Vacation, check. Beach side, check. Place to avoid, the coast closest to Mumbai and the coast closest to Goa. That's how my thought process works when planning a beach side holiday. This has taken plenty of times to Harnai and on a couple of occassions to Shrivardhan, Kashid, Malwan, Pawas and Ratnagiri. The formula is fixed. Search for a home stay directly on the beach and ensure one gets local food as opposed to commercial stuff.
What amazed me about the places I have visited so far is that they offer a very clean environment. One can see your feet despite being immersed in a few feet of water. Something not easily said of the beaches close to urbanized locations. But my viisits to these places in the last year have left me in a worried state of mind.
The relative cleanliness of these places is on a downhill trend. Both tourists and local dwellers are contributing to the destruction of the coastline. The number of plastic bottles, cups and the like have increased with each trip. It depressed me on a recent trip when I saw a white sand beach marred with a huge collection of cigarette packets, soft drinks and beer bottles, and tetrapacks that were once filled with something refreshing.
I am left with a lot of mixed feelings when I see this. I feel rage for mankind who I often consider the worst of the species when it comes to coexisting with Nature. I feel like going to the locals and pleading them not to mimic their urban counterparts in their attitude towards their gifts of the coastlines. I think about the insane tolls that I pay when traveling on the highway and can't help but wonder where all the tax money is going. And how much would it take to penalize those who litter on our coastline? I can't help but feel the hypocrisy of a culture that elevated the rivers and the oceans to divinity but chooses complete inaction when it comes to preserving them. I feel outreach is important but recent events have also left with me with a sense of hopelessness about humanity itself.
I find myself wondering if it is worthwhile to adopt a policy that even if some of us stop contributing to the problem, it will make a difference. Because I think me doing my part is not enough for a country like ours. There has to be a shared anger which will allow a rising group of offenders to be scared shitless of testing the boundaries of a civilized society.
It is not my purpose here to offer a genius solution. I need to let this out of my system and if it sparks a conversation which can help, I am more than happy!