My last trip to Goa.

We were 10 people and 3 cars. We left for Goa on 26th Jan at 3am. We were all excited about the trip hoping to recreate the joy of the last trip. It was all fine till the Saturday evening. Till then everyone was in their own little world, sleeping by the beach, drinking their share of beer.

At 4pm we 6 of us left to Candolim beach from Baga. (It seems it is a foreigner’s beach). We went up to the hotel on the beach side and asked for a shack. There were all guys and girls naked sleeping on the shacks and we were actually, for once, oblivious to the extent of nudity. As the Indian mentality goes, one of our friends was negotiating about the cost of the beer when a foreigner came up to us and started staring. He did not say a word and we had no idea what he was doing. All we knew was he was 6ft 2 inches tall and about 100kgs heavy. After a few seconds we asked him what the problem was. "You are too loud. Try to keep it low", he said in a threatening tone. We kept our calm and sent him off. Then this waiter from the hotel came up to us and refused to give us the shack or serve us beer. Initially we did not understand what was going on. Then it was all clear - it was about money. He wanted the foreigner there and thought that we had picked up a fight with him. We tried to explain to him that we are there to just relax and be by ourselves and are going to pay for what we eat and use. But he was adamant on not being associated with us. So we started leaving. On the way back my friend gave a long stare to the foreigner. The foreigner said something and my friend walked up to him and asked – Sorry, could not hear you. The foreigner said - I said keep walking. The arrogance in his face pissed all of us off. At the end of the day he is a tourist and has to know that he does not own the place to dictate terms. We refused to move. There were a few swear words exchanged and the foreigner punched my friend in the face and he was bleeding. The waiter came to the rescue - of the foreigner. We had no one to support us. We decided to call the police. And we went to the hotel and asked for the police number. He refused to give us the number. So we had to walk about 300 mts outside the beach to get the phone number and call the police. We did. The police said that they would be in Candolim beach in 5 minutes. 5 minutes turned to 20 and we called again. By this time the Shack owner had fled the foreigner away safely. We tried to follow him but he got into the jeep and raced away. We could not note the jeep number. When we called the police the second time they said they had already sent a jeep and it should be there any moment. So we waited. We waited for 2 hrs. No one turned up. Then we called up again. This time they said - We cannot do anything in the beach. You will have to come to the station to lodge a complaint. By now the waiter had also fled. What did we have? - No trace of the foreigner, just the name of the waiter and no police. Hoping to take things to completion we went to the police station to lodge a complaint. We got the police to the place of the incident and had him spoken to the owner of the shack. We explicitly told the police that the owner of the shack had refused to give us the police number and that was - by law - a crime. But our request went unnoticed as he continued speaking in konkani to the shack owner. That shack owner said that he had no connection with the waiter and did not know who he was. There was no further investigation. Then we went back to the police station where the 2star officer tell us - Tell us how do we find that foreigner. We need some trace. We don’t have anything. Something can be done if you stay back in Goa. We don’t know how long that will be. We can’t even assure you that he will get caught.

We asked the police if it was an option that they coordinate with the Bangalore police and we will do the needful from Bangalore.The officer thought that the idea was ridiculous.

Our hearts sank. We had nothing with us. Our country people were not with us. All for a white skin and a few dollars. All we could think of was - This happened 450 years back when British came to India. Because of and with our support they started ruling us. And after 400 years of struggle and regaining freedom, what did we learn? Nothing? To go to the press we do not have sufficient evidence. The police come to us and first thing they ask is - Tumne kya kiya? (What did you do?) The investigation would begin with an assumption that we are at fault.

This left us with a lot of questions unanswered. Were we wrong in retaliating? Are Indians not allowed in a foreigner s beach? Why don’t they put up – Indians and dogs not allowed beyond this point. Is this the state of the police in India? If no foreigner committing a crime can be caught in Goa, then why do we need police there? In 2 days 10 of us spent Rs. 40,000 in Goa. Does that have any value to them? Why would Goans think of us as lesser than the white skin? If nudity is illegal in India, then how is Candolim beach exempted of this law? Isn’t assault equal to half murder? Does it hold no importance? How can the government have no concern for Indians being treated differently in their own country? Is this not racism? And many many more.

But one thing for sure. Goa seems like a foreign land to me. I don’t find the people as ours. And that to me is a huge loss.