TRAVEl LOG

‘Dogs and Indians not allowed’, was said to be a common sign in the India of the British Raj. over 60 years after the country’s Independence, you might expect to see a sign in today’s goa on the lines of: dogs welcome, Indians not allowed. Forty-eight years after it was liberated from Portuguese rule and incorporated into the Indian republic, many parts of goa have become virtual foreign enclaves which are more or less out of bounds for Indians. Lured by the sun-and-fun image of goa that has been quite successfully popularised in the West, a large number of foreigners have taken up permanent or at least semi-permanent residence in this‘susegade’ state—which, in the late 1960s, became a haven for hippies.

But today’s foreign residents in goa are an altogether different breed from the gentle flower children of the hippie era. Mainly from Russia and Israel, many of them have exploited loopholes in the Portuguese property laws which still work in goa to acquire houses and landholdings, which have been turned into cafes and resorts, which, in turn, enforce a not so discreet ‘whites only’ policy and discourage Indian customers.

Following a number of complaints from Indian tourists who have either been barred admission to such establishments, or been denied service by the goan staff, the state government has added an ‘antiracism’ clause to its policy regarding the granting of licences to beach shacks which are located on government-owned land. shack owners’ Welfare society president Cruz Cardozo has reportedly criticised this legislation as it could be misused by business rivals to harm competitors.

But there could be other, more basic objections as well, pertaining to the democratic right to the freedom of association. What this means is that, in a democracy, you are—or ought to be—free to associate with whom you like, or feel comfortable with, and are equally free not to associate with those whom you find distasteful or who make you feel uncomfortable in any way.

Regrettably, all too many Indians of the travelling classes are known for their loud and generally inappropriate behaviour, particularly when foreign women are present. In recognition of this lamentable reality, the railway ministry is seriously considering a proposal to provide reserved coaches for foreigners on tourist routes.

Could this mean, perhaps, that foreign rule is going to make a re-entry into India through the back door of a railway coach, held open in welcome by the Indian sarkar bending over backwards for the sake of overseas visitors and the tourism revenue they bring with them?

Why not? We in India have long been enjoined by the sarkar to treat the foreign visitor as an honoured guest. and what better honour can one confer on favoured guests than to allow them to enjoy the myriad attractions of Incredible India made even more incredibly attractive by the absence of potentially boorish Indians? Racist? not at all. The railway ministry is only trying to make foreigners feel more at home while travelling in India, in keeping with the time-honoured tradition of Indian hospitality. and with the norms of democracy and the right to associate or disassociate with whomsoever one chooses.

For example, in its heyday the city then known as Calcutta revealed its truly cosmopolitan character by playing host to a number of social clubs and similar institutions which were meant for one or another of the many communities that made up the city’s colourful social mosaic. so there was the Judah Club for Jews, the armenian Club for armenians, the dalhousie Institute and the grail Club for anglo-Indians, and so on.

I remember being taken to the armenian Club on the armenian Christmas day (which comes 10 days later than the regular Christmas) by, of course, an armenian friend, arax. The Christmas feast included the armenian speciality called kookoo pillao. But what gave the event its truly unique flavour was not the food but the fact that all the hosts were armenian, and the guests nonarmenian.

Rather than making us feel alien, the armenianness of the place made us feel all the more privileged to be welcomed in as guests.

Far from being exclusionary, such institutions demonstrated the inclusionary ability of Calcutta—and of India at large—to accommodate different cultures and creeds in its eclectic and pluralist fold.

Bearing this in mind, the goan authorities might like to rethink the anti-racism clause in their licensing policy. If Russians want to meet only other Russians in goa, let them, and more power to their vodka-tippling elbows. and the same for Israelis, and anyone else.

Indeed, the signs in goa—and elsewhere in India—should read: Everyone welcome, including dogs and racists.