(17 Jun ’07)
A friend who returned
from a holiday in Spain, Portugal, France and Switzerland and who dearly loves
Goa said something that my brother-in-law once said about Canada and the US
when he was comparing touring there with touring in Goa. They said there are streets
and roads, kilometres of them, lined with fruit laden trees, flowering trees,
on either side, untouched by the locals, kept like heritage sites, for tourists
to admire. People pay good money to go and see the sight. I have an inkling of
what it must be like, though I haven’t visited those places because in a place
near Ghaziabad, I lived in a colony where every road had a different flowering
tree lining it. One was the delicate, violet jacaranda. That green and purple
canopy, when one walked under it, with the blue sky above, gave an ethereal
feel, something I can’t forget. Or in
Srinagar, where acres of apples trees heavy with fruit allowed cattle to
graze on the overripe ones that had fallen to the ground. On the way to
Dehradun, leechee trees had so much surplus stock on it that the farmers
actually encouraged us to fill a basket for free and take it away.
Goa has huge potential
for ‘selling’ its trees to tourists. Seen the rain trees at Campal? Suppose our
new chief minister is serious about greening Goa and selling it, he could
insist and enforce that every road, short or long, narrow or broad, be lined
with tropical, ethnic, long-lasting trees. Trees that will live for hundreds of
years: tamarind, the Indian laburnum, the silk cotton….or shorter lived
prettier ones like the gul mohur, or some covered with creepers like the
Rangoon or the Railway or the jui, zai or even betel leaves. If you’ve ever
been to the spice farms at Khandepar, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The
investment is very little, the ‘reap’ is a lot.
I don’t see why private
builders don’t do the same. Upmarket buyers will pay huge(r) amounts of money
for getting that aristrocratic neighbourhood feel that comes with old trees. If
we have to sell Goa, and we’re already doing that, let’s sell it in style. In
fact, planting cocum, banyans, peepuls, neems, and of course mangoes, coconuts,
bananas, jackfruits, is bound to fetch profits in the years to come. Anyone
listening?
The friend I spoke of
earlier said that in the countries that she visited, there were people who
spent a lot of money just to get the feel of the fauna and flora of the place.
And the numbers of such people are increasing. Even in India. People do not
visit Goa for casinos….they play a role, but a minor one. The beaches have got
crowded and dirty. Filthy, in fact. The only thing now of any interest (get
some management student to do a project on this) is Goa’s greenery. If we lose
that, we lose a lot of tourists, read money.
The money-spenders like
to see/eat bread baked in wood-fires. To see how bhakryo are made with freshly
ground flour. They aren’t interested in cement buildings and ‘modern shopping
complexes’. They get enough of those in Mumbai, Delhi, London, wherever. Get
out the traditional costumes, teach the longer-staying ones kabbadi and/or
other local games. Specially the village level competitive ones like breaking
the coconut. Smaller businessmen can do these smartly. Get traditional homes to
market their kitchens and the food cooked in them. If it works in Rajasthan, it
can work here. But nowhere, nowhere, can we have the kind of plant-life that we
have here. We have to use it to our advantage. Cut it and it’s gone. Sell it
for its beauty and you generate an income for years together. Come on, Mr.
Chief Minister, do something different. Plant those trees, protect those that
exist. Encourage your fellow Goans to conserve that wealth. We’re watching.
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