It's not all roses and pineapples in India. Having dinner one night in a charming restaurant in Arambol, tucked inside a coconut grove, I looked up and saw that there is a net hanging over the entire restaurant area. It didn't look like a mosquito net, but somebody did go through the trouble of carefully installing it over the tables and the kitchen. I asked my sister Deva about it, and it turned out that the net is indeed for catching something much bigger than mosquitoes - coconuts. Every year dozens of people are injured by falling coconuts. The fruit is pretty heavy, and dropping from 20-30 meters above ground can crack your head open.
Having escaped the coconuts, the next danger comes from monkeys. The roads are hazardous enough without them, but when they jump on you from a tree while you're riding your motorcycle, it can end up pretty badly - a couple of friends of Deva ended up with major injuries this way (it's unclear if the monkey survived - after the two riders fell off the bike the monkey was left riding it by himself.)
One of the online guides I read listed 13 other dangers in India. For the full list, check http://www.goacom.com/ad.php?aid=23. Turns out that it's not good to be sick. Check for instance the 11th entry, regarding the hospitals in the region:
... the former Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital in Ribandar as well as the Asilo Hospitals in Margao and Mapuça are sub-standard. In short : Do not cause yourself to be ill in Goa - anywhere, for that matter.
But the best part is left to the end, and I'll quote #13 in full:
Paedophilia : Of late, Goa has received some attention, albeit unwelcome, relating to this totally abhorrent crime by tourists against children. Almost every single paedophile identified so far, has been from Europe. If you are a paedophile, please do not practice it in Goa or on Goans . . . or anywhere, for that matter. They are virulently opposed to it and have been sensitized to this offence.
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