GOA STATE OF MIND

Recently, my friend Nirav declared that Goa is no longer a place to him, its a 'state of mind'. And i knew exactly what he meant.
There is a theory about certain places in the world that have a very strong magnetic pull. Bali, Ibiza, GOA etc. And if you think of the highly unique history of Goa, it actually proves this magnetism over and over again. The Portuguese were the first hippies, discovering this little piece of paradise some 500 years ago. In the chutney that followed (laid-back hindus meet pretty chilled out Christians) in coconut tree paradise= feni, football, sushegad, siesta and vindaloo. Then came the hippies. As a kid, I used to marvel at the fact that my parents were actually eighteen years old in 1968, the most magical year according to me. That a place like Goa has accepted and integrated so many thousands and thousands of amazing freaky people (and i used the term 'freak' in the highest sense possible), that whether you are from Norway or Argentina you can live in this place, make it your home, have a family, is beautiful. But the interesting question here is why do all these people from all over the world choose Goa. There are better beaches, better living conditions, better schools.... so why?
I can only answer this question through my own life and understanding. For me as a kid, Goa began as a place where i could swim naked, follow an awesome pool-sea-hammock-pool routine and eat steak and gherkin sandwiches and crab curry. Even though the sex, drugs & rock n roll hadn't yet taken their toll , I could sense there was something more, something else, something different about this place.
Cut to- Chinu@16, Disco Valley, New Years 2000. My first party. The most beautiful place. The moon shining on the sea. A sea of shiny, happy people. Looking like they had just landed on the moon. At that point I decided, I'm going to live here and be one of these people.
12 years later, I was at disco valley again for New Years. And sure Goa has changed. The party stopped at 4am instead of going on till sunrise and beyond (but there was still some amazing music). There are no parties, the locals are beyond greedy, the cops are the biggest thugs around, the beaches are being eroded, there are malls coming up everywhere. But. I still want to live here. The more i thought about what it was that attracted me and thousands of others, i realized that its a combination of total spontaneity and total relaxation. Even in the most hectic, out of this world situation, you still know you're in Goa and ultimately you will find a beach or a friend or your room.
For me, opening a restaurant in Goa means a next step in my evolution. And this evolution was kicked off in this magic, shamanistic tiny state and will continue here. In a way its my giving back to this place and all the incredible meals and memories I've had here. Pizza at Fellinis, crab masala at Starlight, balsamic steak & clams and goan sausage at Sublime, carpaccio at La Plage, croissants at Sharewood.. the list is endless. And i want to add to it with my own restaurant. My own space under the Goan sun, my own environment of food, peace & love.
But now the life Goa promises is truly at risk. Yesterday I was at Curlies ( the first time my friends and I saw Curlies we thought we had walked into some hippie time machine). I started crying and couldn't stop. The eroded beach ( its now half the size it was) was black. Apparently they are washing oil tankers close by and all the beaches from Arambol to Calangute look the same, slick with oil. And the most ironic, sad sight was this smug, fat family of three from Bombay were actually playing in this oil- building sand castes, taking pictures, swimming- without even realizing that they were sitting in toxic oil. Are we so blind? Is it that, on holiday, we can't be bothered about thinking of what is happening around us?
It is time for all the Goa lovers- long term freaks and short term holiday makers to wake up. Do you know what happens to that mineral water plastic bottle after you drink half and leave it behind? Do you feel the fish choking after your jet-ski ride? Do you feel the beach dying because you are too busy smoking and discussing the next travel plan?
We, the people who love Goa and the life it represents are responsible for it. We can't change government policies and corrupt police, but we can give the locals some good ideas and means to do so. We can think of solutions like septic vermiculture tanks so we stop dumping our shit into the ground and the sea, we can have one big water cooler for people to fill up water instead of a 100 small plastic bottles, we can stop chucking our rubbish across the beach and we can definitely spread the word of whats happening.
Because someone has to.
 I want my kids to play on the beach like how I did. I don't want to worry about wiping toxic oils from their bodies or meeting dead whales while swimming.