When the tourist season is over and the shacks come down, Palolem beach, often described as one of the most beautiful beaches in Goa, looks an ugly mess.
Sheets of blue plastic are seen everywhere, covering whatever cannot be removed and must be protected from the rains. Ugly stumps of brick and cement stand among the coconut palms, a reminder that the manmade will always scar what is natural and beautiful.
Most ugly of all is what remains of the loos.
I climbed the low hill beside Palolem beach, which offers a panoramic view of the sea. The few shacks that dotted the area were gone. But there, scattered among the coconut trees, were little square slabs of cement, each surmounted by a commode, each looking like some bizarre headstone on a grave.
This cemetery of shit pots will remain till the tourists return next season, offering an ironic twist to the term “answering the call of nature”.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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