Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Mar 21: India's reputation as an unsafe destination for tourists has gained notoriety the world over following a spate of incidents of sexual violence. These incidents have given a general impression that ‘rape epidemics' or ‘rape culture' is omnipresent here in our country. As such foreign tourists especially women tourists heave a sigh of relief at the very mention of India and others think not twice but a hundred times before taking a chance to visit our country.

However, French couple Francoise and Patrick Marchant find India's charm irresistible. They are surprised, elated and quite thrilled to find something new, extraordinary and exciting every time they visit India. They have visited India about 15 times in the last 15 years and they have visited all the important parts of the country both in the north and the south. "We are yet to see the North Eastern parts of India which we plan to tour during our next or subsequent visit," says Francoise, who does all the talking for both. Patrick is less loquacious but is a keen listener and observer. They say their affair with India it is not just an infatuation but a long-standing relationship based on love, respect and admiration. This is very much evident from the fact that they have named their granddaughter as "India”.

Patrick and Francoise

Maud and Thibault

For Francoise and Patrick their romance with India began in 2000 when they came to India for the first time and came to Pondicherry to visit their son. The couple's younger son Thibault Marchant was studying geography and environment at the French institute in Pondicherry and since then they have fallen in love with India. "When we came here for the first time it was mainly because we were curious. And now we feel this bonding continue forever," Francoise says with a broad grin.

Senior Marchants visit India at least once or twice a year. They stay in Goa with their son and his family and plan their tour to different parts of India. Thibault and his journalist wife spend six months in Goa and remaining time in France. There is also another reason why the Marchants have so much affinity towards India. Their son Thibault, an environmentalist who is doing research on different species of Mangroves in Goa, met his life partner Maud Wipper Furth in India through a common friend from Netherlands when she was on a visit to India and may be that is also the reason why they have named their child as ‘India'. "We feel at home in India and would love to come and explore it more," says Patrick. Though he is not a good conversationalist Francoise says he has a razor sharp memory and she makes use of it to recall all the names of all the places they have visited in India.

Thibault and Maud are doing research as well as promoting tourism in a unique way through their boutique resorts. Thibault's subject of interest is Mangroves of Goa and according to him there are 428 species of Mangroves in Goa. The couple is promoting tourism in Goa in their own unique way. They manage a boutique resort in Goa. They have set four Tipis and also a river lounge in their home in Goa using only natural products like bamboos and other environment-friendly products. Their property is situated at about 5 minutes walk from Gaglibag beach and about 25 minutes from Palolem beach. They rent out tipi accommodation along with river lounge garden to tourists who want to experience a typical holiday in Goa enjoying the lush mangroves and a view of the fascinating seashore. There is no A/C, the mud floor made up of typical age old Indian style using cow dung and water has to be drawn from the well. The tipis are equipped with open air showers and eco-toilets and therefore are eco-friendly.

Fond Memories

A spate of attacks especially on women in India in the recent past had its impact on tourism in India. The controversy generated by the documentary "India's Daughter” also might have given rude shock to many tourists about India in general. Now they might think not twice but an umpteen number of times before deciding to come to India. However, both Francoise and Patrick have nothing but fond memories of their India days. "As far as we are concerned India is quite humane and very well treasure the priceless moments we have experienced here. We have made lot of friends in India. We feel as if we learn something new and exciting during every visit. We are also touched by the Indian way of hospitality," Francoise declares.

She continues, "I like the South more than the North," because, "south is more refined, people are quite polite, authentic. They are also quite helpful and it is quite clean as compared to the North. We find the culture here is much more vibrant. Every tour is exciting and awe-inspiring. There is ethnic diversity, different languages, cultural changes, changes in clothes and food habits for almost every 100 kms or even less”. Sarvesh Rao, of Team Mangaluru that represents India in various international kite festivals had met them in Mangaluru in 2006 for the first time through the contacts of a mutual friend from France. He says "the Marchants are in awe of India and they are very vocal about their awe for our country. They like to travel and explore and they also savor Indian food." The Marchants prefer vegetarian food the Masala Dosa being their favourite.

Sarvesh Rao and his teammates had met the Marchants in Mangaluru in bizarre circumstances, the memories of which are fresh in the minds of both the Marchants and Team Mangaluru members. The Marchants were returning from Shravanabelagola towards Mangaluru in 2006. It was a rainy day and near Gundya, the car in which they were travelling skidded when the driver was forced to apply breaks following application of sudden break by the vehicle ahead of him. The car would have fallen into a deep ditch after skidding but for a bush of bamboo trees that saved them from further catastrophe. Both of them were wounded in that accident. Patrick who was badly hurt in the accident recalls that the passengers of the buss which was just behind them had helped them in their hour of need by taking them to a nearby hospital. The couple was surprised and touched by the help given by the bus passengers who were strangers to them. Sarvesh recalls "When I saw him for the first time there was a big bandage on his head and his shirt had blood stains all over. The first thing we had to do was to buy him a new shirt as their luggage was in the car”.

Francoise who was heading PACT, an organisation that works towards conserving and up-keeping of heritage houses in association with the French Government before her retirement is still actively involved in various social service activities. Patrick is a retired Engineer. Francoise has already enrolled for learning Sanskrit and has shown great progress in learning. Her Sanskrit name is Malathi. Gurudath Baliga whose family is in close touch with Marchants, ever since his visit to France along with Team Mangaluru, had introduced her to a Sanskrit teacher. He says "Francoise has great grasping ability and is a quick learner. She is keen to learn the language and that makes the difference”.

The couple left India a few days ago but they have already finalised their next tour of India in a couple of months. I met them during their recent visit to World Konkani Centre on March 8, 2015 where a day-long programme was organised to celebrate international Women's Day. They are also keen to associate with WKC in the field of education with special focus on the girl child.