Sands of time

It took less than 10 years for Diveagar to transform from a fishing hamlet to a tourist hotspot. But with the Lord watching over it, the change wasn8217;t difficult

The only time Diveagar found itself in news was when the locals claimed they had dug up a gold Ganesh from one of the supari baghs gardens in the village. That was 1997, a Ganesh Chaturthi day. The Lord got a new abode, the Swarn Ganesh temple, and presided over Diveagar8217;s transformation 8212;from a fishing hamlet to a must-see getaway in the Konkan.

For the last 10 years, the Lord has been watching as tourists stop by at the temple to pay their obeisance. But He also spots the doubters as they whiz past on their way to the beach, in their beachwear and baseball caps. So when I reached the temple, past the Sai Ghat and dripping in the humidity, I made a promise : 8216;I8217;ll stop on my way back8217; and moved on.

Diveagar8217;s population of 5,000 works on coconut and supari farms, but it8217;s tourism8212; and the gold Ganesh8212;that brings in the money. 8220;After they dug up the Ganesh idol, the tourists started coming in droves. The residents converted their hutments into the 8216;bed and breakfast8217; kind of accommodation to cater to the visitors,8221; said Krishnakanth Dhanawade , owner of Mauli Resort.

Like all seasoned tourism hotspots, Diveagar has learnt to make space for everyone. Enveloped in a cover of coconut trees, lay Ambiance Cottages. 8220;We built these cottages a year ago. It8217;s Rs 700 a day for a cottage and if you are looking for a dormitory, it8217;s Rs 400,8221; said Vijay Patwardhan, owner of Ambiance.

Then the beach. It8217;s this five-km strip that has travel bugs smitten. 8220;Unscarred and sparkling,8221; said one of the online descriptions of the beach. We plodded through the bylanes of Diveagar, then through a dense thicket of bottle-green Belu trees, our minds set on the vast sea and its 8220;sparking8221; beach. And then suddenly, the terrain opened up to enormity. There, exactly as I was told, lay the beach8212;white and shimmering.

After years of fuel combustion, late night orgies and invidious toil in Mumbai, here was a chance to spend time in pure, unadulterated rapture.

The schism between heaven and Earth seemed to stretch beyond infinity, a couple of boats bounced on the lazy waves, a few inhabitants three, to be precise went about their tasks along the foamy shore, while I drank in the splendour of the sight. Brooding hills and the fertile woods fringed the beach and I did not mind the crabs that scurried.

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It was only when a hunger cramp rudely jolted me out of my hypnosis that I realized that I had less than six hours to explore the rest of the coastal beauty.

We stopped by at a hut, one of the several B038;B accommodations close to the beach. The house had typically Konkan architecture. Food for the guests is cooked at the oti a verandah or porch in the rear, the floors are caked with cow-dung and the roofs are thatched. 8220;Tourists pick my house over the resort. It takes them back in time because of the architecture. And what8217;s a holiday if you have to remain confined to the same concrete surroundings, away from nature,8221; asked Santosh Sashikant Potnis, out host.

As it was time to wrap up, I remembered my promise. We stopped by at the Swarn Ganesh Temple. After paying obeisance to the 8220;ten-thousand-year-old pure gold Ganpati idol8221;, we strolled into the nursery in the backyard. The temple priest8217;s son, Uday Bapat, runs the nursery that has black pepper, nutmeg, shendri exported to Europe to be used as food colour, lemon basil, madhunashak, natural vanilla and white chilies.
The yield is good and Bapat knows the Lord is watching8212;watching over Diveagar.