Although Mathany Saldhana had a solid and comprehensive plan for heritage village home-stay tourism, the government it appears had another vision for our villages. If only he were alive and Tourism Minister today!
Instead of naming a huge building after him, the government should have shown some respect for his vision, plans, and good ideas for development of our villages. But, then, I guess there are no friends and enemies in politics, and anything goes! Promises are intended to be broken? Mathany loved the old Indo-Portuguese houses. Anyone who has any doubt about what I say should visit Mathany's 200-year-old house in Cansaulim where there are a few rooms available for tourists to stay and enjoy an old world hospitality. What I particularly like about this house is the way the rooms have been designed inside and outside - something we need to note carefully. Anyone who has been to this house will never believe they are a new addition; it looks part and parcel of the original plan, and this is the secret to home-stay heritage development and architectural success. The newly-built rooms in the 200-year-old house look like old rooms which have always been there! There are a lot of old houses in Cansaulim, Arossim, and Cuelim and these three villages should be declared home-stay heritage villages. Mathany was all for ground plus one single dwellings and keeping up the traditional style and ambience of our villages. He told me so several times. A hotel company in Cansaulim has used the Goan house as a model for their hotel project successfully. They have named their complex - The Heritage Village - and it is a very popular place for foreigners and travelers who want to enjoy and soak in old world culture, and the local architecture, too. They also provide modern amenities. Tourists appear to like this kind of development very much and are willing to pay for this kind of Goan hospitality experience. Hotel rooms, more often than not, are the same all over the world, and this gives Goans an opportunity to highlight old traditional houses - big and small - with modern amenities to earn an income and, no less important, to properly maintain the houses through the years. Even new houses can be made to look 'old', especially, the facade which does not cost too much. We need to look forward to a harmonious blend of old and new if the Goan village is to have a future. We cannot expect outsiders to look after our tradition as they do not share our history and do not have the same emotional bond we have with our houses. After all, the energy of our ancestors is in our house, the furniture they sat on and the beds they slept in and, other pieces of furniture they used in their daily life. They might be gone but their energy is with us. We need to honor and rejoice in it. Every village should have an official home-stay website to promote the beauty of the village homestead and earn an income for the villagers. This is the easiest and most effective way to protect and promote our villages. While the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and former Defense Minister had commented on how beautiful Goa is after Delhi, the Goa government has been acting with the single mindedness of a demolition squad, the purpose of which is the destruction of Goa and, especially our villages. Any idiot can change a beautiful Goan village overnight into an ugly town. And, once gone, gone forever! I hope a lot of Goan houses will continue to look like Goan houses and Goan villages will also continue to look like Goan villages for generations to come, earning a big income for Goans today and in the future if we unite and act now. We do not have anymore time to waste or quarrel among ourselves or we will be committing cultural and architectural hara-kiri. With the death of Mathany Saldanha his plan for restoration of Goan houses has been buried with him, a sad story indeed. Recently, there has been some talk of a revival but nothing so far more than good old talk. Five years have now gone by, a lot of water and more has flowed under the Zuari and Mandovi bridges but there is not much progress. Government promises are, more often than not, broken promises.
