Reflections on my visit to Benaulim, Goa

My mom and I recently visited Benaulim, Goa for a few days.  A goal was to get her out of the house and visit a place where she wouldn't have the ability to be plugged in as much. I was marginally successful in this effort as she runs a small business of matchmaking and accepted calls many times a day. When it comes to making matches Indians are relentless - we are not 1.33 billion strong for no reason.

Hospitality

We stayed at Simply Homestay, a bed and breakfast run by a friendly Swiss native and her Goan spouse. They dropped us to the beach, prepared our breakfast, gave us local contacts, were great conversationalists, invited us to dinner at their home, drove us around,  lent us their scooter and allowed me to help their children with math. It was a family affair and their kids helped as well. They have adopted a few stray animals and frequently pay to neuter stray dogs which are plenty in India. I have not felt as welcome in any hotel in the past; many examples of them going above and beyond willingly and refusing to be compensated for it. I would strongly recommend checking them out.

Goa beaches

I liked the Goan beaches better than the ones in California and Hawaii: clean with warm water, firmer sand, no seaweed on the shore and white sand crabs that get exposed as the tide comes in, who dig themselves into the sand for protection as the wave recedes. Cleaning crews pick up the litter every day. Ayurvedic massages are available on the shore. You can find many beaches that are peaceful and not overly commercial. There are fisherman shacks on the beach that double up as restaurants for authentic local Goan cuisine. The fishermen leave really early to haul in the days catch and use it at their restaurants for preparing fresh meals for their guests, taking what nature gives them in a sustainable way. The fishing boats stay on the beach - this cycle repeats daily. The sunsets are marvelous. You encounter stray dogs on the beach as well - they leave you alone if you let them be. Live and let live! Goa is a tourist haven for Europeans looking for a great experience at a quarter of the price of an equivalent vacation in the West even though they get charged a bit more based on the color of their skin in some places, including by foreign resorts. As Franz from Austria, a fellow bed and breakfaster would remark, being white is not a privilege in this context.

Familial experience, people interaction and street smart upbringing

Many localities have contrasting colored houses adjacent to each other with their Neon hues, comparable to Burano, Italy.  South Goa is primarily catholic and churches are a common sight. There are a few erected on sides of roads and people congregate at night to pray and sing, spilling into the streets in some localities. It is a different feel, more familial, less organized compared to worshipping that is common in other parts of the world. The children that I interacted with were multifaceted and street smart. The common thread was that they had opportunities to become that whether it was by doing chores for the bed and breakfast, manning the stalls at the Carnaval, helping with aging grandparents and guests, etc.. More so they did not have their fingers on the phone all the time and had forced interactions with many people (household help, vendors, family/friends who drop by unannounced)  throughout the day. ADD/ADHD is not as big a phenomenon here and children are not on as many prescription drugs generally. Not to mention practical parenting. A child was lax in getting up and missed the school bus. The parents refused to drop her and the school did not interfere. Try that in California - the response would be a quick strict cookie cutter over-reactionary note from the school district without taking time to understand the context: "Studies show that missing school is co-related to delinquency in later life".

Many of us have left India for the West at a young age for opportunities. In doing so we have also lost a part of our selves, some freedoms, and our culture.