There is a version of North Goa that only exists for four months of the year, and almost nobody plans a trip around it on purpose. It starts sometime in June, when the sky changes colour first and the sea follows a few days later. By July, the hills behind Assagao and Siolim have gone from brown to a green so deep it looks unreal in photos. The beach shacks that define North Goa the rest of the year are shuttered and stacked.

The first time I heard about the Bonderam Festival, I thought someone had mispronounced "bandaram", maybe another beach party in Goa, I assumed. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What I found instead, nestled in the Divar Island, was a celebration unlike any other in Goa, quirky, deeply rooted in history, full of satire and laughter, and strangely emotional. It's a day when flags do more than decorate. They remember. They revolt. And most importantly, they bring people toge

Now that June has arrived, the monsoon clouds have rolled into Goa, and with them, a whole new version of this tropical paradise emerges.