Question

Prepare a fact file on goa

Answer 1

We leave Madurai and set off on the journey to Goa. The day consists of an unfortunate piece of pineapple, two unhelpful receptionists, three bakeries to no avail, three airports, too many security checks with too many officious army men, repeated waiting areas, four bags of crisps, two chocolate bars, six biscuits, a dodgy airline meal, three hotels, six bedrooms, seven hotel managers and a pre-sleep shower at 1.30am. It’s a day not to dwell on, so we won’t.
Goa– We arrive in Goa, the area used to be part of Portugal up until 1961! After the British handed over the rest of the subcontinent in the late 1940’s the Portuguese retained their enclaves in India. Between 1950 and 1960 there was quite a stand off between the Europeans and the Indians that resulted in an invasion in 1961 and the annexing of Portuguese India by the Indian government. The Portuguese surrendered after two days of fighting but the diplomatic fallout continued for a further 14 years until the two countries finally accepted the new situation in 1974.
It’s incorporation into the Republic of India made Goa the country’s smallest state with an area of 3,700 sq km and the fourth smallest state by population with 13 million inhabitants. It is India’s richest state and is ranked to have the best infrastructure and best quality of life in the nation. The state is renowned for its beaches, places of worship and world heritage architecture and has a very healthy tourist economy. Residents also have an 87% literacy rate, significantly higher than elsewhere in the country, and speak a mixture of Konkani, English, Marathi and Hindi. As a result perhaps of the extended Portuguese influence Goa is a more stable and wealthy part of India than those we have seen so far. The roads have less potholes, the buildings look more structurally sound, the driving seems more sane.