Selling newspapers on Goa beach changed his life

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 thirty-nine year old, Shiva Mandre, who has a fluency in twenty-five languages.

 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 of thirty-nine year old, Shiva Mandre, changing the course of his life from a homeless construction worker in 1985 to a 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 and started 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.

 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 cannot 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 hang 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.

 “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. Since 1992, I started coming to the beaches and started learning the languages taking notes and frequently practicing the languages with the foreign tourists”, said Shiva.

Shiva’s story is not only a story of a migrant who made his way to Goa in search of employment in the year 1985, but what follows is a story of struggle against all odds for the next seven years. He slept on the streets and his home was the old Margao Railway Station.

“I came to Goa on 14th May, 1985, and started working on a building construction site in Ponda city. I was paid Rs 12 per day. After a few days I came to Margao City and spent my nights on the streets until I got a room in Colva village in the year 1992”, Shiva revealed.

Shiva says that before he came to Goa he went around to some other cities in search of a good place where he could work and earn a livelihood. He preferred Goa and he has never regretted his choice. “Goa is a nice place to stay and many people have helped me to survive in the past few years. Most interesting thing about Goa is its good people and natural beauty”, added Shiva.

Recollecting his business of selling newspapers at Colva beach he said, “I loved reading newspapers since my childhood and the idea to sell newspapers was evolved due to my interest. In 1992, I started buying the newspapers from Margao city and cycled my way to Colva beach to sell them to the tourists.

In 2003, I stopped selling newspapers. The business was good till it lasted. With the advent of the internet, a few people were interested in newspapers. Hence, I stopped selling newspapers”.

While selling newspapers for a period of eleven years on the Goa coast, Shiva diversified his trade to sell post cards, books and later trained himself to be a guide for bird-watching trips.

Sleeping on the streets of Margao city and all the other hardships that Shiva faced 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.