Galgibaga - By tony Martins

My Village, My peoplePicture a small paradise. Calm, serene with an emptybeach lined by casuarinas trees, two parallel rivers,a patch of lush green fields and two communitiesliving in perfect harmony. That is Galgibaga inCanacona, South Goa, a secret enclave sandwichedbetween the Arabian Sea and a tiny hillock. Passed over completely by the sands of time, Galgibagabeach is ideally a poet’s delight and a Philosopher’sretreat for its mystical and meditative ambience. Itoffers a breath of fresh air to city-weary souls inthe warm embrace of nature.“It’s a paradise,” says Orest Kap, a German painter“It’s something to be felt and experienced. It is anindividual experience, to verbalize it is to limitit.” If you come to our village you won’t have the heart toleave it if only you see the wonderful estuary andhear the endless vast ocean making amazing music oflove for the villagers and at times beating drums ofwar in all its ferocity for anybody who dares toviolate it.If you come to our village you won’t have the heart toleave it if only you see the lovely cottages of finearchitecture resting amidst slender coconut trees andpalms that sway gently to an unknown rhythm.If you come to our village you won’t have the heart toleave it if only you lie a while on the soft bed ofpines of the Casuarinas (trees) that dot the Galgibagacoast. If you come to our village you won’t have the heart toleave it if only you venture into the river on a finemoonlit evening with a bottle of feni or urak on atiny canoe for that mysterious over-the-moon feeling.If you come to our village you will not have the heartto leave without a glimpse of an Olive Ridley turtlecrawling majestically on the singing sands ofGalgibaga.If you come to our village you will not have the heartto leave it if only you meet its people. Their warmth,hospitality and charm will wrap you in a spell that ishard to break. And their courage is legendary. When aChinese ship wrecked on the shores of Galgibaga with athunderous bang in the wee hours of a day in June 1960the daring villagers unmindful of the monsoon fury ofthe waves ventured into the sea and managed to rescuesome of the crew. The wreck, seen better during lowtide, bears testimony to that heroic moment. If you come to our village you will not have the heartto leave only if you come. But don’t forget Galgibagais like a lovely rose hence there are bound to be somethorns around. And the rose would not be half asbeautiful as it is without the thorns. Can the dayhave any meaning without the night? Don’t be shocked when you hear Ladrus and Pedrusexchanging choice obscenities at dawn. For at sunsetyou’ll be as surprised to see them coolly sipping fenitogether in a pub. Just like the best pals in theworld. Obscenities are as much a part of Galgibaga asare the gentle roaring beats of the ocean and thesinging sands. And there are a few Jakis and Jakins who have theperennial habit of talking about others. Who is withwhom and whose wife has plans to elope with whosehusband and so on. And there is Tom who feels that heis the President of the States because his neighbourthinks that he is the Prime Minister of India. All thesame it adds to the spice. And yet not all is well with this paradise. If youcome to our village you would not have the heart toleave it without a tinge of sorrow pulling at yourheart when you look at the small hillock just behindSt Anthony’s High School. A hillock that had remaineda witness to all generations. It had stood there forhundreds and hundreds of summers and nobody coulddoubt that it would always be there from now toeternity. But today there is very little left of thehillock. The serpentine Konkan Railway has almosteaten it up. The hillock lies bleeding and torn intoshreds. With an amputed look it feels naked, strippedof its grandeur and beauty. Galgibaga now has the brow of many aneco-conservationist and others clouding with worry asthe virgin territory, Galgibaga beach is invaded bybeach sharks (Shacks). This, despite the fact that thebeach is a protected area for turtle nesting and seesthe hatching of over 3000 eggs every year.A villager expressing his apprehension says, beachshacks can only make our beloved Galgibaga anotherhaven of sun, sand, wine, women and sex for thehippies who have nothing to offer us except drugs,nudism, a philosophy of free-love, sex and AIDS. Beach shacks or no shacks the rape of this unspoiltchild of Mother Nature is imminent.If you treasure any fantasies of visiting this shadowland of dreams, pack you bags and get going today.Tomorrow this wonderful place may well go into theoblivion of history as another paradise lost.