Day 1 - Konkan Coastal Walk | Worries, questioning and kindness.

After five hours of debates and countless arguments over the nature of my walk, we finally arrived in Revas. A man collecting waste plastic bottles to sell and fill his stomach, greeted us at the beach. I knew why my dad was thinking my trip over and over in his head, he is right to think of all the negative aspects of this journey. Most importantly, his worry about all the bad events that could happen with me on this journey- and were quite understandable. Many people have been killed only because they chose to speak up. I keep telling him that I am different, I know my boundaries and that I don’t object development the way many do, but I guess his experience as a chemical engineer, seeing all the corrupt practices within the industry tells a lot and he is shit scared to say the least.

His worry manifested only a few hours in on my walk, when I saw an entire village being ganged up on me when they thought I was some kind of a environmental crusader coming their way to stop them from having their roads and industries.

I am adamant though. I see good in every person. I know that there is a tendency to see deeper if we ourselves dig deeper in their hearts. The situation calmed soon enough, to the point that they agreed to my point and gave me this space in their village, a temple, alongside some water and unlimited meal. I am blessed to have this, until 7:30 pm I had no clue as to what I would end up eating. Having driven the car all the way to Revas (the starting point if my walk) I was tired, exhausted and hungry, but I trust my mother more than I trust myself. She provides me with everything and she always has plans for me. I don’t worry too much.

Dad left me because he had to reach home early. I chose not to carry food, not to carry any water and just stand near the beach and start with the first person who sits and talks to me. I must have sat there for an hour when the kids arrived. They asked me if I was on youtube, if I did indeed have any huge following. Sadly, I had to see their faces turn down when they heard that I had none of that. I was just a normie for them. They moved on and went on with their cricketing spree.

Finally after a few more minutes, Bhavya, a village elder came and sat next to me and asked me about my whereabouts.

We started with this, “I disagree with you”, he said. But he was pleased to hear that I didn’t mind him having a different opinion. We kept on talking and he explained why he wanted this highway.

Navkhar lies only a creek away from the extension of Mumbai (Bombay). The people here have been asking for a bridge that connects them to Mumbai and that too because this elderly generation hs seen a lot of poverty while growing up. For them development means industries, chemical, sea works, heavy metal because they have seen the same happening in other parts on the other side of the creek. He says he hates environmentalists who don’t let these projects happen. He kept telling me that he didn’t mean to hurt me but he thought differently because he saw his house in tatters when he grew up, he saw his farms engulfed by the rising sea, he saw his wife battling cancer for the past nine years and no hospital to treat her nearby, he saw his mother wear only enough to cover her private parts and a leaking roof which was their home during the extreme monsoon.

I listened. A young kid has later told me that he liked photography but he would work as a engineer in a sea works factory. I knew something was off. Bhavya had told me that he loved living here and he loved farming but feels like there’s no point in doing any of this now, “life is worthless”, he kept saying. Even after all his negative comments I smiled and said I understand you but I have a different view. I guess being kind and having a smile is contagious, it turns even an angry person into a sweetheart. I explained him my view, I recited my story too, then he finally smiled and said, “I like what you say but most people don’t think that way. The government should really think of all the damage that could happen to this. I never really thought that a highway can really tear apart my lifestyle. I hate Mumbai. I made a pact that I will never live there. As a young man when I lived in the slums of Worli to make ends meet, I was once sleeping on a tin sheet when someone from the building next to us threw their waste food from the window. It landed straight to my face. That day I decided I don’t want to lead a city-lifestyle. I am better in my village. I like this slow-pace. I like sitting here in the evening and smelling the scent of this sea. I like growing my own food —all organic btw. But still I want industry.”

I listened to him carefully and the guy who only a few minutes back was against my ideas was slowly coming to realise that his life is exactly what he wanted it to be. He only needed industry and road because the younger generation is jobless. They have even left farming because of the lack of infrastructure around it. I knew then that he will get my point.

“I don’t oppose development,” I finally interrupted, “but I want development that preserves our culture, blends with our traditions, doesn’t harm the environment. I want industry but industry that is related to the things we grow, like mango, coconut, cashew. I want this place to be developed in other ways - a sustainable model of development and tourism that thinks of all this.”

The politicians, the surveyors and the developmental authorities have no connection with the land, these people do. They are emotionally connected to their farms and their villages. They know in their heart that something is wrong but having no other way to think and look towards they fall prey to the agendas of the politicians who eant to make money by getting industries - chemical, oil and otherwise. They want to mine the hell out of this place but these villagers know the cost.

In the end we left each other on this note, he said, “I feel like I have felt positive about my life after many many months. My wife is battling cancer and I felt totally lost here. You gave me the motivation to move further in life. After all the negativity that I directed towards, you persisted and thank god you did. I will pray to God so that you will finish this journey and reach as many people as you can. Now, I too will tell people that we want a development that doesn’t kill my soul. I want a development that gives me people and no health hazards. I learnt many things from you young boy.”

We were walking next to his backyard, which was the most exquisite vegetable patch that I had seen in ages. Bhavya was 71 and he worked on his like he was 21. No one could have told that this environmentalist hating villager would have worked on such a beautiful farm and grown so much with his own hand.

I see this problem, most people talking about climate and environment don’t put their hands in the field and thus they don’t really understand the concerns of these “deniers”, but only if we dig deeper, there are facets to them and obviously a long history and poverty filled memory thats pushing these ideas..

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I am safe and sound. Sleeping in a temple today. Tomorrow I move towards the next village. Meeting more people sharing these ideas and putting things in their consciousness that I feel they already know but need to hear again.

If you can help me by contributing for this walk, then please do, I could start a kickstarter or manage crowdfunding through some other website, but none of those options are available to me here in India. So, I will be dependant on your donations. You can contribute through paypal - here’s the link. I will send out a personalised postcard if the donations are above $30 and if it’s above $100 then whatever comes out of this walk - a book, a documentary or anything else - you will be the first ones to receive it.

Thanks for your continual support. I am truly grateful!