From Goa - two sides of a tragedy reveals India's inner strength

"The mother has challenged the Anjuna polica head on and got the backing of the Goan state minister - a remarkable achievement"

BBC News informs me that the mother of Scarlett Eden Keeling   - who was horribly murdered in the neighbouring beach to here on Feb 18th - - has five children and had left her alone while she went off travelling with her boyfriend. The DailyMail.co.uk says in fact she is a mother of nine children and lives in a caravan park. I am sure the rest of the press have since said far worse. The truth is that, whoever she is, the mother has challenged the Anjuna polica head on and got the backing of the Goan state minister - a remarkable achievement in the circumstances.

What is curious tho, is that in the three weeks this tragic case has been unfolding here in Goa, with press coverage growing day by day, I have heard none of this kind of talk. The local papers that I have seen (only English language) have  not put any negative spin on the story other than the case itself. In fact they have presented the mother with dignity every step of the way - only today, following these new reports, have the authorities suggested the mother should share responsibility for leaving her daughter alone with the man currently charged with the attack, to go travelling.

Consider the reverse situatoin, an Indian mother, from a caravan park / slum, arrives in the UK with her five children, and leaves her 15 year old girl in a trashy seaside town with a drug dealer in his late 20s. The worst happens but the police, not wanting to damage tourism, say it was drowning. The mother complains, calling the police corrupt. Would she get so easy a ride in the British press, and would the local MP promise to monitor the police case? I really don't know but I fear she would have been dismissed as irresponsible and sent home.

It's interesting for it seems to illustrate a difference in the British and Indian mindset. For the Indian journalists, who use words like 'horrendous' in otherwise objective articles to describe what has gone on, this is a tragedy here, and the mother needs no more suffering. For the British press - even the BBC perhaps -  scandal and sensation boosts readership, which tends to justify increasing the suffering of the mother a little.

I'm sure she is plagued by the press and rude questions. It reminds me of the parents of some school friends of mine after they died in a tragic car crash 10 years ago. The Daily Mail published my friend's school photo on the front page the next day with the catchy line 'this is the girl who drove the car of death'. And all the families were doorstopped and hounded by journalists within hours of the event, all claiming they are 'just doing their job', and 'serving the public interest' like SS captains.

V*****, a shopkeeper here on a neighouring beach, tells me she was a nice girl, with a piercing in her lip. I also hear that the police allegedly often cover up tourist murders which almost chimes with what appears to be an Indian sensibility of not wanting to make too much noise about 'bad karma'. There are enough tourists here acting carelessly - especially the British, Israelis and Russians - to understand the tension between tourists and locals - when there is a belief system which states that those who act irresponsibly, as many tourists do, must face their own karma, especially when considering our wealth (built in part on their labour) against theirs.

Goa is a curious place. The Lonely Planet describes Arunbul, where I stay, as the last refuge of the hippes after Carnaby Street, San Francisco and the rest came to a commercial end. A Banayan tree attracts tourists seeking to smoke chillum and sit in the forrest with holy  (and not so holy) 'babas' - wise elders. John Lennon also sat there and wrote songs, supposedly - people have done for thousands of years, they claim. People come and work through their personal drama and issues. Things move forard. The beach is a tip, and everywhere is the trash left behind by the visitors. Rumour has it that the Russian mafia are tightening their grip and will open big hotels and casinos. An American tells me he is working to bring in drugs and prostitutes. But others say the place is slowing down - a recent ban on music after 10pm has killed off the famous trance scene, pushing parties underground and into the jungle.

But the drugs remain. Not just the charras (hash) which people smoke anywhere, but all sorts. Ketamine and morphine can be bought over the counter. LSD, MDMA, cocaine, Mescalin and mushrooms are all availble easily. I found a used syringe in the street. Many people walk around bare foot. It's a messy mix. 

A week after Scarlet was killed a British tourist was found dead in his hut in nearby Assvem -  a beach filled with British holidays makers - like an Eastenders summer omnibus. I ask the Ketamined Brit if it could be linked. No, he says, junkies come here to die. People are often found dead in their hut from an overdose. Sometimes they fall out with the locals - one Brit won 70,000 rupees in gambling, and when asked to give half his winnings to the Indians he had played against (for whom the 70,000 is at least a years wages), refused and apparently started a fight. He fell asleep on the beach drunk, and was found dead in the sea the next day, heavily beaten. The police said he drowned.

The week after I arrived, a Russian, high on LSD, smashed up a stone crucifix on a plateau. Once word got out to the locals a mob came and beat him within an inch of his life. It is understandable that the police would rather people did not hear about this. But it is far worse to think that the police do not care about stopping it from happening.

But all of this could hide the real story, a miricalous story I think, of a country where you can leave your wallet on the beach while you swim and find it there still hours later. Lose your posessions, ask around, not blaming anyone but yourself, and find them again...