai (where's the party today)?'” he recalled.

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One of the more iconic venues from that time, he said, was the Bamboo Forest, a hidden gem that hosted wild parties frequented by foreigners. “That time, when we used to go to Goa, there were no Indians. We were the only Indians there (at forest parties),” Mr Gupta noted.

He also reflected on the social dynamics of Goa's popular tourist areas like Anjuna Beach, known for its Israeli backpacker crowd. Indians, he said, were often given a cold shoulder by the local hospitality industry.

“I remember a time we used to go to this place called Anjuna Beach. Back then, only Israelis would get accommodation there. That's how it was. Indians hardly got space to stay because the place was full of Israelis. They were a tight-knit group, and honestly, they didn't make Indians feel very welcome,” he said.

Looking at the present, Mr Gupta observed a shift in Goa's tourism dynamic. Once dominated by foreign visitors, Goa is now very much a destination for Indian travellers, who are not only more accepted but also economically influential.

Despite the shifts in crowd and culture over the years, Mr Gupta's love for Goa has remained constant.

"I've always loved Goa. Even now, when people say they don't enjoy it anymore, I still do. In fact, I feel like now that the crowd has thinned a bit, the real Goa vibe is back. There was a time when it got too crowded, but I've loved Goa since childhood," Mr Gupta said. 

We used to go there even before Dil Chahta Hai made it popular, he said. "I don't know how the Dil Chahta Hai folks picked up a story that was pretty much our own and put it into their film, it really felt like our story".