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It's Moscow! No, it's Morjim!
Thousands of Russians have made Morjim, in northern Goa, their home as
they find the place more hospitable than their native land. Reena
Martins on India's little Russia
It's the eve of the Russian Christmas and Igor — a strapping,
vest-clad Russian hotel owner — races around hairpin bends at a
bone-rattling speed to reach his beachside shack in Morjim, along
Goa's northern coast. In the back of his open jeep sits a cake, atop a
week's supply of vegetables and beef.
For Igor (he doesn't use a surname), Goa is home. And he is among
thousands of Russians who would rather bask in sunny Goa than live in
freezing Russia. The number of Russians in Morjim has risen "from less
than a thousand six years ago to 45,000 last year," says Vikram Varma,
the Goa-based counsel for the Russian consulate. About 200 Russians
and their spouses are on business visas, while the rest are tourists.
RUSSIA HOUSE: Dima Smirnov (below), owner of the shack Bora Bora, is
among the many Russians who have settled in Morjim to enjoy Goa's sun
and sand.
Pic: Reena Martins
Morjim today has at least 10 restaurants run by Russians, says Igor,
whose 13-room beachside hotel Casablanca caters mainly to Russian
guests. Behind fluttering chiffon curtains in Bora Bora, a shack run
by Russian Dima Smirnov, is an open space where several serious
looking Russian guests sit glued to their laptops at low tables. There
is even a kindergarten run by a Russian that the visitors send their
children to.
Russians constitute a small part of tourists in Goa — less than two
per cent of the 25 lakh who visit annually — but Morjim is like a mini
Moscow. Young Russian women straddling babies are a common sight.
"Often, the women stay back with their children, while their husbands
return to work in Moscow," says Smirnov, who spends six months in
Moscow working in a restaurant, while his girlfriend, Tanya, stays
back in Goa.
Twenty-something Sasha (she doesn't use a surname) is happy to be in
Goa. "Last year there were hardly three children here. This year,
there are about 15 and some pregnant women too," says Sasha, cuddling
and swinging her six-month-old baby, Alicia, who was born in Goa.
"India is Alicia's motherland," she declares.
Women like Sasha and her Russian housemate Anna say they stay back in
Goa for the sun, sand, fresh food and air. "In Moscow the vegetables
are pesticide laden, there are traffic jams and the air is polluted
and cold for nine months a year," says Sasha.
Life is also cheaper in Goa. Igor points out that he does good
business in Goa, which would have been "very difficult to do, legally"
in his own motherland. Sasha can afford to spend all day outside her
rented Goan villa or simply amble across to Casablanca, where babies
frolic in a bright yellow and red inflatable tub.
The global economic downturn hasn't affected many visiting Russians.
"The older Russian would prefer keeping his money on him or with a
smaller local co-operative bank, instead of investing it in the stock
market or with international banking firms," says Varma. The rich and
old Russian finds Goa a good place for holidaying, and puts up in
five-stars. For the young Russian backpacker, there are hundreds of
cheaper options.
The Russian presence means business, but the locals are not very happy
with them. Many believe that the Russian mafia — which took over the
country after the collapse of Communism — has entrenched itself in Goa
by buying up property. Varma hastens to add that only about 200
Russians have bought property in Goa.
Ask Igor about the Russian mafia's presence in Goa and he says, "90
per cent of Russia is filled with the mafia, which includes the police
and politicians. But the Russian mafia would rather go to the Gulf
countries where they can spend big money. What money can they spend in
this garbage collecting place?"
Bosco George, the north Goa superintendent of police, says it would be
an exaggeration to talk of a Russian mafia in Goa, though there have
been Russians who have hidden facts about themselves from both the Goa
government and the home country. Staying without a valid visa is a
problem, and last September the police visited Igor's shack eight
times, asking to inspect his passport and visa. "I eventually told
them to just leave," he says.
Goa police figures reveal that Russians have been charged mainly with
overstaying, rash driving and rowdy acts. The number of Russians
booked in the state rose from six in 2006 to 11 in 2007 and 14 in
2008.
But life is mostly peaceful for the Goan Russians. In the Bora Bora
kitchen, Nepali cooks rustle up traditional Russian fare — mostly
popular beef stews. The peanut cream for the scones and cottage cheese
are made from buffalo milk, in house. The beef is farm raised, as the
"cows in the neighbourhood eat paper and plastic," says Smirnov.
Not everyone is as finicky. Igor has no idea about the origin of the
beef that goes into the traditional Russian borscht or beetroot soup
with shredded beef and boiled egg, topped with fresh cream, served hot
or cold, in his shack. Live like a Russian, but Goan style seems to be
his mantra.
Da da, say the rest.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090125/jsp/7days/story_10437122.jsp
