Goa-Indians not welcome

Goa, the name instantly creates an image of fun and enjoyment among everyone. Ahh..the holidays, the sun and the sands. The casual laying under the sun for hours relaxing like a turtle. That’s the outlook Goa has. Needless to say, I too was really excited when a plan was hatched to visit Goa this February. And Goa was as it has promised to be, awesome. But often it happens, all the fun, enjoyment are spoilt due to some ugly event. The same happened with us too.

Let me give some background. Goa is in INDIA. If you are wondering why I wrote that, you will know next. There are 2 events which I will narrate to you.

So, it happened that me and my friend were out on the roads on a 2 wheeler and in hurry had forgotten the helmet. And as it happens by the laws of Murphy, we were stopped by police. We were challaned for 100 rupees and we gave it right away as mistake was ours. Now, just then a foreigner passed us on a 2 wheeler with no helmet on. And he was not even asked to stop, forget about paying a fine. I pointed it out to the policeman who had fined us and his response was “We don’t stop foreigners”. I argued why and he said “Atithi Devo Bhavah”. I responded that that saying was of times when no money was charged from the athithi i.e. the guest. I had gotten really really worked up by this time seeing such blatant racism in my own damn country. I said to him, that when we go to other countries, we are always treated a par below their own citizens and out here they are treated like Gods. I said “mera khoon khaulta hai ye sab dekh kar” (my blood boils when i see such things). The policeman said that his boss had told him not to catch foreigners. Stuck with disbelief, we left.

The second incident was at Majorda beach. Its a really very beautiful beach and the crowd there is minimal which makes for fantastic experience. So, we took a shack and ordered the food and drinks. In between, we went and kept on taking a dip in the sea now and then. The food was really tasty and we ate like kings. At evening, when we were in the water, we heard a nepali looking guy shouting at us to move left. We presumed him to be a life-guard and did do, but his manner of communication did bother us. Now, after an hour or two, when we were about to leave, we again saw that guy and asked him why was he shouting like that. Then he said “Tum log foreigners ke saamne tha, isiliye'(“You guys were near the foreigners, that’s why”). Stunned, we asked him what the hell he meant. He said that we 3 friends were swimming nearby a group of foreigners and one of those foreigners had complained to him to drive us away. I was burning with anger when I heard this and said “tera dimag kharaab hai kya be?”(“Are you crazy or what?”). He even said that we might have touched those foreigners. By now, i was fuming with anger and shouting. We asked the guy that who the fuck is he and does he own the bloody place. Then the guy gets all pumped up and says to me that he will hit me if i keep talking like that. He even threatened that he is a local and can do anything to me. All this nonsense had driven me crazy and I too was ready to exchange blows with him. I couldn’t imagine this was happening in India, my own country. By this time, another guy had come who tried to pacify and our group too wanted to leave. Then we left thereafter.

Both these incidents point out a clear case of racism done to Indians in India. And the shittiest part is that it’s majorly done by Indians themselves. I have always felt that the colonial hangover is still upon a very large portion of populace. They just know to bow when they see a westerner. 250 years of slavery is still deeply rooted and I feel extremely disgusted to see so. Some pathetic apologists will throw the fact that those foreigners spend more so they get this treatment. So, take this, in all the 10 beach shacks I went, we billed the highest. While they ordered a lone sandwich in 3 hours, we had ordered close to 10 dishes during that time. Our bills were not less than 5 times the closest of them. Still, the Indians are treated like second class citizens. I mean, this pains and angers me so much that words fail me to describe it. In some shops also where we went, if foreigners were there, no one bothered to cater to us. It was like we were invisible. Upon searching the net, you can find scores of writings relating to the same issue. Its not an isolated event we had. It’s a continuous and intentional racism. Done by shack owners, waiters, shop owners, hotel staff etc. They don’t even spare fellow Goans too. Otherwise how can a foreigner have the balls to complaint a local guy to clear a part of a public beach stretch of Indians so that he can have it all for himself and others having his skin color. They know that any such disgusting demands of theirs will be catered by the ever so obedient-foreigner-obsessed Indians. On a late night. some restaurants we went said that they could not serve us as they are closing but as soon a white guest arrived, they gladly opened up. As though, we were there to eat for free from those buggers. Now too, when those events crop in mind, disgust is what I feel. I mean, how such things could happen to our own countrymen in their own country. Show me 1 western country where this happens, and I will drop this thing. Why do we Indians have so pathetically low sense of self respect for ourselves and for rest of our countrymen? Also, below is a snap of one of the shacks. Check out all the flags there. Could you see our tri-colour there?

However with all these events, I still say Goa rocks like no other place in India. You will have such fun which you shall remember surely. The places are really beautiful and lovely. My solution to the above mentioned problems will not to say to you to stop going there. I say, go there every year. In big groups. Go there in 1000s and lacs. Let the Indian tourist percentage become a multiple of the foreign tourists and then none would dare to say anything or ignore us. They would have to treat us like equals if not as kings. That’s how things change in this nation.