Goa Diary 2023 4 Complex Tale of Migration

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Goa Diary 2023   4.   Complex Tale of Migration 

The day I landed in Goa, I was little intrigued to watch people.  I could see faces not very familiar in Goa some forty fifty years back when it used to be a secluded, lush green , unspoiled tourist destination full of locals with surnames like Rodrigues, Fernandes , Rodrigues, Carvalho , D’Souza , D’Silva, D’Costa, Sawant , Gomes, Fonseca. 
While wandering on the small beach towns of North as well as South , I came across wine shops run by Rajasthani and  UP wala , Dryfruit shops by Gujrati traders  , handicraft and garment shops mostly belonging to migrants from UP, MP , Bihar, Kerala or Kashmir. Newly cropped up pure vegetarian, North Indian style restaurants are either owned by North Indians or having Chefs from Uttrakhand and Himachal. Beauty parlors and Spas run by people migrated from Delhi and its catchment area. Labor engaged in road and other infrastructure projects is from Orissa, Chatisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar . What is missing by and large the original Goan people.
It is because of migration of Goan people. Goans have  a long history of migration and outgoing migration started in the late 19th century when the Britishers convinced the Portuguese to build a railway network to  link Goa to British India. The first wave of Goan migration was to Bombay, then East Africa, Karachi and Burma, followed by large drift to Gulf countries, Canada, and in the last thirty years or so to England via the Portuguese passport route. Within these migrations, there have been Goans who became displaced due to various reasons and are now resettled in the UK, Canada and Australia. In fact, I came across few such Goan migrants in London who shifted their base from Gulf countries. 
It is estimated that currently there are around six lac Goans living abroad which is around 30% of Goa’s original population. It is very interesting to know that Goans accompanied every British expansion around the Indian Ocean: they helped build Karachi and Nairobi, staffed cantonments in Poona and Kanpur, and manned innumerable orchestras from Singapore to Zanzibar. By the 1930's, close to 20% of Goa's population had already emigrated. It was a migration to grab better economic opportunities, there was  no other reason for migration. The Portuguese influence on their life style and English medium education helped them in their seamless assimilation into western societies. 
Gradually people from other parts of India filled the space vacated by Goan migration. As per data available from 2011 census , out of the state’s nearly 15 lakh population, 18.5 per cent were  migrants from other Indian states. I spoke to the local friends , they say that during  last 10 years an even much large number of migrants moved into Goa to fuel the state’s tourism, service and real estate sectors, which have grown exponentially. Thus making the tiny state a truly cosmopolitan place with persons from every part of India living here. But there is a dark side of this migration, the traditional social milieu is adversely affected, the typical Goanese characteristics with western influence has gone into oblivion. The deeply unpopular casinos and nightlife on North Goan beach towns has attracted all kinds of hustlers and touts, and prostitution business which is conveniently ignored due to so many reasons. 
Another kind of migration into Goa started taking place from late sixties and seventies when Hippies flooded its virgin beaches , many among them did not return to their native countries. Hundreds of nominally "foreign" children are born each year to parents who have no intention of "going back" or ever relinquishing their place under the coconut palms. This sizable international community blends into its surroundings in different ways than happens anywhere else in India. Such a  growing number of Goan-Russian couples demonstrates this. Some of the most passionate defenders of the state's environment and traditional culture are now  these "outsiders."
This is the changing face of Goa.
02.04.2023.














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