By Rajan Narayan

BLESSED are those who do not have commute to work. To work or to enjoy themselves somewhere at a hotel or a friend’s home. For two years and more I’ve not been able to move out of my home in old Caranzalem in Panjim too much because of my disabilities. Perhaps I am luckier than the Goans and tourists who have to face the nightmare of commuting to work or travelling in Goa.
Recently, I discovered the torture of travelling after a gap of almost five years when I went all the way luxury beach resort in Candolim. Sorry, the Aguada to Baga beach stretch is more a concrete jungle. I was not driving myself in a vehicle but had the luxury of a comfortable vehicle with the professional driver. Fortunately, he was a good-tempered driver who knew how to maintain his cool and did not get into any road rage along the way.
Nowadays anyone travelling to the beaches of north Goa want to avoid Porvorim because of the work going on the elevated bridge from Porvorim to Guirim. Thanks to the Atal Setu Bridge travelling to Mapusa or Candolim was quite smooth till Tourism and IT Minister Rohan Khaunte decided that Porvorim should have another fancy bridge. The work on the bridge will probably take another decade.
Till then all those who want to get to Mapusa in time for anything will have to suffer for the stupid ambition of Rohan Khaunte. I don’t think anyone is interested in the bridge except the MLA. Politicians build bridges not so much for the benefit of people but because building bridges is big money. The elevated corridor which is the fancy name for the bridge is costing the taxpayer Rs640 crore. And has led to the slaughter of thousands of trees including a 200-year-old banyan tree.

SUCCOR RESIDENTS CRYING
THE loudest complaints about dust pollution come from the residence of Succor, perhaps because two senior journalists stay at Succor. To add to the congestion in the sleepy old village full of traditional Goans is a life-style store by the famous fashion designer Ritu Berry.
TRADITIONALLY, the shortcut to Candolim and the northern beach belt has been the road via Verem and Pilerne across the bridge to Candolim. This route has always been a narrow winding road where not more than two cars can pass at one time. It certainly cannot accommodate broad tourist buses. Traveling through the shortcut to Candolim, Calangute and Baga involves slow-motion driving.
On Saturday, January 04 at around 11 am when we travelled to Candolim there was back-to-back traffic right from Betim all the way to the resort in Candolim. The trip back around 3 pm was even worse. There were any number of incidents of road rage we witnessed along the way. People in cars whether owners or drivers are not used to travelling in first gear all the time. Since they have to travel at the bullock cart pace in the wake of the sweeping huge SUVs, they get very irritated. They keep pressing the horn in the hope that the traffic will move faster.
The already narrow passage ways become even narrower because of unplanned development. Every second building from Verem right up to the beaches in Calangute, Candolim or Baga are either hotels or commercial establishments. Everyone has encroached on the road. Everywhere at junctions frustrated drivers blow their horns and traffic blocks build up and become a slow crawl with screaming and shouting every now and then when something small or petty happens by way of a blockage to hinder movement forward.
Once upon a time, it was a pleasure to drive down CHOGM road which was built way back in 1984 when the Commonwealth Heads of Government retreat was held in Goa at the Taj Hermitage at Sinquerim. The CHOGM road has become a narrow lane because of all the encroachments by shops, restaurants and bars. The Candolim road going up to the Taj Aguada Hotel was Goa’s most prestigious upmarket shopping district. Further on there are the landmark hypermarkets of Newton’s and the original first Delfino’s. There is Choclatty which offers the best handmade chocolates in Goa.

BOUTIQUES, EATERIES GALORE
WE remember the Bina Ramani boutique which offered out-of-the-world beach wear. There was the Burmese speciality restaurant Bomrah which I never took a fancy to, nor Tibetan or Sri Lankan cuisine eateries which double as fashion boutiques. They are the lounge bars which are really nightclubs that became active only at night. We remember older very pleasant smooth ride from Verem right up to the Taj Aguada and the holiday village in the 70s and 80s. There was a time when one could drive up right to Candolim beach which was not as crowded as Baga or Calangute.
Today, it’s impossible to even breathe down CHOGM road or the public lanes going down to the beaches in the beach belt of north Goa also called the Goan reviera. All the beach resorts are situated on narrow strips of land on the seafront with small mud roads or badly paved roads leading up to the entrance.
The entry is so narrow that not more than one car may pass at a time and that too with a lot of moving back and forth if another vehicle suddenly comes along. The resorts themselves are a concrete jungle, closely packed affairs where floored areas can be used to the maximum. You get tired by the time you reach your cottage or apartment booked for a few days to enjoy a holiday.
Truly, we may not go shopping like once it was possible to do. Footpaths have disappeared. If you walk on what passes for pavements today or on the road like most do for valid reasons, you naturally take the risk of being run into by some vehicle in a hurry. Gone are the days when we could walk around in true blue sossegad style in the best Goan tradition.

CHEEK-BY-JOWL MADNESS
IN any case, we no longer see too many Goans in the chok-a-blok roads of the northern coastal beach belt of Aguada to Baga. The cheek by jowl restaurants, eateries, cafes, nightclubs and more are run by the bhaile or “outsiders” — though the premises may be owned by niz Goenkars. The employees in shops and restaurants are bhaile. The entire staff at a resort where a global summit of the Patel sisters was going on were outsiders. The reception had a few old bhaile in grey uniforms. At the restaurant the manager, chef, waiters, all bhaile from far away West Bengal. Don’t even try talking in Konkani because there will be blank looks all around.
I have stayed in several resorts in the Calangute, Baga and Candolim beach belt. I have stayed in the five-star Taj Aguada and the much more comfortable Taj Village. I have even stayed at the Hermitage which was built for accommodating the 52 heads of state during the CHOGM. I have stayed in a number of Guju-owned resorts in Arpora and Baga. My favourite hunting ground was the old Ronil Beach Resort owned by the Alcon group, when there was Chef Rui Madre de Deus who was a friend and a fantastic host. We used to go there for the Sao Joao celebration which involves dip in the swimming pool wearing a crown of colourful flowers. I have stayed at the old Caravale Beach Resort and been a patron of the traditional hundred-year-old Britto’s restaurant right at the tip of Baga Beach.
Today, it is near impossible to travel down Baga street because it has shrunk here and there. One may also not move gracefully to Tito’s or Mambos or any other fancy dining places along the Candolim, Calangute, Baga beach stretch. It is impossible to find the old sandy routes to the beaches because these were taken over by domestic tourists on New Year’s Eve and thousands of domestic tourists were out on the beaches to make a night out of it with booze and food lined up. Drinking, cooking, changing their clothes, and harassing foreign tourists in their bikini outfits if you please.
After my own experience last Saturday, January 04, 2025 I do not want to go anymore to any popular destination located at Candolim or Calangute or Baga beaches any more. Much though I would like to I don’t think I would survive a trip to Britto’s for dinner or even the Infantaria chain of confectionary goodies. No more joys of wading peacefully in the shallow waters of the Baga creek or walking up the Retreat Center located on top of the Baga hillocks.

BUILT-UP, CONGESTED, ENCROACHED
THE entire northern beach belt in Goa is so built up, so congested, so encroached upon that it takes hours and patience to get anywhere or do anything. I understand that beach development has even reduced the one time pristine beaches of Morjim and Arambol to the same sorry state of Baga, Calangute and Candolim beaches with resort beach beds laid out only for the use of their guests.
It is no wonder that the discerning tourists have moved to south Goa because the southern Goa beaches still enjoy relatively more peace compared to the glittering tourism frenzy of north Goa. Goa has fallen victim to its own greed.