The Big Problem with Goa

One of the Biggest problems which Goa faces is - lack of enterprise and means of gainful employment for Goans. This I believe is a vicious circle and stems from the way of life most Goans live . Most Goans like me often have a sizeable section of the family living / working abroad and we usually meet these folks on an annual basis for christmas or holidays, their ideas and expressions often build in our mind an ideal place where they are based and often this place gets projected in our minds as a place which offers way too many benefits than staying in Goa would ever have, so as soon as an opportunity comes most goans pack up to gain the coveted NRI status or even citizenship.

Things might or might not be all that good initially, but since a considerable amount of money is spent in shifting , Goans prefer to stay and earn back that money, While the person is engaged in making this just enough money before he or she can quit and go back , time passes and slowly the roots grow deeper into the foreign suroundings and they become a part of the foreign landscape.

Though the craving for Goa exists - kindly called as Saudade - this often gets limited to an annual trip to Goa or fortnigtly visits to a nearby Goan restaurant for a session of Goan song and food, a proof of this is the number of goan restaurants doing well overseas in areas across the world which have good goan settlements.

Every trip to Goa becomes a reality check on the fact that the Goa of yesteryears has been left far behind and the new Goa which greets the NRI Goan at Dabolim is an evergrowing concrete jungle designed by ignorant builders who feel its their mission to fill up every low lying paddyfield or mangrove and cut down every green hill in sight to construct ugly matchbox like structures. Commerce has also brought with it unheralded prosperity to some which can be seen by the unbelievable value of land deals being done on a regular basis.Selling off their land has made many a Goan very rich in monetary terms but very very poor in heritage value.

After a few weeks of taking in all the sights and sores, most NRI goans feel that they have had enough and its time to go back to their overseas places of work or residence, the new goa would not be a very habitable place for them. So the Goan goes back and continues with his foreign routine till its time for another trip to the homeland.

However here is the crunch - once the goan has spent a considerable time abroad, has married ,had kids , retired with a fat packet of cash and would like to take it easy and return back to settle in Goa, he has already lived out the prime and enterprising part of his life so he comes back - as the senhor - the old man and his wife as most kids born and brought up abroad would not like to come here as they have blended well in western society and would prefer to only visit Goa for holidays.

When the oldies come back they go on a perpetual holiday or sometimes start some minisicule venture to remain busy, this is in reality a way to pass time . This goes on for sometime untill one of the couple fall sick or age takes its toll and they have to be bedridden and prepare for the final journey, They often have to fend for themselves or have to rely on some relative who is close at hand to support them or in a worse scenario they have to live their remainder lives in an Old age home, Most of their children would be busy living their own lives and would not like the idea of spending the prime of their youth caring for their old parents with often cumbersome tasks like bathing their old and frail bodies or changing their bed pans. This also explains house after house in many a place across Goa ageing away with no one living in them.

These houses often become targets for the land grabbing builder / lawyer/ cheatful relative or sweet talking swindler who often take over such places by providing lip service to the lonely owners of the house.

If we look at the scene today, it has not changed a bit as we are still living this vicious circle, the prime youth or entrepreneurs who can build meaningful enterprises which provide gainful employment to the masses are absent. Among entrepreneurs in Goa we still speak about the miners who make their money raping the land and paying some paltry tax to the govt . The hotels again are training grounds for the wannabe shippies or prospective overseas hotels employees , and then there are the small time firms who pay their employees pocket money which is just enough to make the trip to bombay and from there overseas. The new boom in services like the BPO's, aviation, retail, media etc and the mega bucks these sectors offer has acted like a magnet to most young Goans who are brought up in a westernised way and speak good English,

Thus in reality Goa does not have any gainful entrepreneurship or investment which can lead in creating a stable and developmental society. More and more Goans are entering the migration circle like never before and this i fear is a big macro level disaster already happening without anyone knowing it and may soon wipe away any trace of the Goan Identity. Compare this to say some of the races in India or of the world who make their money overseas, tending petrol pumps or doing the most menial of jobs and then go on to build huge business empires right there in their home state or country, The Sensible and Smart Goan of today has to start thinking on these lines, or else being a Goan will just be an entry on a piece of paper which will weather with time and tomorrow the land shall not know it anymore.