Claiming the Right to Say No-30 Nov 09-EQUATIONS - Equitable ...

The Sababa Experience
Some rest for a while, others till the evening, and then they prepare for
their night life. The night here never ends. They just party with trance
music and get intoxicated with drugs and alcohol. They kiss and touch
each other openly. They also appear to switch partners.
Some of them also go for sight-seeing but we found most of them living in
isolated groups. We saw a few practicing some skills of juggling, fire
dance and preparing the items (the rods used for fire dance) during the
day.
How They Live (Economy, Food Habits, and Shelter)
As I found out, the Government gives very little subsidies. Israelis are on
their own. One commented “The Government’s subsidy is enough to buy
a cigarette”. They were very shabby in their dress habits; their hair was
mixed and rough 2 . Some of them are poor or they have spent most of
their money. We found a person who was staying on the beach ‘like a
dog’ (he was commenting on himself), making rods for juggling stuff. Simple
rods cost Rs.800/- and the ones used for fire dance cost Rs.1500/-. He
claimed that he supports himself and his family with the money he gets.
They stay in huts costing from Rs.200/- to Rs.500/-. But others just
stay anywhere. Some even stay on hills and take the sky as their roof. I
shall refer to the phenomenon I observed at the “Banyan Tree”. Some
eat local junk-fast food like Samosas, Pau-baji, Mirchi and Ros Omlette,
etc.
These Israelis are real marketing champs. They bargain like anything. It
is a claim that some are given training how to travel by local buses and
rickshaws, bargain for fish and other wants. Some of them like Indian
movie stars and buy jewellery to imitate them. Some of them have opened
shops right in Goa and have their living on them. We visited the flea
market at Anjuna. The phenomenon is remarkable. Israelis do own shops
here.
2
Actually we recognized them from their hair.
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