Beyond the Grave Looking back at: Open Defecation Free (ODF) and the Bare Buttocks
For the week which passed (17/7/21-14) when I was alive on Planet Earth. If I recall correctly - and it is not easy as I am no longer on Planet Earth - as a young man I saw a Paolo Pasolini movie in which a number of prisoners were doing their morning ritual. Now, it is not easy for me to check the facts, and boring to look at buttocks from where I am - and waste matter - no doubt important as it allows human beings to stay alive and healthy. While some people accuse movie directors of being obsessed with the natural human biological functions, others claim they have turned it into twenty-first century art. Movie buffs and critics are welcome to debate the issue. All I say is - leave me out! Glad to know all this is behind me ever since I moved house. Be patient, you will have your chance to come over to where we live. No need to hasten your departure by drinking an excess of caju fenny or committing suicide. When the time is right, the apple will fall. Anyway, does Goa have a Paolo Pasolini? Both Italy and Goa are bedrocks of Roman Catholic countries and culture; and, this sort of movie flows smoothly from this sort of psyche. Goan tiatr is influenced by Italian drama, and Goans might have a few more aspects which they share with their Italian brothers and sisters - more than the Portuguese. The government has declared Goa as Open Defecation Free (ODF) a place which is open defecation free and which is also an open lie - as the public knows only too well. Tourists - last year and for years - have eaten in beach shacks where the food is served by waiters who stand and wait; however, the waiters do not have a single toilet to sit on for themselves when they hear the call of nature. As people in Goa know, the owners of the shacks do not allow the waiters to use the seasonal toilets which are for the customers. That the workers cook and serve food to the customers who visit the shacks which do not have toilets for the workers does not at all worry the shack owners nor the government. What about health and hygiene? Will it be the same this year after the false Open Defecation Free (ODP) announcement made by the government? One Goan writer described the scenario on Miramar beach last year of people showing off their buttocks as a 21-gun salute. As he is also a photographer, it might be a good idea to have a photography contest to rebut the utterly false claims of the government. It could be a terrific community project. Maybe, a business house which takes pride in corporate responsibility might want to offer a mobile toilet for the best photograph. This way the government will no doubt get the picture. And - if Goa has a Paolo Pasolini - what some people consider offensive can be changed to hight art, can’t it? If you do not want to see the movie you don’t have to see it but if you do want to see it there is the annual film festival hosted in Goa - and you are welcome. It might win a film award for a Goan director and a place in the Sun. Our sagging tourist footfalls will surely pick up in numbers. The world of art sometimes is not pleasant but then reality can be far worse.
