BACKGROUND
Not many in North America knew of the
existence of Goa until fairly recently. Europe discovered this idyllic country in the
fifties and sixties, making it one of India’s fastest growing tourist
attractions.
Tourism to Goa emerged from the loins of the Hippie era in the sixties,
when there was unease among the youth in Britain and other parts of Europe who
were looking out for fulfillment and self realization through Eastern thought,
religion and philosophy or by just doing their thing uninhibited by the norms and
laws set by Western society. Goa was a
good starting point since the religion was predominantly Catholic (and the new
émigrés distanced themselves from Christianity), with Hinduism a close
second. The hippies had very little time
for organized religion such as Catholicism (and its dogmas) but embraced those
parts of Hindu philosophy and religion that they thought was more accommodating
of their liberal and existential mindset.
The drug cult in Europe was also thriving and went on unrestrained in
Goa in spite of the law of the land prohibiting its sale or use of drugs.
However, that was a time when laws were rarely enforced. This culture still continues to the present
day thanks to the corrupt justice system that is often said to be married to
the drug lords who peddle drugs under the noses of the police force. Today one
can still see aging hippies who have integrated with the Goan population but
still maintain their lifestyle. The
Government of Goa has in recent months begun to come down heavily on drug
peddlers and users though there is much evidence that the ever-popular rave
parties in Goa are nothing more than drug related parties and they go on
unchecked.
HIPPIES DISCOVER GOA
It was the hippies that took the good news about Goa to different parts
of Europe thus bringing about a “rush” of young but often misguided people from
a variety of countries around the world but principally from Europe. The Goan entrepreneurial spirit soon
discovered the potentials in this unprecedented influx of tourists, and so
feverish building of hotels, and guesthouses mushroomed all over the land. It
was also suspected that many of these hotels were built from the support of
laundered money put up by the drug lords in India. Today,
however, in order to avoid “low budget” tourists, who generally bring in very
little economic benefits, impressive hotels such as the “Leela Palace”, Aguada
Hotel, Holiday Inn, Taj Mahal Hotel and the like,( all of them classified as
five star hotels) have mushroomed all over Goa, to attract higher budget and
“quality” tourists.
The flourishing tourist industry has been very kind to Goa . The
subsistence level of the population some thirty years ago has almost
disappeared and Goa now boasts the highest per capita income of all the Indian
states. Unfortunately, Goan tourism
seems to be going the same way as some more mature tourist destinations such as
Spain and Portugal. In an effort to
maximize profits, there is a move to arbitrarily increase the prices of hotel
accommodation based on the exchange value of the pound and the Euro or the Mark
and essentially on confused capitalism stimulated by human greed. In spite of this, the European tourist still
feels that Goa is a cheap tourist destination. However, if the price of goods and services
continue to escalate, tourists will probably move to other destinations such as
South India (particularly those tourists who come every year and are mainly
retirees running away from the frigid and damp winters in the home country).
These tourists are just beginning to learn that they can get a better deal
elsewhere. Other tourists have made an
about turn and have chosen some West African destinations where the price is
right and so is the cleanliness
Very little effort is being made to diversify the industry in Goa should tourism take a battering. It was for this reason that the Shrimp
Farming enterprise caught my attention in Goa . To me it was an indication that there still
existed some visionaries in Goa who were convinced that the tourist industry is
a phase that is bound to decline in the long run and is subject to the idiosyncrasies’
and convulsions of world politics.. An
eye-opener was when the 9/11 fiasco suddenly shocked the world and tourists
lost faith in taking planes to any destination.
Goa took a big economic dive and quite
a few hotels were fighting for their economic survival. Quite a few privately owned hotels were
forced to fold and this dramatic decline in the flow of tourists had a negative
effect on a host of other businesses.
SHRIMP FARMING
Jim Prince (actual name withheld at the owner’s request), owned and
managed a shrimp farm. He was born in
Goa in a place called Saligao. He is a
very dedicated and committed shrimp farmer, who has learnt the trade by
attending a number of workshops held in various parts of India
Jim owns ten “ponds” each one being the size of a football field. It is
in these shallow ponds that tiger shrimps will spend four months of their lives
being cared for and kept healthy by a doting shrimp farmer.
These ponds are man-made since labour is plentiful and cheap. They are nothing more than dugouts (about
three feet deep built painstakingly by hand), and located close to a river that
systematically feeds the ponds with salt water from the ocean. At the side of each pond there are motorized
agitators that keep the water in constant motion, and assists in aerating the
water and pushing the moulting and other shrimp waste to the center of the
pond. The salt water has to be tested
for its PH levels before the shrimp, just past the embryonic stage, can be
introduced into the pond. For several
days, the water is tested until the desired levels have been reached.
SEEDING
“Seeding” is a term used for introducing very recent shrimp hatchlings
into the ponds. At this stage, the
hatchlings can barely be seen by the naked eye.
Seeding of the ponds takes place as soon as the water is ready for its
reception. The process is not as easy as
one might think. The “seed” is flown in
by suppliers from South India in large plastic
bags that are kept in relative safety in firm cardboard boxes. These are flown in and at the appointed time
Jim waits for the consignment at Goa’s only International Airport in Dabolim. As soon as the boxes arrive, he has to drive
for two hours to the shrimp farm where his workers, who have now been with him
for close to ten years and work as a team, wait eagerly to open the boxes and
place the plastic bags in the pond so that the temperature in the bags and the
water in the pond revert to about the same temperature. This usually takes a few hours. The bags are then opened and the contents
placed in a floating cradle which will hold the shrimp hatchlings until
daybreak.
Each of these plastic bags contains thousands of very tiny shrimps
which in time will grow into “tiger shrimps” each growing to about seven inches
in length. A few pinches of shrimp food
are placed in the cradle for over night feeding. The following morning, the door to the cradle
is opened and the shrimp begin their journey in the pond.
The shrimps are fed twice a day.
A worker places the shrimp food in a dugout and rows around the
periphery of the pond throwing a handful at a time until he makes an entire
circuit of the pond. There is
recognition that some shrimps grow faster than others and so the first lot of
food is quickly eaten by the more aggressive shrimps. Consequently, after half an hour, the same
worker will make his way around the pond dropping in some more food that
hopefully will reach the slow growing shrimps. After a week of nurturing the shrimps in
this way, a drop net is used to trap some of the unsuspecting shrimps for a
closer examination.
They are examined for potential viral or bacterial infections. Twenty shrimps are weighed and the weight
recorded. This is to determine whether
the feeding process is adequate. The
following week’s measurement will determine whether the feeding process needs
adjustment for better results.
The water quality is examined every day so that the growing shrimps are
raised in the best possible conditions; and to ward off any conditions that may
spawn bacteria or encourage virus to germinate.
HARVESTING
After four months, comes harvesting time. It’s a time of much excitement. This is the time when the shrimp farmer
begins to see the benefit of all the hard work that has gone into raising
sturdy and healthy shrimps for the market place. Jim has agents in Bangalore Europe and other
lucrative markets. At least three
refrigerated trucks are ordered in before the harvesting begins. As soon as they arrive, the team of workers
attaches a net to the one and only sluice opening in each pond.
This net is shaped like a funnel.
As soon as the water starts rushing out, the shrimps are pushed through
the gate by the current that is created, and into the waiting net. The shrimps are collected into large straw
baskets, raised to the surface and poured into large plastic containers. They are very quickly weighed and then placed
rapidly into the refrigerated trucks.
The pond will yield at least one thousand two hundred kilos of large
succulent tiger shrimps.
The process of harvesting takes close to four labour intensive
hours. The pond is then allowed to dry
out for a few days after being cleaned of all the waste left behind by the
growing shrimps. It is then filled with
salt water and the process is started all over again.
Jim has ten of these ponds and so he is kept busy right through the
entire year. Raising shrimps is not only
his livelihood, but also his passion. He
is fully aware that he could suddenly suffer a setback if his shrimps get
attacked by a virus. This is a risk that
is constantly on his mind, but he admits that there is no business without
inherent risks so he takes one day at a time.
Jim is an example of the new breed of Goan entrepreneur who knows that
tourism could bring in reasonable financial gains, but he is also aware that if
Goa is to become a self-sufficient State,
diversification of the economy is the way to go.
Jim has now established a Yogurt factory that is run by his wife.
Yogurt is a widely used product in Goa and in India
With entrepreneurs like Jim, Goa has a
bright future indeed. Jim’s main concern
is that most young enterprising Goans are leaving the country for better
prospects overseas. He is quick to
declare, however, that this brain drain will continue because the government
bureaucracy and corruption in Goa is so counter- productive and that it
discourages anyone who demonstrates a willingness to move ahead. Being the eternal optimist that he is, he is
encouraged by the example that he is setting for his community who cannot help
but take note of the benefits that flow from hard work, dedication, and the
willingness to overcome the huddles that sometimes come in crowds.
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