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DEATH OF A HIPPIE AND RISE OF HIGH VALUE TOURISM IN GOA
By: IANS
Mid-Day, Bangalore
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/oct/281010-Yertward-Mazmanian-eight-finger-Eddie-Goa-first-hippie-death.htm
Oct 28 2010
India
The death of 85-year-old Yertward Mazmanian aka 'eight finger Eddie',
arguably Goa's first hippie, curiously comes at a time when the state
is on the verge of a strategic shift in its tourism approach.
A day before Mazmanian - called eight finger Eddie because of two
missing digits on his right hand - died Oct 18, tourism officials
stressed the need for bidding goodbye to hippie and backpack tourism
at an international travel mart held here. The same hippie culture
had helped put Goa on the international tourism map in the 1970s.
News of the death of the American-born hippie of Armenian descent
created a lot of static on social networking site Facebook, where
over Rs.100,000 was pooled from his fans the world over towards
his cremation.
It was Norwegian freelance journalist Oystein Krogsrud, who shuttles
between Goa and Norway, who gave Eddie company during his last few
days in the hospital and the final journey to a local crematorium
where Eddie was cremated with Hindu rites.
"I think all hippies who have died here have been cremated. The hippies
have a much stronger connection to Hinduism than Christianity, even
though Eddie often pointed out that he was not following any kind of
religion," Oystein, who also broadcast Eddie's funeral through live
internet across the world, told IANS.
Oystein had been following Eddie closely for over 10 years and had
last interviewed him four days before he died. According to him,
Eddie had left his biological family behind in 1963.
In a video interview to a researcher a couple of years ago, Eddie
said he first came to Colva, a beach village in south Goa, in 1965.
"Some people let me stay in their house at Colva beach. Those days
you didn't have to pay rent unless you yourself wanted to contribute
something. Sometimes people were sceptical, but then they realised
you did not want anything," Eddie said.
Eddie was also responsible for starting the now famous Anjuna flea
market back in 1975 -- a place for hippies and other foreigners to
just hang out or to barter goods. The same market is now a vibrant hub
of trade, starting from food to clothes, junk jewellery, and loads
of trinkets found in virtually every stop on Goa's popular tourist
circuit on Wednesdays.
"Only freaks came to the first flea market then. It wasn't a regular
thing. Then we'd make another one on some other auspicious day. People
gave things away, or it was only free...it was like a party," he said.
But the brand of tourism Eddie came to represent is not what the
tourism industry is keen to promote any more. Officials and tourism
captains are looking to move Goa away from backpack, hippie to 'big
bucks' tourism. Seven offshore casinos, more than a dozen onshore
casinos, 25 five-star hotels and a planned marina and a golf course
is Goa Tourism's new 'big picture'.
Hugh Gantzer, a tourism industry expert, said hippie tourism gave
Goa a bad name.
"They have outlived their usefulness. Goa has to say goodbye to them.
Tourism in Goa has moved on. Hippie and backpack tourism inevitably
is associated with drugs and does not make a healthy spectacle,"
said Gantzer, an award-winning travel writer, who was a resource
person at the International Travel Mart-Goa, which concluded Oct 17.
However, despite his death, Goa's first hippie will continue to live
in the consciousness of travellers coming to Anjuna for years to come
thanks to a unique initiative started by Oystein.
"We have emptied Eddie's house and plan to make a museum out of Eddie's
personal stuff at this year's Anjuna flea market when it resumes in
a few weeks, coinciding with the beginning of the six-month tourism
season here," Oystein said.
From: A. Papazian
By: IANS
Mid-Day, Bangalore
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/oct/281010-Yertward-Mazmanian-eight-finger-Eddie-Goa-first-hippie-death.htm
Oct 28 2010
India
The death of 85-year-old Yertward Mazmanian aka 'eight finger Eddie',
arguably Goa's first hippie, curiously comes at a time when the state
is on the verge of a strategic shift in its tourism approach.
A day before Mazmanian - called eight finger Eddie because of two
missing digits on his right hand - died Oct 18, tourism officials
stressed the need for bidding goodbye to hippie and backpack tourism
at an international travel mart held here. The same hippie culture
had helped put Goa on the international tourism map in the 1970s.
News of the death of the American-born hippie of Armenian descent
created a lot of static on social networking site Facebook, where
over Rs.100,000 was pooled from his fans the world over towards
his cremation.
It was Norwegian freelance journalist Oystein Krogsrud, who shuttles
between Goa and Norway, who gave Eddie company during his last few
days in the hospital and the final journey to a local crematorium
where Eddie was cremated with Hindu rites.
"I think all hippies who have died here have been cremated. The hippies
have a much stronger connection to Hinduism than Christianity, even
though Eddie often pointed out that he was not following any kind of
religion," Oystein, who also broadcast Eddie's funeral through live
internet across the world, told IANS.
Oystein had been following Eddie closely for over 10 years and had
last interviewed him four days before he died. According to him,
Eddie had left his biological family behind in 1963.
In a video interview to a researcher a couple of years ago, Eddie
said he first came to Colva, a beach village in south Goa, in 1965.
"Some people let me stay in their house at Colva beach. Those days
you didn't have to pay rent unless you yourself wanted to contribute
something. Sometimes people were sceptical, but then they realised
you did not want anything," Eddie said.
Eddie was also responsible for starting the now famous Anjuna flea
market back in 1975 -- a place for hippies and other foreigners to
just hang out or to barter goods. The same market is now a vibrant hub
of trade, starting from food to clothes, junk jewellery, and loads
of trinkets found in virtually every stop on Goa's popular tourist
circuit on Wednesdays.
"Only freaks came to the first flea market then. It wasn't a regular
thing. Then we'd make another one on some other auspicious day. People
gave things away, or it was only free...it was like a party," he said.
But the brand of tourism Eddie came to represent is not what the
tourism industry is keen to promote any more. Officials and tourism
captains are looking to move Goa away from backpack, hippie to 'big
bucks' tourism. Seven offshore casinos, more than a dozen onshore
casinos, 25 five-star hotels and a planned marina and a golf course
is Goa Tourism's new 'big picture'.
Hugh Gantzer, a tourism industry expert, said hippie tourism gave
Goa a bad name.
"They have outlived their usefulness. Goa has to say goodbye to them.
Tourism in Goa has moved on. Hippie and backpack tourism inevitably
is associated with drugs and does not make a healthy spectacle,"
said Gantzer, an award-winning travel writer, who was a resource
person at the International Travel Mart-Goa, which concluded Oct 17.
However, despite his death, Goa's first hippie will continue to live
in the consciousness of travellers coming to Anjuna for years to come
thanks to a unique initiative started by Oystein.
"We have emptied Eddie's house and plan to make a museum out of Eddie's
personal stuff at this year's Anjuna flea market when it resumes in
a few weeks, coinciding with the beginning of the six-month tourism
season here," Oystein said.
From: A. Papazian