I Coma to Goa

Best described as Alcupulco without chips and salsa (and David the Gonef).

Goa, located on India's west coast, astride the Arabian Sea and 400 miles south of Mumbai, is India's smallest State, having 1.4 million people, 65% Hindu, 25% Christian, 5% Muslim and the rest, various. Goa was, from 1510 until 1960 (i.e. it did not become part of India at the 1947 partition) was a Portuguese colony. In 1960, as a result of pressure from the Indian government, it ceded the colony to India, to the joy of the Goans who were unhappy with Salazar's (he was then running Portugal)heavy hand. It was not until 1992, when Portugal returned to Goa 3,000,000 lbs of gold it had plundered from the Goans that relations were normalized and all Goans now have duel citizenship in both India and Portugal.
Vasco De Gama, the first European to set foot on Indian soil did so in 1498. Alffonso de Albequerque, a an imprisoned Portuguese criminal was released by the Portuguese king to invade and successfully wrested control of the area , as well as a separated area at what would become later become Bombay, from the Muslim rulers. That proved to be a gift to New Mexico who now had a explanation for choosing such a funny name for a city.

I am staying at the Fort Aguada Resort and Hotel a huge well preserved fort built by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century. It's no Sonar Bangla but quite nice. I was told that Goa is hot and dry. Half right. Susan would have naturally curly hair if she were here.

Spent the morning with a guide, Francis Xavier Santa Maria Pedro Fernandez (I called him Frank). Before we left the hotel, I told him that I was abolutely uninterested in seeing churches, forts, monuments etc. I don't believe that we missed a single one.

I have now been in India for two weeks, and am, therefore , entitled to make and record some observations.

OBSERVATION 1-WOMEN-Woman are both revered and reviled in India. Traditionally, going back to the Vedas (of the same level of religious authority as the Testaments, Koran), woman are considered to be weak, not very smart, trouble making by nature and in general, well below men in status and requiring male control. Women, on the other hand, because of their ability to bear and nurture children are excused their deficiencies and, on that level, exalted. The sacred cow (of which there are more around than you would ever again want to see)is derived, in part, from the Indians attitude toward women.

Indian women, from an American standard of beauty of which I can claim to be a judge, are not particularly attractive up close. Their features are indelicate, they often have dark circles under their eyes, their skin is often blemished and , except for an occasionally appearing young lady in her late teens or early twenties, their figures tend to the corpulent. You will never find a Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie or Susan Newman of Indian decent. From a distance, however, when dressed in a colorful sari, even if they cut only a decent figure, they can appear alluring, particularly those who have mastered a walking style and tempo that leverages the structural characteristics of the gown. There is famous Indian movie starlet here at the hotel at which a movie is being filmed who had lunch at the table next to mine. I'll take Susan anytime.

The times, they are achanging. Woman are more and more going out into the work place. I noticed several girls (everybody wears a bathing suit here) with tattoos and waist revealing shirts and the newspapers are full of ads pushing cosmetics and weight reduction. They even serve Diet Pepsi. In sum, women rule the home roost, and walk behind their male mate, but not too far behind any more.

Have a tennis date with Vilas at 4 pm. I wonder if he has had word of the Chetel match.