5 Point-iets...

It goes without saying that there are aspects of Indian society that exist in complete contradiction to the notions of spirituality and higher consciousness that are for the most part synonymous with this culture in the foreign perspective. The institutionalized prejudice that is born from the cast system and the wholesale acceptance and subscription to this system of inequality rears its ugly multiple heads at every turn and the size of the population coupled with global capital dictates do nothing to alleviate the plight of the poor and downtrodden. Conditions in the slums and smaller villages are deplorable and yet, for the most part, life continues in what can only be described as an apparently harmonious tedium.

And yet, along this stretch of beach in Goa, every seafront property is owned by a local. Some operate small, family-run seasonal businesses with basic accommodation, food and services. Many of the guests return year after year to spend four or six months kite surfing or sunbathing or just enjoying the delicious array of fresh seafood and produce on every menu. And in addition, even the Rand exchanges favourably with the Indian Rupee.

Some of the land owners have however managed to develop bigger operations with permanent structures and air-conditioned tents or bungalows. Here they will have free wifi in their restaurants with a ‘continental meals’ section on the menu and free sun-loungers in rows on the sand with touts welcoming any and all strollers that happen to be passing. Most of these establishments are owned by Indian businessmen who spend their time in Mumbai or Delhi but a couple are even owned by Russians who negotiate longer-term leases or more complicated deals with individual families.

Most of the beach-shack restaurants are however seasonal businesses that are constructed each year for the tourist season and employ teams of Nepali cooks and waiters who run the show.

I take this all in and ask myself where in South Africa I will be able to find a similar set-up and the answer is nowhere! Every viable seafront property is either tribal land or owned by a municipality or a pigmentally-challenged-and-previously-advantaged ostrich. In addition to this, legislation and regulation will not allow for the construction of a traditional structure which in this case is a reed and bamboo hut on stilts that is held together with bits of string and rope. Every morning I sit with my coffee and watch the subsistence fishermen return with their catch or cast their nets at lunch time and I think of the fishermen back home who have been cheated out of their livelihood by a democracy that was negotiated to kowtow to capitalist dictates and where estate agents oppose a ban on foreign owned land.