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

Is Ignorance A Blessing?
Is Ignorance A Blessing?
By Onasis D’cruz
Before I start penning down my experience about Israeli tourists in Palolem,
a five day research conducted by an organization, taking me as their
researcher, let me make an honest confession that I was very naïve on
this subject like most of you are. But, when that rosy illusion - perceiving
tourists as benefactors moved out, I said to myself: is ignorance a blessing?
Goans Perceive Tourists as…
Tourists are born with a golden spoon in their mouth. They come to Goa
solely for a desperate recreation after a diehard workout. Since, Goa has
been portrayed around the globe as a centre for beautiful site-seeing,
green-green scenery and landscapes, people consider this as a
pilgrimage centre by at least visiting before they breathe their last breath.
They make Goa richer by pouring out foreign currency, thereby keeping
every local happy.
Before stepping into my research, I was thrilled, for the first time in my life
I was undertaking a research on tourism and at the same time fear was
creeping within me on thinking of the hardships. Whether I will be in
trouble, will they come to know about my origins, language, behaviour,
etc.
I started my study in the evening on the 1 st of January around 5pm. The
whole evening, I tried to get the geography of the place and to familiarise
with the Israelis’ habitation. I tried to find out with the locals and with the
shop owners about Israeli tourists. Locals there in Palolem experience
Israeli tourists as cunning, dominating, violent and rowdy in their
behaviour. I also started shaping my opinion same as theirs when I saw
an Israeli couple misbehaving in an ice-cream parlour and talking rudely
with the owner. Vithas, a cloth shop owner, was narrating a bad and
frightful experience with two Israeli tourists. These two were bargaining a
blanket of Rs.2000/- for Rs.200/-. Not only that, they were spoiling other
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