Xavier Fernandes joined the senior citizen’s club a few years back and having witnessed his fishing village turn into a tourism pot, now believes that Palolem beach cannot grow beyond the graph it’s reached for it has touched saturation point.
“We have the best beach in Goa, but unfortunately, the coastline is small for the number of daily visitors and the infrastructure has been capped unlike other beaches in the State,” says village veteran Fernandes. “It is 11 am and there is no parking space,” he rues.
“Palolem was designed for a motley group and that was the time when the tourists and locals had a great time. It took us time to accept and adjust to the foreigners but once we did, the meltdown was easy,” says Fernandes, recollecting the spots where a few shacks formed part of the tourism ecosystem of the past.
The story is different today with Palolem being one of the few beaches that has a private hospital a kilometre away from the beach, a centre teaching cooking, pharmacies and plenty of restaurants kissing the shoreline.
Sipping tea and eating onion pakoras with Fernandes are Zen and another friend from Russia, both who first discovered Palolem five years back. They share good banter of the past as the day starts breaking into noon.
“There was a time when one could find only Russians here,” recalls Fernandes and adds with a bite of cynicism, “and with them around, all other foreigners ran away.”
“When I first came here, I was caught by the bug of anonymity. I could just walk freely around with no one to bother me. I could do what I wanted and when I needed help, there was some local always there to help me, like Xavier,” gesticulates Zen.
“I do not know about others, but for me a holiday is about enjoying my time doing the things I want and I do that too, by finding my own space. That others do not appreciate it is not my problem. No one needs to know why I have come for a holiday,” reasons Zen.
“It is a norm that people from one country will always meet at similar hangouts and the same is with us. We share what we have observed and our experiences at different places,” admits the Russian.
“We like to dance after drinks and that is why you will find us meeting at secluded spots with our music systems and drinks. It’s not because we want to keep others away but because when we party, we want to party our way and we are in no mood to explain it to others,” asserts Zen, who believes, a Russian is at his best when he is left alone.
It’s not because we want to keep others away but because when we party, we want to party our way and we are in no mood to explain it to othersZen, Russian tourist
Today, Palolem has not just Russians, but domestic tourists too, looking for a bargain, good fish to eat and cheaper booze to wash it down with.
“The funny thing about Goa is that the prices of clothes and Indian handicrafts vary from beach to beach. A blouse can cost Rs 100 in Palolem and it will vary in Cavelossim, Benaulim and Anjuna,” says Hasina who has visited much of the coast.
“If I like something, I pick it up fast but the impression I get after noticing the price variation, is that it depends on the type of tourists that visit different beaches. There are some places, full of bikes for rent and others with four-wheelers,” observes Hasina.
“There is no doubt that both foreign and Indian tourists love Goa because of the variety of booze available and the reasonable pricing. We perhaps get better foreign liquor in Delhi today but the premium of drinking it here is missing outside and that is the difference,” reveals Hasina as she and her friends talk single malt.
On the other hand, Zuben, who professes he is not a student of marine science but a good fish eater, reasons that the fish in Goa tastes better than other places because of the quality of the sea water. “You eat fish in North Goa and try similar fish in the south and one will find a difference in taste. I presume it is because of the freshness of the water along the coast,” he says.
In Palolem, Agonda, Patnem and Galgibaga, at least, locals have realised its best to leave the Russians alone – let self-discovery be the first step of inner healing.