Go Goa… Gone??

There used to be an ad by the state tourism dept. which proudly boasted of ‘Go Goa, 365 days holiday’. I think they still promote it as the same. Goa as a holiday destination round the year. Seriously? Considering the current situation, it really needs to be thought about the way it is being projected. Do they even think about carrying capacity or sustainable tourism? If you do some number crunching & look at the land/ infrastructure and the number of people dropping in like swarm of bees you’ll gasp in shock for a minute at the tremendous density pressure. Do try!

A phenomenal number of people come every year to Goa. National as well as international, the former crowd being the major chunk of it. When asked why they visit Goa? Most of them laugh loudly and answer cheap booze and grin when questioned about the access of drugs (Of course, there are people who visit and fit into the decent, no nonsense tourist category; but unfortunately the number is comparatively few). Shameless enough, people get high on ‘stuff’ or simply on the feeling that one is in Goa and create scenes involving fights with the locals, rash driving causing accidents, foul mouthing people, men ogling the ladies on the beach especially the foreign tourists and also making lewd gestures. One question as a Goan that I've is who the $@&* gave you the right to do all this mess? If you can’t respect the sanctity of a place, you've no right whatsoever to destroy it. For what is just a place for you to chill and have cheap fun is a home to several peace loving folks. The least expected is the decorum to be maintained. Do not leave anything behind except good memories & footprints.

Once a state of peace loving and cheerful people, the condition is in its peril. We blame the government for every single reason but even the basic nature of every goan to be ‘Susegaad’ (relaxed) is equally responsible. It is time we take a leap forward and shed the susegaad tag, for it is proving to cost us dearly. Gone are the days when this identity would be more of something to boast about, now it has become a bane to even address ourselves to it. The susegaad nature of our fellow beings has cost our land, culture and also identity.

The invasion is clear. Russians, Nigerians, Nepalese and even some local bandits. They've literally captured areas of northern coastal villages such as Arambol, Morjim, Mandrem, Ashvem, Anjuna, Baga, Vagator, Calangute etc. and the scene is no different in south. First, they paid as tourists; slowly, they captured the businesses, killed the competition and now monopolize the economy in the beach stretches. One can find them in all businesses; be it providing SIM cards or DJs or arranging taxis and loud late night parties by owning shacks. Most are illegal though. It is the mockery of the situation that people come on the context of tourist visas and start operating businesses.The bloodshed is visible for a piece of pie to boast the dominance into the underbelly of drug trade, land ownership, prostitution and alike. Mafiaism is rampant in the coastal sides. Their tummies are filled by the ‘healthy’ nexus between their godfather (read as land mafia, revenue officials, law enforcers and politicians). The height of pain being flex-boards by some Russian owned properties highlighting ‘Indians not allowed’. Such is the pitiful situation.

The scene down is getting worse day by day. Even the national tourists stoop down to murky levels of cheapness and indecency. For instance, people flash their undies (& few even more) on beach and embarrass other families who’re in the vicinity. Goa is a state and not a bar, that you can have a pint or booze like literally anywhere and strew the bottles there. Also disfiguring the monuments by caricaturing or engraving on our rich heritage and dumping litter, spitting, smoking and indecent acts are few to be named. Loud and incessant music causing nuisance which usually goes on beyond the decibel sound limit specified and also the specified time.

An impromptu moral code of conduct binds us when we visit some other country, but why is it not the same when it comes to our nation? The basic attitude of “Chalta hai”&‘’Yeh India hai, toh sab kuch okay hai boss’’ needs to go. The patriotism shouldn't arise just on a Ind-Pak match or Independence Day or Republic day. The national fervour should be so poignant that it overcomes all the ill mentalities and should be strong enough to safeguard our nation’s identity and interests in times of such crisis. We should be proud of our land; the land in which we’re born and gave us our identity. Selling off our lands to those land scavengers so as to earn some quick cash is so wrong thing to do. Why do we let off our emotional bonds with the place falter just cause of some bucks which surely isn't even worth the real price? It has to be priceless. Has our conscience become so dead that we’re unable to hear it or we've become so deaf to be ignorant to our soul’s call?

The time has come when we all stand tall and serve our motherland with dignity and respect and command the same from the “guests”. Rather than blaming the cops and government for the situation and watching the situation going to dogs. We ourselves can restore the faith and glory of our land and stop this murky projection of our state as it is now. We don’t want some colonialism to restart again in our hinterland. So let’s march proudly and take Goa ahead in the right spirit, as it’s said united we stand, divided we fall.

Dev borem karu !