Claiming the Right to Say No-30 Nov 09-EQUATIONS - Equitable ...
Claiming the Right to Say No-30 Nov 09-EQUATIONS - Equitable ...
Claiming the Right to Say No-30 Nov 09-EQUATIONS - Equitable ...
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In Search of Israelis<br />
she had a license, it does not please our ears <strong>to</strong> hear that <strong>to</strong>urists are<br />
coming <strong>to</strong> make money. She was also kind enough <strong>to</strong> tell us that she also<br />
puts her stall in <strong>the</strong> ‘Night Bazaar’ in Assagao, which starts at 4:00pm and<br />
goes on until morning 4:00am.<br />
As I said earlier, flea market is well organized because <strong>the</strong>re are certain<br />
sections allotted <strong>to</strong> certain groups of people. The Tibetans were with <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
stuff like necklaces, rings, jewellery, knifes of different kinds and also <strong>the</strong><br />
instruments like ‘didache’. On one side, <strong>the</strong> Kashmiri were with <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
blankets, carpets and o<strong>the</strong>r material. Personally, I do not think <strong>the</strong>y get<br />
enough profit. Mostly <strong>the</strong>y have people who do not appreciate <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
valuable things and some people are seen just having conversations but<br />
not seen buying anything. I think claims of selling drugs by <strong>the</strong>m can be<br />
true <strong>to</strong> sustain <strong>the</strong>mselves.<br />
The o<strong>the</strong>r section was full of foreigners. The stalls were owned by<br />
foreigners mostly from Israel, England, Finland and o<strong>the</strong>rs like Italy, etc.<br />
Which must be a poor section of <strong>to</strong>urists who come <strong>to</strong> Goa; like leeches <strong>to</strong><br />
suck <strong>the</strong> economy of Goa. It is quite interesting <strong>to</strong> know that some of <strong>the</strong>m<br />
do not even care for any profit. This was confirmed when I met two of <strong>the</strong><br />
foreigners, one from England and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r from Denmark who were<br />
selling sandals. They were saying that <strong>the</strong>y hardly have any profit. There<br />
is also a field (section) where mostly Indians have <strong>the</strong>ir stalls of various<br />
things like clo<strong>the</strong>s, handicrafts, precious s<strong>to</strong>ne, bags, shoes, sandals,<br />
drugs, inhaling s<strong>to</strong>ck, electronic gadgets and also great stalls of CDs<br />
which sell trance music CDs. The local electronic gadget stalls have a lot<br />
of pornographic CDs along with a mixture of games CDs. Some of <strong>the</strong><br />
restaurants give information where <strong>the</strong> parties will be held. As far as my<br />
experience goes, <strong>the</strong> flea market profits not <strong>the</strong> Goans but outsiders.<br />
Goans give <strong>the</strong>ir land and only receive <strong>the</strong> rent for <strong>the</strong> day. While <strong>the</strong><br />
sellers earn a huge profit. For instance, a kurta for Rs.450/- was sold <strong>to</strong><br />
a foreigner while for us <strong>the</strong> market price was reduced <strong>to</strong> Rs.150/- and he<br />
was telling us who buys what type of clo<strong>the</strong>s. So, Goans must not give<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir land but <strong>the</strong>y must utilise <strong>the</strong>ir land for making business on <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />
piece of land. Very few of <strong>the</strong> Goans are seen making business in <strong>the</strong> flea<br />
37