• Goa tourism "success" story

By Armstrong Vaz, Qatar

Doha August 25: The Nepalese, North-eastern youth and youngsters from various parts of India flock to Goa, the western state of India in search of employment in the tourism industry during the tourist season. There is a big void in the form of lack of manpower, to work at the beach side shacks and they cover in for the lack of it.
 
And in this back drop, if love strikes for the migrant youth can any one stop them, no certainly not in the case of Raj, Prabhakar and Bharat who are now savoring the fruits of Goa tourism success in Europe- courtesy of marriage to foreign nationals-   after toiling day in and night out in the hot sun on the Goan beaches.

Love they say knows no boundaries and what better way to epitomize the feeling in the case of Raj, Prabhakar and Bharat. The trio's love for their partner's and now wife's has transcended the boundaries of colour, religion, nationality and religion.
 
The former waiters present the other side of the Goa shining example materialisng through the tourism platform. Goa, which served as a spring board for them, a life beyond taking orders from hotel guests. Love and marriage has opened new doors for the trio as they now live and work in Europe along with their wives.

Raj would not agree with anyone who argues that holiday romance, remains an affair confined to the holiday season and no further than that.  Typically in most cases the holiday fling and Goa included, the romantic liaison is all over after the holiday ends. As one of the partner packs his bags and leaves to head home to his home country. 
 
But for Raj and for two of his colleagues, working at  Dominic beach side seasonal restaurant in Benaulim, in South Goa, the holiday romance was not just fleeting moments, but a long lasting relationship which has been solemnized in marriage. 
 
Many Nepalese, North-eastern youth  and youngsters from various parts of the India flock to Goa in search of employment in the tourism industry, the trio too came chasing their dreams. Dreams to make it big; Dreams to set up their family and live a decent life.
 
Goa, the tourist hub of India attracts nearly 3.5 million foreign tourists every year.
 
They set on their life's journey and ended up in Goa from three different directions. Raj came from Gaddak district of Karnataka, a southern state, Prabhakar came from Hyderabad - the Charminar city of the South and   Bharat came from the across the border from Nepal. But the common factor for them was they worked in one shack in Benaulim and all of them left married in the same year.

Dominic beach side restaurant in Benaulim

Raj, a Hindu, was the handsome of the three, a hard worker to the core was educated up to matriculation( final class ten school examination in India) - according to his own version but his colleagues, whom he told privately he had studied only to the eight standard.
 
During the Goa off season he worked in Himachal Pradesh state as a waiter to keep himself engaged. He displayed a killer instinct for success. And he was a fitness freak and pumped in extra kilos to his small frame.
 
And it was his engrossment with fitness which led him to the love of his life- Rebecca, she too was a fitness freak and a yoga practitioner and did her daily one -hour long yogic exercises   at  the beach. Rebecca, was a non practicing Christian of the protestant Christian.
 
The love between the two changed the life forever fro the two of them. Rebecca always longed for family cushion and in marriage she found a carrying and concerned family of Raj, Raj Colleagues recall she told them.

The two have since married and have settled in England.

But Raj has not forgotten his native place. Every for the last four years he visits India and has plans to set up a hotel in his native place in Karnataka and for that he is already making his investments.
 
Raj according to his friends at the shack he worked revealed   that he was an opportunistic man and was fathoming on an opportunity to marry a foreigner  and migrate to a foreign country
 
The thoughts were always,  there on the back of his mind, says Thapa a cook who worked along with him at a restaurant in Benaulim.  Raj for one had many flings with foreigners but that were just one-night stands or holiday-stands for the tourists and no more than, that until   Raj struck gold with Rebecca.
 
Bharat too was a Hindu like Raj, a timid and shy person, it was his lady love Margaret, she was an ashiest and 12 years senior to him was head and heels in love over him.
 
She who had learned and practiced Ayuverdic form of medicine she wagged a struggle to get Bharat a visa to Germany. He failed for the first time with his poor English but then she took pains to teach him English and also in the process trained him in the common medicines which one administers in the Ayurverdic form of medicine.
 
 Bharat now proudly prefixes Dr. before his name on his visiting card.
 
And than there was Prabhakar , also a Hindu, a graduate   from a university in Hyderabad, he one day packed his bags and left the southern city to be in the beach hub. Finding no work for him in spite of being a graduate, he tried his luck in Goa.
 
After getting over the complex of his accent of English and gradually mastering it, love also struck for this short stature man and he too is in England, through the kind courtesy of Goa tourism ticket.
 
Prabhakar married Sonia, a Buddhist from England.

Anthony Baretto with his family

Mind you these are a small section of the 'love success stories', of Goa tourism, many stories abound of Goan boys and also of migrant waiters marrying foreign tourists and setting up their families.
 
And two cases which I can relate of Goans who have married foreigners in recent times   are of South  Goa resident  from Navelim village, Anthony Baretto, a former Sesa Goa Sports Club ( One of the top club of India since the 90's), now settled in England with his family and the other is another South Goa resident and tour organizer Charles D'Silva who married his long time Swiss girlfriend.
 
Till the marriages have proved wrong that holiday romance remains only a short duration fling and no further than that and that love transcends the boundaries of language, religion, countries and colour.

Raj, Bharat and Prabhakar are the classical examples.

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