Small State, big attitude RAHUL SRIVASTAVA
Goa may be a backpacker's paradise. But it also has one of the most cosmopolitan and heady public spheres, thanks to an engaging acceptance of eccentrics, ideologues as well as classical minds. Photo: Paul Noronha Vibrant and colourful: No fake identities here. Goa may be the smallest State on the Indian landscape but it has huge attitude. Its older, non-British colonial legacy stares at you defiantly the moment you step onto its red, iron-filled soil. Portuguese Christianity and Hinduism, mutants from long term association with each other, provide a solid base for its vibrant, even volatile intellectual atmosphere. The papers are saturated with opinions and it's easy to get involved in political debate on any street at any given point of day or night. While that may sound like an ordinary description of the sub-continent as a whole, consider this: Goa has managed to miraculously combine fiery news reportage, jingoistic editorials, reactionary anti-outsider rhetoric, half-hearted nods to secularism with highly informed environmental concerns, a pre-Marxist socialist rhetoric, genuine demonstration of religious co-existence (even if a wee bit grudging) and an amazingly cosmopolitan attitude to produce a heady public sphere that is more urbane than its relaxed, village-filled landscape lets you imagine. No wonder the State has managed to create a record of sorts in the realm of political activism, managing to stall SEZs and large-scale development projects (at least for the time being). Its political establishment may be as corrupt and communal as the rest of the country but it still manages to demonstrate a civil face when confronted with an agitated citizenry. Goa's intellectual history reflects a good amount of its contemporary glory via an expatriate population dispersed all over the country and the world. Its list of novelists, short-story writers, poets, historians and political commentators is long. A high literacy level, the eccentric and passionate love for learning that many communities aggressively fostered, a concentration of India's biggest fountainhead of urban modern education, the Church and the presence of institutions and public libraries that idealised learning, helped foster a lively context for intellectual practices. Greatest resource Surprisingly, what matches the length of intellectuals and artists of Goan origin are those from elsewhere who have adopted the State as their home. They continue to nourish its soil. Anyone who comes here immediately understands that the greatest resource the State has -- more than libraries and bandwidth -- is time itself. But time that is encased in throbbing and vibrant intellectual activity. This ability of providing oases of peace and tranquillity right in the middle of constant banter about politics and general hyperactivity (thanks to Goa's global tourism) is what attracts artists and intellectuals in large numbers. Such an architecture of space and time is organically linked to the way the State is organised, with its complex urban system of villages and townships, connected by roads and communication networks. However, at the end of the day, what makes it truly fertile is its ability of tolerating eccentrics, passionate ideologues and classical minds along with backpackers and other nomads. As long as no one invents fake Goan identities for themselves. That would be foolish and unnecessary -- after all it makes better sense to remain an eternal outsider -- a rare privilege in this retro modernist age of native, primordial identities. -- Rahul Srivastava is an urban anthropologist who also writes fiction for younger readers. He is based in Goa and Mumbai.
