The Women of Baga Beach

I love the beach. I’ve been to Cuba, Mexico, and Jamaica. All beaches were great. This beach however, is like no other that I’ve seen. It has thousands of thousands of people on this beach, and most are Indians vacationing from other parts of India. There are a few intermittent foreigners which are obvious and for those of us who’s fair skin makes us stand out, we become easy targets for the hundreds and hundreds of peddlers. At first glance I ignored them. It was chaotic, everyone wanted a piece of me. It made me uncomfortable. Most were women, very young, and obviously working under the supervision of a tough looking man wearing expensive jewelry and glasses. Yesterday, I took a stroll by on Baga beach by myself. This time with the intention of engaging with the women peddlers; looking them in the eye, answering their questions.

What is your name, they ask.
Where are you from?
How long have you been here in Goa? Not long because you look very white!

Funny, three or four of them told me the same thing. I guess I need a tan.

But after a while of not ignoring these women I had about ten of them around me. Touching my hand, asking me questions. Telling me about their children, asking me about mine. I told them about leaving my children behind for this trip. They told me that they leave their children behind all of the time during the tourist season – it’s not so bad, they said.
I knew what they wanted. But for that moment it didn’t matter. It felt like I had a genuine connection with these women. In some weird way, we had a bond.

Then, I purchased an anklet bracelet from each of them.

A young girl performing on a make-shift tight rope for the benefit of the tourists.