From a vagabond to mutli-lingual tour guide, tourism success story from Goa

From a vagabond to mutli-lingual tour guide, tourism success story from Goa

Note: this article was first published in NOV 25, 2008

BY ARMSTRONG VAZ      

Can you fathom the idea of a vagabond, make the transition to a multi-lingual bird guide - in the rarest of rare cases that happens - and that holds true for thirty-nine year old Shiva Mandre, who speaks an astonishing twenty-five languages.

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Can you fathom the idea of a vagabond, collecting scrap for a living and sleeping on the streets make the transition from a hopeless, helpless construction worker to a multi-lingual bird guide - in the rarest of rare cases that happens - and that holds true for thirty-nine year old Shiva Mandre, who speaks an astonishing twenty-five languages, as he dabbles in various tourism related trade in the beach-side resort state of Goa in India.

Universally Newspapers serve the role of disseminating news and help in opinion making. But hold on, they serve yet another purpose, if one follows the life story of Shiva - changing the course of his life from a construction worker in 1985 to bird watching guide in 2003.

Shiva’s habit of reading newspapers got him into the business of selling newspapers at Colva Beach in Goa from 1991, a move which has brought about a sea change in the life of Shiva. This Karantaka-born has also attained amazing mastery over twenty-five languages, thanks to his interaction with foreign tourists and his determination to overcome all odds.

Since 2003, he has stopped selling newspapers but continues to sell post cards and books. He also gives bicycles on rent and guides tourists on bird watching trips, while his wife conducts cooking classes for the tourists in Colva.

Antonio Alvares and his family just could not ignore the salutations addressed to them by the tourist guides the moment they alighted from their car at Colva beach in South Goa. Among them was a slim, medium height person who was trying to draw their attention, at one of the Goan beaches, which is frequented by foreigners from different regions, speaking a host of languages.

Salut (hi), Bienvenue (welcome), Ciao- hello, good morning- buongio noro, how are you- come strai, Ola (hello) (welcome)

The guide started with French, followed with Italian and tried his luck with Portuguese. Alvares hearing his native language from a guide could not hold back for a moment and wanted to know more about the shabbily dressed man. Alvares replied back in Portuguese and what surprised him was the fluency and command that the beach hawker, Shiva had over the language.

French, Spanish and Portuguese were not the only languages that he could speak and write. But he has also the knowledge of twenty-five different languages.

At first sight, one might dismiss Shiva as a man who has mastered the craft of salesmanship, but you could not just dismiss a beach hawker trying to draw the attention of the foreigners by speaking in their native tongue, in order to promote his sales of post cards.

Wearing short pants and long-sleeve multi-coloured shirt, Shiva carries two jute-made hand bags. One of the bags hangs on to his cycle hand bar, while the other hangs from his shoulder. He seemed to be out of the place where tourists with bermuda shorts and T-shirts is a common sight.

Unshaven face and brownish tint on his teeth, Shiva carries post cards and books in his bags, which he sells to the foreigners. But this is not the only thing he was associated with. Renting bicycles, cooking classes and guiding tourists on bird-watching trips, were some of the tourism related activities in which he has divided his time.

“My journey to learn languages started in 1992, I started to learn languages when I stared to come to Colva to sell newspapers, where I would meet western tourists and so as to be able to speak to them in their own language, I started to learn languages. I started learning the languages by taking notes and frequently practicing the languages with the foreign tourists.”

“I learnt the languages through the help of numerous tourists who visited the beach. In between selling papers, I will meet people of different nationalities. I always carried a pen and a note book with me. Sometimes I wrote on the book and sometimes tried to memorize and go home and write in my book.”

From the three languages he knew – English, Kannada (his mother tongue) and Konkani in 1992, he has increased his language fluency.

“I speak English, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Urdu, Swedish, Hindi, Norwegian, Finish, Danish, Polish, Welsh, Gallic, Spanish, Basque, Hungarian, Mouri, Japanese, Slovenian, Russian, Hebrew and a little bit of many other languages. In school, I studied Hindi, Kannada and English”, said Shiva.

But that’s not the only way he has learnt the languages.

“For two years, I have studied Italian at the Goa university in 2000-2001 and also in 2004 -2005, besides fourth months of French at the Goa University, seven months of Portuguese at Indo-Portuguese Friendship Society and six weeks of German in Salgaocar college in Panjim.”

Shiva would sell 100 to 150 copies of Times of India; India’s largest selling English newspapers to foreign tourists.

“I was buying Times of India for two rupees in Margao and cycled all the way to Colva- a distance of five kilometers and was selling it for 2.50 rupees until I met young Jewish guy from Norway called David, he told me 'sell them at 10 rupees then I can live well and it will not hurt tourists much.”

While sleeping on the streets of Margao city and all the associated hardships that he faced , it could not stop him from pursuing his education. He enrolled himself for the XII standard in July, 1989 and finally passed out in April, 1992. He has more plans in store. Being a master in twenty-five languages, Shiva’s immediate plan is to learn more German and French. He also wants to complete his graduation in Arts stream and to complete his masters’ degree in French language.

Before selling newspapers on the beach, he was a vagabond.

“I was born in Hole Alur in Dharwad District in Karnataka and came to Goa on 14th May 1985 and was paid 12 rupees a day as construction worker, the job which I left soon. Thereafter I stayed near the old Margao Railway station, and slept on the platform of the railways station in Margao city. Here, I wrote other peoples letters for a small fee. Because they could not write and collected old things to sell as scrap.”

During his stay at the railway station, he saw many a person’s dying to different diseases and also some being murdered in drunken brawls or some one’s head being crushed by a stone in a bid to settle old scores. And the place gave a stinky spell of urine all around and human excreta all over the tracks left there by trains which stopped at the station.

For the next few years, he survived on account of the help of many people from Goa. Selling newspapers made a number of changes in his life. One thing led to another and here he was selling cards and books to tourists along with the newspapers.

From books he read about England, he got immersed himself into studying the postal codes of England.

"I met a woman called Cathy from East Ardsley, who sent me map of UK with all the postal areas on it and also a man called Danny Dorling from Bristol University in Clifton BS8, he sent me a book called Post Codes A New Geography and some other booklets, which made me easier to study the UK postal areas."

His other interest is linked to nature - bird watching.

Since I was a physically weak boy, I walked long distances and was interested in nature and plants, animals, birds, insects I got evolved into a bird guide.

In 2003 I trained myself to be a bird guide, because, I like to study birds, I enjoy the bird watching trips, I do. And the most satisfying moment has been seeing four kinds of king fisher’s, in one view was the most exciting and also two different families of peacocks on one trip.

But for all the hardships in life, he has a few more goals to achieve.

According to a Greek saying, 'call no person a happy until that person is dead.'

“I did not have relatives but found friends quickly in Goa to help me and made up this poem, “he says.

“Friends”

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“ I was at sea, my boat was on fire.

But my friends saved me.

Living is hard and dying is easy.

So they say, but for me, Living is easy and dying is hard.

Because, my friends never let me die.

They bail me out all the time.

All the time.”

Till then Shiva’s lifeboat sails.