What’s Cooking?
A visual and investigative study of a transitional tourist area of Goa.
1999
Understanding what you see
The debate about Malinowski’s observations in his diary raised the issue of whether anthropological observations need to be couched in terms that appeal to our sentimentality. He was not “an unmitigated nice guy”. Or, as Geertz puts it “ the myth of the chameleon fieldworker perfectly tuned to his exotic surroundings, a walking miracle of empathy, tact, patience and cosmopolitanism, was demolished by the man who had perhaps done most to create it”.(1)This led to further discussion about how anthropological investigations should be conducted and their results recorded in order to negotiate a path through experience near and experience far points of view. How to avoid either becoming too involved or taking too much of an outsiders perspective was also an important issue (in fieldwork).
“To grasp concepts that for other people, are experience near, and to do so well enough to place them in illuminating connection with experience distant concepts is clearly a task at least as delicate as putting oneself into someone else’s skin. Preferring like the rest of us to call their souls their own, they are not going to be altogether too keen about such an effort anyway!” Geertz (2)
It’s all about understanding what you are looking at and again, Geertz has expressed this in a nutshell - “The trick is to find out what the devil they think they are up to.”(3)
As an alternative title, maybe simply giving it a chance to be more my own, I have called the presentation “What’s cooking”. While living in Istanbul, my wife discovered that a common way for Turkish women to start a conversation would be “Ne yemek yapiorsun?” To our way of thinking this would be rather like the way that the English refer to the weather in passing. Literally translated it reads “What food are you making?” Turkish women cook a lot and spend a lot of time talking about what they are cooking for various reasons. But this also means what’s cooking – what’s happening?
General introductory comment
My wife, son and I visited the small Indian State of Goa during the Christmas holiday in 1999. I felt that whilst not knowing exactly what I was looking for, it would be a good area to base a cross cultural studies project in, especially as it owes a large proportion of it’s income to the tourist trade. It also has a
particularly interesting transient as well as indigenous population. My plan was to take a video camera to produce a film of back up material. I have incorporated video stills from this film into this body of writing. Basically what I have looked at is how several groups of people have created a space for themselves and the way they co-exist within this space.
Goa is a small ex-Portuguese Catholic State towards the South of India with excellent port facilities. For a long time it has been used to foreigners being about for better or for worse. I feel that nowadays it has surpassed itself with the numbers and different types of people around. Some only for two weeks, others a lot longer, and others strictly seasonal. It is full of people who are out of place, but who are all an intrinsic part of the characterisation of that society.
I first visited Goa about 20 years ago and my only reaction, after coming in from other, more straightforward areas of India was to get the hell out as quickly as possible. I thought that the place was an abomination!
As a matter of fact, I would say that the place has become more saturated, more “itself” during the course of the last 20 years. Various symbiotic relationships have gradually emerged, to me the situation can be summed up with “who is the hunter and who is the hunted?”
or, “who is watching whom?”
Whilst trying to spot what people were up to, I was being observed for completely different reasons. Who actually had the inside or outside approach? Trying to find out why things were happening or had happened put an edge to my trip to Goa. There were actually many things that would have passed over my head if I hadn’t been looking for them.
As a last point I’d like comment on the fact that in years to come the part of Goa that we covered wont be leaving any finds for the archaeologists or at least not as yet, unless further developed. Also it can’t be found on the Internet or brochures as a package holiday destination. It is a little area that has simply grown up under its own steam and will remain like that until it simply fades away or turns into something completely different.
Pitfalls
A large area of my research has been on that of the difficulties one can come across when witnessing differences in different cultures and places. In the end it all comes down to recognising what you are seeing. There is often much more than first meets the eye and there are many traps along the way.
One problem which can occur is where people get totally wrapped up in something to the point of being blinded to every thing else that is going on all around, totally submerged in “insider perspective”.
When the Beatles went to India they stayed in an ashram for a while. What they actually picked up wasn’t what the country was about but a quaint little aspect of it. Maybe a centralised viewpoint but a cocooned one with tunnel vision. There are still plenty of tourists on the holy trail, seeking to shed western trappings and hoping to emerge as butterflies at the end of their trip.
One woman spent every evening up to her knees in the sea at sunset in a kind of Tantric swaying motion, “shanty shanty” said Ricky the waiter, pointing at her. She would then come up to the restaurant for her evening meal and near enough completely ignore his presence. He did not signify India to her, he was something of an irritation, invading her personal space.
An Ashram was set up in large part for Western tourists in the 70’s in Poona by Bagwan Rajaneesh. He managed to turn thousands on enlightenment seekers into saddhus. Over-night, they believed that they had in fact found “the answer” at great expense and roamed across India provoking resentment and ridicule where-ever they went, even though they were surprisingly tolerated too.
Another “pitfall” scenario is the “comparison situation” where you start looking at what you consider to be the flaws in the system. Or even just the basic way that life is lived in the process proving to yourself your superiority, propping up your ego by reassuring yourself of your own cultural superiority. This being an outsider perspective without any real hope any form of realistic insight.
We were on a plane with a second or third generation English Indian family, The father actually ran a travel company in Leicester. We went through three sets of time consuming and bureaucratic ticket and customs controls, and were then delayed for half an hour because one set of tickets had been lost in the process. Their outright exasperation was almost probably the most intense on board that plane.
That was based on people who were comparing and not actually seeing. The next examples are of people actually trying to see too much with the need to actually “work a situation through”. I have actually found myself in the position where having been discovered on a communal path, (which just happens to be in somebody’s field), I have been persuaded to come in to meet the family. This can be a lengthy and tiring affair!
You may be asked to sing a song (and even manage to get a verse or two out!) in order that your host can happily indulge in a rendition of his own favourite ballads, ostensibly for your benefit. So although there is no blatant hostility, often quite the reverse, an artificial situation is bring constructed because you are a visitor.
Even the most open and willing “students” can find themselves over submerged. My wife and I were walking through the Pangi valley twenty years ago when we were asked to attend a wedding due to happen in the next few days. We failed to actually attend the event due to exhaustion. It was a very interesting area with three different religions on the go, families having more than one mother and other quaint but dangerous customs like eating sheep that had been left to cure and dry for months over the cold winter before being cut up and cooked. Gung-ho, I ate some and lost two stones in two weeks. All the livestock was kept in the corridor outside the balcony where we kept our mattress. I have never seen so many fleas anywhere, and the cupboard at the top of our bed was where they kept the local “spirits”. This was where the local men-folk came in for a “nip” before going out into the fields in the morning.
Our basic problem was that we didn’t have the stamina to live like they did, especially with the constant stream of village elders that continually came to inspect us and be entertained.
From my own cultural background, I have some quite different concepts of personal space, and found the attention tiring. It’s a case of either putting up with the hosts perceptions of us, or spelling out my needs in order to survive. There are two sets of “rosy” perspectives here which takes time to break down from both sides.
An alternative scenario could be described by incidences in Sumatra, where the local bus would pull up in yet another of these little villages “off the beaten track” and we would be swamped by hoards of young people and children all chanting “manchung, manchung”, which I believe means “big nose”.
A singularly daunting affair, which does not provide any easy openings for meaningful understanding and communication. After a while the “unmitigated Mr Nice Guy” can disappear, that is unless he ceases to become a novelty quickly enough.
Another major pitfall, talked about by Boissovan, when the holiday becomes one for “the cultural tourist,”
“Seeking holidays that cater to their desire for learning, nostalgia, heritage, make believe, action and a closer look at the Other ( culture, nature and “traditional” rural life become the objects of the post-modern tourist)”(4) and wanting more than just sea and sand.
Shop minding children
He comments that the cultural tourist belongs basically to the same family as the anthropologist. Although, I suppose without quite the same amount of tact, stealth and guile I didn’t discover many cultural tourists whilst in Goa although I suppose one could say that I was playing that part. What can tend to happen is that tourists, whilst trying to discover the “real locals” can be caught rummaging about on people’s property, prying into other people’s lives, trying to force themselves “back-stage,” without at least trying to make the effort to get to know the people that they are curious about.
“The desire to penetrate back regions is inherent in the structure of tourism (a family resemblance to anthropologists)” Boissevain.(5)
I feel this can be morally wrong, especially if pursued in an insensitive way as these are areas of normality for local people away from the gaze and intrusion of visitors. It can also start local people putting walls up around themselves thus destroying any “ins” that visitors are likely to make.
On the other side of the coin as a tourist you can simply get annoyed with people for not acting efficiently according to your own rules or standards. At this point you are simply looking at locals as souless individuals, without trying to work out why the system works differently to the one that you would like to impose. This can gradually wear down your own social perception. An example of this could be found in certain situations where bureaucracy rules supreme and can turn queues in banks and post offices into living nightmares guaranteed to turn even the strongest to tears This is where staleness slips in. In “A passage to India” There is a conversation about what gradually happens to the once keen lady from England as the heat dirt and seeming inefficiency gradually take their toll. The “fresh memsahib” turns into something else, becoming quite blinkered, intolerant and unforgiving. Along the lines of, familiarity breeding contempt.
Examples of Pitfalls
The fresh memsahib came up in a very good example of my wife re-ordering hot water after a mix up with a great deal of patience. I do feel that the same amount of patience would not have been shown even within a couple of weeks.at the same amount of patience would not have been shown even within a couple of weeks.
A second pitfall appeared in the Chapora Waders scene. This was a backstage situation - that family had not had much contact with tourism and as such, was quite prepared to be open and friendly. There was no sale and no profit to be made.
The waders told us to “come in”, but to do so would been to fully submerge ourselves, probably being more concerned about drowning than any thing else. And apart from that, we couldn’t anyway, because we would have had to leave a video camera and motor scooter behind. We were essentially on the sidelines! But to take the experience near and far point – it is not always easy to follow the line down the middle.
I would like to extend the examples of backstage situations with three more examples here.
Backstage at the tailors
My wife was doing business in the tailor’s shop and I was presented as being “safe” because of the presence of a small child (my son). So the women from the shop were able to relax and in fact chit-chat about any thing they liked. That is until my son gave the game away that they were being filmed!
The second example was on the beach where I had been making a large drawing in the sand, which also served as this local man’s back garden. He simply tolerated it, thinking that I was mad but probably harmless. This time it was simply a disinterested sharing of space and water!
The final example of people lowering their guard was the scene in a shady corner of Banana Beach away from the bulk of the tourists and therefore away from “business”
Ten Rupees
The two girls were prepared to joke around and open up until the eldest girl realises that she is being videoed. At this stage she remembers her role in terms of the tourists. She immediately changes tack to “get the money mode” and comes out with “10 rupees! “
Some differences
I have also been interested in trying to explain the differences between the different life styles of the different groups in the area. For instance the different haggling techniques employed by, firstly:
The sari buying fresh memsahib
Being charmed by a new culture, she wants to play the game and tries the sari on patiently whilst knowing all the time that the price that is being asked is far more that she is prepared to pay, but does not want to upset anyone. She doesn’t really attempt to get the price down, which is what is expected of her and then swiftly leaves.
The Bombay cowboy
Wanting to buy something trivial at rock bottom price, he pulls out all the stops becoming almost theatrical with “shaking head” and “turning to go” motions. He gave the trader all the chance that was necessary to follow him on departure but has annoyed the chap sufficiently for him not to bother.
Incidentally neither managed to buy what they wanted for the price that they wanted to pay!
Or the difference between the two beaches which were joined by just a single promontory.
The atmosphere on the Indian beach was definitely family orientated
The extended family all out in the water together
The Seurat bathers
Populated in areas nearest various seaside conveniences by large family groups with very strict moral codes of conduct, for instance the women going into the water almost fully clothed.
On the other beach people were taking a much more hedonistic slant with the age range being, generally speaking, closer together. Whereas, the middle class Indian families would often be wearing clothes that would be better suited to wearing at the office, the hippies would be wearing scant casual wear, almost as a badge to show that they weren’t in fact working.
Both groups did stick to the areas of beach that they had selected, although the hippies were a lot less interested in the middle class Indian families than the other way round.
Motorbikes on the cliff-top
The Indian families tended to arrive in complete self-made groups in coaches, the young “westerners” arriving separately to a scene that had been built up gradually beforehand.
Some Territorial Divisions
Map with red characters, to use to divide the area up into some territorial divisions.
Free for all or open-
The car park (Bombay cowboy)
The Flea market.
The preserve of mainly family groups of Indian tourists and up market holiday makers. (Pointing out the hotel complex)
The Hedonistic westerners’ Banana Beach area, also the Bamboo Jungle.
Finally some backstage areas. Chapora fishing village, inside the church (not many tourists went there)
Then on a smaller scale backstage at the tailors
The Local Goans
Nearer the coast they seem to be more Christian, possibly being more useful to the seafaring Portuguese like that.
They form into two sections;
Those tourist oriented and those whose basic economy
has been based around fishing.
The tourist oriented Goans are very good managers, they don’t miss many tricks and are not by and large very popular with the visiting Indian tradesmen. That they don’t give an inch and are very money orientated, seems to be the general consensus of opinion. Maybe this is how they have managed to tolerate the amount of intruders foisted on them over the years!
They tend to own and run most of the cafes importing staff from all over India along with security from Nepal.
Our landlord did have a soft spot, he enjoyed being called “granddad” by my son, it probably saved us from being moved along when the ruthless reshuffle just before Christmas came along.
The Kashmiris
Selling Hindu Gods
The Kashmiris, long established tourist tradesmen for visitors from all over India. Being hard salesmen who also cant resist going for deals sometimes loosing in the gamble. They are the Muslims in the melting pot and consider themselves to be comparatively clear minded. They have always come to Goa for the winter season and generally have the family and financial back up to support well stocked tourist shops. At the moment of course things are different, they have to make a good living as there are not a lot of tourists going to Kashmir at the moment due to the troubles at home which by and large they want to know nothing about anyway.
Run down of the different groups
Six Tribes
Run down of the different groups involved in this tourist-generated set up, a very basic guide to how all these people generally affect each other.
I feel that it could be convenient to divide the people in Goa – at least during the cooler months into five tribes, each of course having its sub-divisions.
Tradesmen and Craftsmen
There is a middle group comprising of tradesmen and craftsmen, The tailors from Rajasthan and the seasonal workers like security guards from Nepal and waiters from all over, often Orissa.
All of these imported workers rely heavily on what they can pick up from the tourists to supplement their incomes. This is often in the forms of tips and handouts for extra jobs or favours.
The tribes people from Karnataka.
These are the poorest group of people on the scene. They are in Goa basically to lift themselves a little bit further off the bread line. As they can’t build themselves shanty beach villages they have to rent breezeblock and tin shed houses, hot and without power or water.
Many of the men folk spent much of their time steeped in a cheap alcoholic haze. They tell their wives what to do.
Cheap things on the beach
The women and children sell cheap things on the beach with a bit of begging on the side, (the women are reputed to be prostitutes) They are often desperate to make a sale, it can mean the difference between food or not tonight.
Because they have to hustle they are often past by without much of a second glance. I find this a little strange, as visually they are the most exciting group around. If I were to stumble across their village in some wild area near Hampi I would certainly feel that my cultural touring for the day was complete!
Tactics
Majik Dancing Cow
The Beehive Hairdo
At this point I don’t think that it would be fair to pass without mentioning the more resplendent characters forming part of a much harder nosed group from Hampy in Karnataka they are making their money off the mysticism that they represent for the visiting tourists
The hedonistic educated kids
Last but not least, are maybe what used to be the hippies. Although a lot of this clan has been around living the free life for years and years. They have brought their own children up there teaching them “at home”, or not as the case may be.
The current phase of hedonism is called trance music. It involves trance music and something that is called a party and goes on all night often involving upwards of a thousand people. Its rules seem to be quite simple, but to be in contact with these kinds of groups especially when the music isn’t involved can be quite dangerous. There seem to be many rules that weren’t written for the cultural tourist. Even more so when the growing numbers of young Indian hippies get involved.
Having said that, they are tolerated, even though you hear the music all night. These are the modern savages, going wild to jungle drums by the edge of the beach. Around these parties grow up little multicultural villages selling them all their needs and thereby making a living.
Early in the morning you can see the villagers going to work across the fields across which float the dying embers of Trance music.
A small scale representation
Although this diversity occurs right the way throughout the whole area that I have covered, it cannot be better represented than by the little bazaar street on the cliff tops in Anjuna – Stall by stall all the characters change in all aspects;
The Kashmiri drug Baron
Not a very welcome outsider in the area from the point of view of local Goans. Mainly because of the fact that he was making money from his business that they were not.
The “Sunset” Café
One of the haunts of the hedonistic Westerners, decorated in an Indian “trance” style by Goan teenagers
The Rajasthani Tailor
The Trance Stall
Complete with associated clothes stall, supplying clothes suitable for wear at “trance parties” and run and owned by comparatively well off people from the neighbouring state of Karnataka.
Local Artist
Painting Hindu Gods in very bright fluorescent colours exclusively for the tourists.
Bibliography
(1) C.Geertz
Local Knowledge “From a Native’s point of view”: Anthropological Understanding. Pg 56
1983 Basic Books, Inc.
(2) C.Geertz
Local Knowledge “From a Native’s point of view”: Anthropological Understanding. Pg 58
1983 Basic Books, Inc.
(3) C.Geertz
Local Knowledge “From a Native’s point of view”: Anthropological Understanding. Pg 58
1983 Basic Books, Inc.
(4) Jeremy Boissevain
Coping with Tourists Pg 2
1996 Berghahn Books
(5) Jeremy Boissevain
Coping with Tourists Pg 7
-
Berghahn Books
Other Relevant books:
Annabel Black
Coping with Tourists “Negotiating the tourist gaze”
-
Berghan Books
C. Geertz
The Interpretation of Cultures “Notes on the Balinese Cock Fight”
-
Basic Books, Inc.
E.M. Forster A Passage to India
Conclusion
My work has always been about living situations, about what people do with their lives, also what they do with their living situations in order to affect their lives and the lives of the people around them. This is in physical, spiritual and material terms. I have basically painted stories in life situations, little scenarios about what is happening, what has happened and what could happen.
A short spell in Goa, and being tuned in to researching these types of event fine tuned me into putting my finger onto what was actually happening and also to the reactions that were taking place between all concerned. This Indian State was also on reflection a good place to base a quick visit perspective. In general, the people living there have years of experience of different types of people visiting them, as a general survey it wasn’t full of very basic cultural misunderstandings.
I felt that walking around with a video camera and looking for shots or stories pushed me into a stronger perceptive stance. It meant that I was constantly on the look out for fresh information, for further clues. It also helped me to define what I was looking for.
Having used the camera as an aid to perception I feel that it has also been helpful in terms of explaining the little anthropological scenarios that I have come across. Also at times being “proof” of what I have been talking about, visible evidence of people reacting to each other in “this or that” way. A scenario that will affect more and more people as time goes by this century as races, religions and cultures get more and more mixed up.
I have tried to make this a fun and entertaining look at multicultural life. In this objective I was helped greatly by reading amusing extracts from Geertz It was refreshing to be reassured that I did not have to be a kind of morally and politically correct “nice guy”. Which presented me with a format for going about the job just being myself.
I also found that Boissovan gave me a clearer insight into various ways and strategies that have evolved and help local people deal with sometimes a seemingly endless stream of tourists. In particular the way that local people need their “backstage areas” in order to rest from activities outside. I was aware of these private areas and felt that at the times when I was actually invited in, I was able to actually grasp the invitation and act on it knowing that I was welcome.