Feb 14, 2007 08:56 PM
4807 Views
I wonder if someone in the tourism department reads these reviews. 99 excellent reviews have been written about Goa and mine is the hundredth one where I wish to bring out the uglier sides of Goa which visitors should watch for and the tourism officials should try to do something about, lest Goa also degenerate into what the once lovely Kashmir has become.
In 1978 I was posted in Kashmir, stayed there till 1983, got married there in 1981 and saw it as the most beautiful place described as'JANNAT' by a poet. The honeymooners used to swarm there, foreigners used to prefer it to Switzerland and the variety in places like pahalgam, gulmarg, khilanmarg, wular lake, dal lake and all were unmatched in their variety.
Gradually, in front of my eyes things started to change-the kashmiri boathouse owners started calling us'you Indians'. The officials started harassing tourists and extracting bribes. The militancy started and it became we versus them. The first bomb blast took place at lal chowk in 1983 and things never recovered.
I am not being alarmist and saying that this will happen to Goa . However I was alarmed to see the evolution of'we' vs'them' syndrome there during my recent visit. The first time I heard it, I was shocked. I was coolly walking in water on calngute beach at 9 a.m. when a beach shack owner ran up to foreigners walking next to me and said'sir come to my shack and rest, I always make sure no bloody Indians trouble you' When I finally selected one shack to sunbathe at, I asked the owner if the Indian crowd was troublesome. He said yes there were instances where people took pictures of topless or scantily clad tourists and sold then to south Indian magazines. I was satisfied but after some time when I had ordered enough to set me apart from a budget tourist, this owner said'sir Indians are very bad tourists and they trouble us. They bargain like hell and waste our time and space.
Similar comments I heard from various cab drivers. They said sir Indians are no good and they are budget tourists. They come on packages and travel by buses. If they travel by cab they fight and do not pay full fare.
When I lightly asked them if they were not Indians they said no they were Goans.If I am correct today 62 percent of Goan population is Hindu, so even is some Christians remain very few of them are likely to be of Portuguese descent.
Further, foreigners come to Goa only 3 months in a year while today's Indians travel all 12 months. It has also been established that Indian tourists spend much more on holidays than westerners do. So essentially Goa is doing well thanks to domestic tourism. I do not think the Goa tourism department is getting this message to the illiterate drivers, guides and waiters.
My last visit to Goa was to celebrate the millennium new year and I have decided that this was my last one. For me to be welcome in a place is a must.If I flag down a cab and he refuses to stop because of my skin colour being similar to him, well too bad.
The same attitude has beach shacks having separate bathrooms for Indians and foreigners-at least one I saw-Sam's shack. Now reminds one of the British times''Indians and dogs not allowed' syndrome.Even in America or the stiff upper lipped England I never saw such a ridiculous thing.
Even Russians are given preferential treatment even though every one knows they belong to the mafia.
Now what does this mean? Sensitisation is required. The beaches of Goa were in the top 3 of the world according to national geographic in 1999. Today they are not even in top 10. The reason is there-the water is no longer blue. See the beaches of Mauritius or Maldives-they have Crystal clear water . The Australian waters are again amazing. Go to Pattaya in Thailand and see the corals clearly through the water.
Best is that all these beach destinations are more value for money than Goa is today. Thailand will cost lesser than Goa if airfares and hotel rentals are taken. Thais are also so profusely welcoming people as they have been taught that tourism is their bread and butter and tourist is their God.
So what will happen is that people from India will go abroad rather than get insulted in Goa, unless they are made to feel more welcome there.
Parties may be fine for a trip or two but then what matters is hospitality.
