those looking to invest in Goa, row apartments are seen as a wiser alternative to independent Goan homes, which are difficult to maintain. “We saw this trend of people moving towards village life. A lot of people choose Assagao for the cuisine and its quaint environment," says Mohit Aurora, a partner at Gulmohar Builders, which has built Amado Villas, a gated community of row apartments and villas in Assagao. The price of these villas starts from ₹ 2 crore. Look for more indulgent alternatives and that figure climbs to a sobering ₹ 8 crore.

View Full Image A clean-up drive organized by the Aware Citizens of Assagao group. Photo: Forca Goa Foundation

Friends in quiet places

Assagao is a village of less than 4,000 people. It takes only a few daysas Gandu and Brahman Naman also shot his festival-touring revenge thriller Garbage in Assagao.

Incidentally, garbage is an unusual but crucial socializing device here. Till recently, Assagao hill was the village dumping ground, the rest was discarded on no-man’s land between villages or burnt. But that changed when Felly Gomes, one of Assagao’s most popular residents, who has lived in the village since “the time when rent in a Portuguese home cost ₹ 35 per month", began sending out a dry-waste collection team to homes in the area, and drove the local panchayat to take over the job last month. Gomes also inspires citizen activism through the Aware Citizens of Assagao group—a 90-member WhatsApp group that talks plastic and policy, with around 40 showing up for meetings.

One factor that