Karnataka's coast is finding an Identity

2020 brought me back to my home town Mangalore after 10 long years. When I left in 2010, I had the impression that Mangalore had a confused identity. There was the old & conservative pitched in battle against the young & restless and the two were tearing into each other as was evident from the several cultural clashes that emerged from that time. We all saw the horrifying media coverage. Tourism was non existent except religious tourism and the commerce was mostly trade and real estate. Some Education.

Now I have been here for almost 9 months and the Mangalore I see is very different from the one I left. You would expect that but most cities don't change drastically in 10 years. However, every city in it's life reaches a take off point at which it grows and evolves at breakneck speed or it goes into slow decline. The Mangalore of today is tasteful, sophisticated, globally aware, commercially busy, conscious about art and culture and equally about fun and adventure. The HDI numbers are very good as is the connectivity. I suspect that the population has also exploded. As per the last census numbers, Mangalore had a high value population but a small one. Ranked 96th in India with even cities like Gulbarga having more people. I suspect the next census will show a huge growth in that number. Also, Mangalore as a district works like a single urban agglomeration and the population of the district is many times more than just the city. Mangalore had a huge expat population of her natives working overseas, in hospitality, IT, in cities like Bangalore Pune and Mumbai and I suspect a lot of them came back home like I just did and found it hard to leave thereafter.

As a result of all this progress, the coast needs to provide an outlet for the people to engage in. Kerala always had the Gods own country tag with wellness in the lead. Goa always had the big food, copious amounts of booze and 'good times' tag with its colonial mood and slow pace. Susegado. I think Mangalore has always stood in the shadow of Kochi and Panjim.

But over the months I have spend here, it is evident that a new culture of tourism has emerged on the coast. Hiking, surfing, river activity,fishing, farming, artisans and skill based tourism, culinary programs have emerged giving the tourism on karnataka's cost a very unique identity. A lot of these projects are micro tourism setups promoted by village committees and locals and spreads the benefit to the whole community. You would be hard pressed to find a single big ticket project anywhere between Mangalore and Karwar. Instead there has been an explosion of homestays, riverine adventures, climbing trails, camping, agriculture and of course Surf shacks which has taken a life of its own with big ticket events on the beaches. The people attend a lot of pop-up events and cultural functions at various places that give it a certain farmers market quality and also the choice of variety.

I think it's now safe to say that the Karnataka coast , our Karavali has an identity of micro tourism projects driven by sustainable principles and curated for the discerning explorer who is looking for unspoilt and unique experiences. The idea about what it completely is is still taking shape in my mind but I had to put down my thoughts so far. More when I can. But what a time to be here and dive deep into this evolution!