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A Mansion of Peace



A moment off Goa now. We go up the coast to Dadra and Nagar Haveli, then on to Daman and finally to Diu. A splash of Iberian taste everywhere…


A quick getaway is what you and perhaps, more than you, your wife and children and looking forward to? Away from the madding crowd, the squalor and slums, the daily grind, the rat race. Can you beg, borrow or steal—if you have to, since the risk is worth it—Rs. 1,500 for fares (up and down, plus local transit expenses for two adults and four dependents)? Add another Rs. 500 per person, and you will have given yourself that much deserved break.


Take the train to Vapi, Daman Road in local usage. Choose between the sea and the forest. Or, if you can spare four days, make it both the sea and forest—two days at each. Begin wherever. The sea was my priority. But a word of caution: If you don’t love nature, don’t go to Silvassa.


The way to the sea? Short, but full of history. Full of hope and glory. Incredible stories of daring and adventure—of mariners who defied storms and of soldiers who fought one against 20. And won, surprisingly!


The name of the place: Daman or Damao in Portuguese. The river Daman Ganga—Sandalcalo in the local folklore—splits the region into two: moti (meaning big) and nani (meaning small). But Moti Daman and Nani Daman are big and small in terms of their relative importance only. In the ‘big’ sits the administrator, and once the Governor who had the powers of an admiral in matters marine and of a general on land. He might have been, substantively, just a blue-eyed Portuguese army captain. But nevertheless, those were his powers: to make trade pacts with the Mughals; peace or war, if he so fancied, with the Marathas; or to challenge the might of the Abyssinian soldiers-of-fortune serving one Indian prince or another; or to take on the Turkish admirals, who, at that point in time, were allies of the Sultans of Gujarat and Combay.


In physical terms, big is small. In fact, Nani Daman is a wee bit ampler in area. From Vapi you get first into Nani Daman. You then cross the river which—as the love-struck Portuguese soldier described in a soulful song—is sheer happiness when one enters it, sadness and heart-aches when one leaves it. One of those numerous and lovely Daman love stories, now celebrated in stirring folk songs.


The road to the forest, almost as long as the one to the sea, takes you to Silvassa, the capital of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Daman, in turn, is the capital of the Union Territory of Daman and Diu. The latter is an island many miles away in the Gulf of Combay—a quick get-away for those who would love to feast their eyes on the last of the Indian Bustard, still alive and well in that desertic island. It also offers, in plenty, what nearby abstemious Gujarat lacks—alcoholic beverages, cheap and plentiful.


Diu, mind you, is primitive. Nagoa beach is gorgeous, but the comforts are basic. It is accessible by road from Bhavnagar and Junagadh.


Silvassa. There is nothing in Silvassa or Nagar Haveli for those whose idea of fun is noise and discotheques. Who do not love tribals and wild life.


In the wisdom of the tribals of Nagar Haveli, God goes to sleep every year in the rainy months of June and July. But as would any responsible house-holder, because God in their simple theology is the supreme economist, the giver and taker at will and whim, he makes a few arrangements before he slumbers. The wind and thunder, his heralds, and the lightning in the skies and the storms in the seas, his admonition, spread his message: that it will be foolhardy for humankind to run wild like an unbridled horse. It would meet with grief at the first turn of the road, unused as it is to run the world and its affairs all by itself.


And that done, God causes such great blessings, like the rains to fall from the heavens. They humidify the earth and it becomes fecund and gratefully rewards good men and women who plough and sow it. Each grain cast in the good earth’s belly is returned, in two months or so, a hundred-fold. Men and women must work and work hard during those two months of heavy, non-stop rains.


Dadra and Nagar Haveli are still haunted by Portuguese memories. The Portuguese had retained the patels left behind by the Peshwa Marathas, who had ceded them these lands. They carved out administrative territories for the patels, and coined a word, Patelados which would at once establish their powers and jurisdiction. They also parceled out land to those willing to pay tribute and such land was known as terrenos de arrenamento teram in current usage, lands given on lease. If one were to correctly interpret the documents signed by the Portuguese and the Peshwas, the Portuguese were to be only lessees and not owners in perpetuity. The Portuguese have gone but the patelats continue to exist. And the feudal and the unrepentant still try to cling to their teram, defying the land-to-the-tiller policy which is current.


The progressive amongst the bureaucrats and local politicians claim that they are still hamstrung by the Portuguese legacy. Silvassa, they say, has a reputation to keep, a history to preserve. Silvassa, apparently, was the easiest coinage that came to the Portuguese mind when they first saw the land. Selva meaning wood or forest in Portuguese, is said to have been the root from which Silvassa was derived. Whatever the truth, it does not, in any way, change the beauty and loveliness of the forests here.


Dadra and Nagar Haveli—ceded to the Portuguese by the Marathas in 1779—were their last acquisitions in Gujarat and the first that they were ousted from. When the territories were liberated by local groups of Goa and Gujarat based nationalists—with more than tacit support from the Bombay police—Portugal went to the Hague International Court, to enforce its presumed right of passage. When the Court finally pronounced its verdict, each side claimed that it had upheld its position. And so, indeed, it had in a manner of speaking. It held the Portuguese right of passage per se, but agreed with the Indian view that it was no longer a viable right. As in any acrimonious litigation, the lawyers were the only gainers.


Nagar Haveli, according to our local guide and philosopher, had once been a bit haveli, a palace built by the tribal kings to sign peace treatise with the kings who raided their land. They had patterned it to be a Mansion of Peace. But time and covetousness have razed it to the ground. Now, only hyenas and jackals live over the mound, where once that mansion of peace stood.


Historical license notwithstanding, Nagar Haveli is, indeed, a mansion of peace. The forests are ample and luxuriant; the tribals friendly and the air just couldn’t be purer. Nor could the sound of silence be ever so delightfully audible. People with frayed nerves and broken hearts, or simply those in love with nature, cannot find a better refuge than the Mansion of Peace.


Situated along the Bombay-Ahmedabad highway, Silvassa—with its green lawns and the winding river Damanganga breaking the continuity of its dense forests—is the perfect setting for anglers and trekkers.


Places to visit in and around Silvassa must include Van Vihar, sloping terraced gardens and exotic blossoms on the stairway down to the river Sakatod. A forest rest house overlooks the endless acres of green. A deer park, a tribal museum and the cacti conservatory and green house and the other main attractions here.


Rustic wooden bridges lead to a delightful island-garden amidst the lake at Van Ganga. You can opt for boating in the peaceful company of swans or jog through the avenue of tall casuarina trees, Or, if you please, just laze around and do nothing.


Vandhara Garden, with its beautifully laid out lawns, is ideal for picnicking. Quaint, red, thatched huts provide shelter to the visitors, and an unobstructed view of Damanganga river.


Other attractions are the Bal Udyan, Tadkeshwara—a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, sun-rise and sunset points at Dudhani, nature trails in the forest, and elephant rides and tribal dances and music.


A word about the climate for prospective visitors will not be out of place here. The temperature here ranges from a maximum of 37 degrees Celsius to about 10 degrees Celsius in the winter months.


The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli can be accessed by road since it almost touches the Bombay-Baroda-Delhi (National Highway 8). The nearest railway station is Vapi. Silvassa is 180 kilometres from Bombay; 150 Kilometres from Surat; 160 kilometres from Nasik; 150 kilometres from Saputara; 27 and 17 kilometres from Daman and Vapi respectively.


Several good options for accommodation are available here.


The cottages at Chowda complex, Khanvel, fall under two categories. Luxury cottages are for Rs. 400 per suite; economy cottages for Rs. 100 per suite.


Circuit House, Silvassa; Government Rest House; Khanvel Vanvihar Tourist Complex; Chauda Khanvel; Government Circuit House, Madhuban; and Government Rest House, Madhuban, are the other options run by the administration.


Hotel Ras Resort; Kamat Holiday Resorts; Dan Tourist Hotel; Dartz Hotel; Give and Take Tourist Hotel and Restaurant; Woodlands Hotel; Chetan Guest House; Khanvel Pink Rose Tourist Hotel; Ras Snack Bar and Sakarwan Tourist Restaurant are the private options available here for staying as well as eating out.


DIU AND DAMAN


Gloria. That was her beautiful name, had already left Daman for Macao, when I looked for her. She was said that her world was getting smaller. Most of her neighbours, those from her faith of Catholics, had left for Portugal and some for Macao. The latter, it may be recalled, is still under Portuguese administration (until 1999) on the coast of mainland China. As a result, now there are more saints and lovely icons—in the deserted cathedrals and churches—than believers and sinners.


During the Portuguese times they used to say, “Damanense assenta praca e casa”. Literally, “those of Daman enlist in the army and marry.” As it was, they had few worldly ambitions. To adore and love was all that mattered. They adored the Virgin Mary in the lovely cathedral and they loved beautiful girls, girls like Maria da Gloria, Butoshinha to her friends.


Daman is a small place, only 72 square kilometres in area and with less than 50,000 people as its populace. The best season to visit the area is between November to March. Carry light woolens if you are coming here in winters.


The nearest railway station again is Vapi, 12 kilometres away. Alternatively, you can take a bus. Bus services operate at regular intervals between Vapi and Bombay, Ahmedabad, Surat, Saurashtra and Nasik. Once in Vapi, you can avail of the local Vapi-Daman-Vapi taxi or bus services.


Daman offers a fair number of accommodation options, from the up market down to the budget category. Hotel Mirmar, Hotel Gurukrupa and Hotel Diamond in the up market category; hotels Paradise, Mangal, Holiday Island, Sonman and Summer House in the mid market category; and hotels Marina, Shan-e-Punjab, Dipal Jyot, Sovereign, Café Elegant, Ratnakar, Ambassador and Duke in the budget category, are some of the places you can choose from.


If you are looking for the sea, you could try the Devka and Jampore beaches. Other places of interest here are the Se Cathedral in Moti Daman fort, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosemary, the forts of Moti Daman and Nani Daman, and the light house at Moti Daman.


Diu, locals believe, was the original Dwarka, the land of Krishna. It is a dwipa, an island, once the heart of the kingdom of Cambay. Then decay set in. The Portuguese were no more the sea power they once had been and so, in a fit of depression, they converted the fort (still awesome by all means) into a penitentiary for hardened criminals. The sea here is rough, the rocks treacherous, and the breaches in the fort wall nothing but an invitation to disaster. No one ever, jail keeper or sail bird, tried to escape. It would have been futile. And so the saying in Portuguese goes, “Quem Vae a diu nao volta.” In other words, those who go to Diu, never return. It was the painful wail of the wives of civil and military personnel posted in this treacherous place. Not that they perished or succumbed to incurable disease, they simply fell in love with other women—many of them the wives and daughters of local sailors who had sought their fortunes across the seas, in Africa, never to return.


Historically, this was the first landing point of the Parsis when they fled Persia. In a manner of speaking, Diu is a lesser known gem of India with many interesting things to see. What with the strong Portuguese influence visible in its buildings—the main gateway, the St. Paul’s Church and the church of St. Francis of Assisi, and even in the maze of streets in the city. Most important, of course, is the fort constructed by the Portuguese in 1547. Its impregnable disposition and piles of cannon balls still lying around, are indeed sights right out of another time. Diu has come into recent limelight because of its virgin beaches. Nagoa beach is, by far, the best here.