GOA -- enlightening experience, bamboozling future By Menin Rodrigues Karachi, Pakistan menin...@gmail.com
JANUARY 8, 2012 - I returned to Goa after 24 months to attend a family wedding in Colva. It was a wonderful, enlightening experience and we shared great moments of joy and camaraderie -- there being a bond that continues to lure me back to my roots. I hail from Karachi, Pakistan where we are about 15,000 Goans, a fact that came as a surprise to people I met here! The reason I like to share my experiences of Goa is because as a visitor I see Goa from a different perspective to what Goans in Goa would do in addressing some challenges that this beautiful state faces now and would have to deal with it in the future. Firstly, I view Goa from three different angles, the quiet village life in all its enchanting ways, the bustling commercial and developmental activity that is transforming Goa and the third angle being quite perplexing, who's Goa it is today? Though I see Goa's identity to be well in place but its continuing infrastructural warp is bamboozling! So who's Goa it is today? There being too many stakeholders to Goa’s wealth -- its land, lifestyle and values -- its colors keep changing, some exciting, some strange and some garish. This mystical state which has so much to offer in terms of its heavenly environment, unique persona and unwavering freedom, now seems a little out of control. The priest at the Colva church in his new year's night Homily said, "Last year Goa had 400,000 tourists/visitors and this year an estimated 800,000 people have converged on Goa, why?" There was concern in his voice and I found it relevant. When Mass was over at 12.30 am, I walked back to our home against the tide, revelers, a multitude of people, just too many! Goa looked garish to me for the first time. Coming to the bustling commercial and developmental activity in Goa towns, I found it to be realistic but also astonishing. The economies of scale are enticing and will continue to give Goa the shocks of a perceived facelift, a new architectural profile. But is Goa losing its character? Goa has a history that is as rich as its alluvial soil, it must be preserved, not just its culture but infrastructure too. Therefore, its current and future growth calls for a balanced economic and social intervention. I am sure Goans would not like to see their beloved region turn into a gaudy township that has no meaning! Likewise, I would like to come back to Goa time and again to a home my parents loved so much! Nevertheless, in this entire melee, there remains a part of Goa that still is Goa! The life in the not-too-distant villages, interspersed with narrow winding 'good' roads and adjoining fields. The sun peeps through the towering coconut trees and a variety of fruit-trees, while a tender breeze whizzes past the plains and into the airy verandahs and homes. It was Christmas time again, the families and children were at home, the day time fun evolved around youth frolicking with the 'Old Man' collecting mite and awaiting to ring in the new year! Nights through the villages were magical for a city-buff like me; I simply enjoyed the site of stars, stars and more stars, as well as the number of neighborhood cribs! I went to visit a cousin in Benaulim and insisted that I sit in the verandah and enjoy their hospitality amidst the backdrop of nature in its pristine beauty. This kind of feeling for a visitor, if it disappears because of uncontrolled development, will be a great loss that Goa will never be able to explain to its children in the future. Goa continues to lure people and I am one of them! # # # # Readers are welcome to write to me at menin...@gmail.com Visit: http://www.goansofpakistan.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------