Let us take up the furore over the comment on bikinis and pubs first. Is wearing bikinis Goan culture? Surely, not. Since going by general statistics it will be difficult for most Goan women to ease themselves into a bikini and even if they manage to do so, it will not be a pretty sight! Some may argue that therefore it will not create a law and order problem! So we have to conclude that most bikinis wearers on our beaches are outsiders. If so, where is the problem of banning it since it does not affect the majority of Goans.
We surely do not think Goan culture is built upon what outsiders and tourists do while on a visit to Goa. Surely Goan culture is deeply entrenched and cannot be disturbed by an irresponsible comment here and there. We have been lamenting the impact of outsiders on Goan culture and this confirms that premise when we pick up the torch to fight for the rights of outsider women to come to our beaches and wear bikinis.
We need to remember that Goa is fast getting the image among tourists that anything goes in Goa, the more outrageous the better. Thus among the women tourists who come to Goa apart from foreigners there is a tendency to wear outfits which they would not dare to wear in their homes where they come from. In the philosophy of having fun, or letting their hair down as they say, why should these people impose upon the local Goans their ugly bodies and further their more ugly behavior. We should not become a tourist destination which attracts the worst kind of tourists and for people to come and do all their nuisance in our beautiful State.
The present government for the sake of revenue, considering that mining remains banned, is becoming overly liberal to tourism. It is time to review this since it will be difficult to control it once it goes beyond a point and we will be back with the ‘60’s hippie culture destination kind of image. So ban bikinis on public beaches which is the right way to go. Sudin Dhavlikar may be a PWD Minister but as a leader he has a right to comment on matters of morality and one must commend him for having the courage to speak out his mind.
In Muthalik’s case it is reported that he went from wherever he comes from, with a broad smile on his face after his visit to Goa. He was also all praise for the generous Goans for giving him all the attention that he would not have got on his own. Are we as Goans not strong enough to handle a pest like Muthalik? We need to be strong and have the confidence in ourselves to deal with the issue and not create unnecessary bogeys about it. Also do we not have any faith in our law and order machinery to combat any kind of nuisance that Muthalik and his SRS can do here? The best way to handle pests like Muthalik is to ignore them and not give them free publicity.
Goan culture is alive, strong and resilient but let us not bring into it the undesirable things from other cultures. We should take the good things from others to make ourselves better.
