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

An Experience both Exciting and Enriching
An Experience both Exciting
and Enriching
By Vhelian Rebello
I was very happy and excited, as I had been selected for this project. I
did not come across any such situation wherein I could experience the life
of the foreigner, mostly the Israelis who as we were informed had occupied
most parts of Bardez viz. Anjuna and Vagator. I would like to share my
experience in Anjuna-Vagator, and how I went about. During our five
days stay in Assgão institute, we moved around in the area allotted for the
study. I tried to look at my study from three angles; as a student, as an
observer and as a Goan.
First, to be very frank I was very excited as well as scared to talk to the
Israelis, maybe because we were very well informed about their lifestyle
and going about in Goa. In present times, Goa has earned the status of an
international tourist hotspot for a number of reasons: like liberal culture,
easy availability of cheaper sex and liquor, scenic beauty and safe
surroundings without any fear of terrorist attacks, etc. It has been estimated
that almost 20 percent of local population earns income directly through
tourism and even larger number of people depend on it indirectly.
My Experience
The Flea Market
The Flea market was yet another exciting experience. As we were well
informed about the bargaining aspect, we saw it quite openly and easily.
An item priced at Rs.250-300/- is finally sold for Rs.50-75.
I encountered a foreigner (woman) who was fighting with a Goan lady
while asking for a kurta and this catholic lady was not at all ready to sell
it to her. When asked, she said “him bikari hanga ietat ani amkam ghorib
khorun udoitat” and then she started using slang language. This type of
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