FEELING LIKE A GOAN GODDESS

They say, "Go to Goa, party harder, get drenched in boose and walk red-eyed on grass. It is Goa. Goa is high, hyper and hippie." I heard that all and knew that there is much more to the specified highs here. On a psychadelic trip away from the horns and hustles, this part of India has to offer the most well defined culture, heritage and essence of it's own existence.

Having quit my corporate enslavement lately, this was a much awaited exploration of my life. Being a mesmerized traveler on Konkan routes for five years, I was very much fascinated by the tattooed firangs and the Kokam squashes at Margao Railway Station. I used to travel alone in my two-tier side berth most of the times and watched everything pass by, with a book in hand, sitting under the blanket. I never could relay it to anybody but there was an intuitive connection to this part of India. The moment I was offered an official visit here, all I could say without a second thought was a gigantic "yes".

My journey begun in a sleeper coach of Gandhidham Nagercoil Express accompanied by a strict Catholic Aunt from nowhere. She initially started the conversation on "ifs and buts" of me travelling alone, but soon fell for the thoughts of how amazing it is to travel alone and explore. She got down at Karmali and waved the most heavy goodbye. Here on, my Goan travel diaries kicked on levels signified.

Madgaon was the exit from the train and the feeling of being unleashed after two years from Ahmedabad was a goosebumps giving aura. The heat was obviously bruising on the skin, but compromises were mandatory as it was Goa. The first gastro-orgasm was from amazing mackerel fry and xacuti curry on rice. The first beach I happened to visit in the evening was Colva in North Goa and surely had this fun and angered embarrassment when some other tourist approached me with high-end angreji,"Excuse me maam', Can I please CATCH one photo of you!?!?" The reciprocation was obvious "no" and my mind surely tripped on the fact that it is not photography but photo catching for him. Met my local friends here who accompanied me in the rest of my Goan journey. Strolling in the market after the crowded headache that marred the feeling of being on the shore, I happened to visit this antique gallery which had crazy collection of art. The art was too much on the pocket and all I could buy from this place was a chillum and glares for my friend.

Second day started with two mugs of coffee and buns from the local bakery. It was one of the best coffee I had it in long time. Met Mr.Pascal, the driver of the hired cab, who straight on took us to Abyss Marine Fish Aquarium which on a review would be rated 3 stars of grand five. On insisting, we were taken to Sinquerim Beach to experience the Dolphin Jet Boat Ride. It was nothing new till two dolphins took a dance in air right infront of my eyes at a distance of my one long hand. I was stunned to see something emerging from the deep sea, splashing water all around, jumping back again with such grace, to emerge out of water somewhere else again. It was an experience of its own. Saw many people feeling sea sick, puking off their guts, missing the whole ride and making me laugh with questions like,"paani bohot gehra hoga".

Senquerim Jet Boat Ride

It was "Dil Chahta Hai" that followed and we were dropped at Castella de Aguada. This was the place where this famous number of 90s was filmed. After walking on the edge and off it, finally the stomach started growling till we reached De Candolim Deck in Candolim which offered decent mixed seafood sizzler at reasonable price. Here, somebody suggested to go on a cruise and see the local dance they perform. Cruise that we boarded just had drunk gujjus who were into drunk eve-teasing. The discotheque was a mess with people standing with their Kingfisher cans and few going ruckus as in it is a shaadi wala baarat. The only good part about the whole cruise and no-cruise were the visibly huge in-water casinos that stood intact with pride. Hence, we concluded that Mr.Pascal has not so happening travel choices.

At the same night we planned to hire bikes the next day and go on the roads of South Goa. I googled searched and thought Betul beach would be perfect to visit as it was least explored. We were high on speed and the God of the rains blessed us being very generous. This is where the thrill started as we lost our way and we lost each other with no network connectivity in the mobiles. I was the pillion and my rider went straight into the interiors of South Goa and to a surprise, we found Betul after two hours of direction seeking. It is a rocky beach with the beauty that would just last forever in my heart. This was the place where I was acquainted to the real catholic culture of Goa. There were houses having Portuguese architecture, the ladies wore frocks carrying small purses, there were chapels and seminaries, there were guys playing football, a lot of Messi and Kaka T-shirts all around, the candles were lit near small prayer houses, there were bakeries, konkani was all around the ears and foremost this was the area which had least liquor outlets in comparison to North Goa. It was a different world and as it was raining, sadly we couldnt capture any pictures. All we could do was to feel the openness and peaceful reception of South Goa. I still have the rear view mirror of the bullet we drove on as a souvenir. The story behind how that mirror came off during the rains, how it landed in my bag and how we forgot to return it has become a historical instance of its own kind.

The markets here were stuffed with the smell and redness of kokam, kokam squashes and syrups, exotic spices, sea food pickles, flowers, fresh fish and the skirts from "Finding Fanny Fernandes". The dealers could tell you the whole concept and history of the thing concerned in the most caliberated accent I have heard till now. There is a huge difference in the Hindu, Goan and Portuguese cuisine and this varied contrast makes me feel myself on the seventh cloud for the available choices I can eat and choose from. I would take the privilege to mention the world famous cashew nuts and cashew fenny from Goa. The same night we ate the kind of mackerel fry that tasted "orgasmic" and left me mouth watering even after the stomach was dead stuffed.

Caldo Verde:Portuguese Potato Soup

Being busy with work for two days on a go, all I could manage was lots of sleep, like a dead corpse, everytime I reached my room based in Madgaon. The only thing I learnt during the course of these two days was the way Ponda is written and Phonda is pronounced. The meals served in this part of Goa had definite kokam water as a beverage that would help in efficient digestion of the chunk served in the huge plate. Do I sound obsessed to kokam? Yes, obviously. From here, I remembered the visit to Bassilica of Bom Jesus where tourists come compulsarily as it is a declared must visit in Goa. The body of Saint Francis of Assisi is kept here as a immortal remain of religious belief. I visited it because my mother had told me a lot about it and I respected her beliefs attached to the place. As I entered the church, all I saw were people all around clicking pictures and astonished faces by the grandaeur of the architecture the church had. I knelt down to pray feeling a little awkward cause there were very few like me in the vicinity, but on my soul purpose of being there "I prayed".

Saint Francis of Assisi and immortal remains

Outside Basilica of Bom Jesus

The pillars of the church

We were introduced to the new driver, Mr.Abdul who was a travel addict of a very different calibre. I was flabbergasted to the way he spoke about all the least explored places in Goa which would make me brag on the travel experiences. He took me to Rachol Seminary that day and introduced me to the 97 years old man in the reception. The old man had the most life fulfilling smile that resembled a new born baby who is 9 hours and 7 minutes old. A student at the seminary named, Nathan was called upon to show us the place. He mistook us as preachers from a different dais and laughed his way out when wronged. Showing us this epic building which inherited the Christianity of Portuguese era in India, Nathan just left each one of us spell bound. There is a preserved construction of Saint.Constantine here, who was a claimed public figure in olden times and supposedly the Christians used to devote to him green bangles for motherhood and things of its own concern. His legacy obviously died as time passed by. Waving goodbye and saying "Namaskara. Thank you for visiting. May yeshu bless you", Nathan left us till our cab. Oh!!, he was such a considerate gentleman who loved my name.

To give a break in between and before I miss mentioning it, The Big Foot geographically placed in Madgoan has an amazing Mario de Miranda gallery which offers cards, mugs, ashtrays, tiles, books, travel diaries and book marks from the works of the legend. I proudly bought everything that was within the range of 100 bucks to add to my collection.

As many quotes on sarcasm say that good things end soon, our cab had a technical problem leaving us stranded on the road near a restaurant and bar that was closed. The mechanics were not available for that phase of day and we had to shift our asses to a new cab. I so had this heaviness of letting go off Abdul Bhai, but life is all about moving on and living with the present. Drove long afar to Arambol beach which was a pupil dilating place and happened to be my second favorite in this season. The new driver en route played the most weirdest of the songs. One of the songs being,"palang tod raat" gave me the strangest thought about the love of music that the chap had. More on, the move was Arambol beach which was a silent destination and peace abiding resort location (people who love silence and undisturbed presence will get mad here).

Agonda Beach

Who doesn't love shopping and why wouldn't I? Last jackpot of the day was Palolem beach which is a shopping mecca for all the people living a hippie glamorous life. From German Silver to lovely beach wear, the best chillums and ashtrays, leather accessories to shoes, psychedelically embroidered T-shirts in all the sizes and colors, Trance CDs, Rastafarian stuff and what not!! I put my well deserved investment on an anklet and got the other one as a gift from the shop owner there. Well, the generosity would depend on your communication skills and foremost the other stuff you would buy from there shop on good bargain. The ladies in the shops here who would stand in sarees and wear nathanis might just shock you with their English accent and the plethora of international languages they can speak. On the lootmart, they are capable of selling a bag worth 150 bucks to a firang for 1200 INR, but to fellow Indians they are kind keeping a nominal profit margin. Exclaiming, "Ok akka, Thank you. Bye" would just mean a comment which deserves a stand-up ovation,"Kyun bye bolti hai? Us dukaan se itna saara samaan li aur mere se ek hi T-Shirt li". All I could say was,"Kya akka aap bhi, next time aati hai mein aapke shop pe pehle".

Palolem Beach and the amazing lady

The kind Abdul Bhai invited us for dinner the same night and his wife served us chicken biryani and slurping kheer. He took a group photo with all of us in his mobile and getting emotional counted us as few best people he has come across in life till now (that aaaaaawwww moment). He managed to get us inside United Breweries the last day, where Asia's strongest beer and spirit is produced. From masking, lauter running, warting, fermentation, cropping, filtering and bottling, we saw it all and smelled it all. There were no free samples given, as few had expected and we could just laugh about it.

Had to board the Happa Express at 7:15am and having an super early morning just meant hearing the train delayed announcement even before entering the station. The train was delayed by 8 hours and extension just meant the last visits on the run again. Went to Colva beach for a morning walk and then forwarded to Krishna vegetarian restaurant in Madgaon that served super caffeine, tomato omelette and seera-upma combo. We also drove to Dauna Paula beach which happened to be a disappointment for me. I actually climbed all the stairs to sit on the bench which had a nominal sea view. The weather was dehydrating and I caught up with lime water and chicken burger on hunger tantrums. Marching back on wheels to the railway station and getting straight into the train was the last resemblance of the travel diary. Reached Ahmedabad at 10 am in the morning. I shivered by immense cold at night to look at the blazing sun and smile,"Goa happened this year and I am surprised".

Travel alone and feel the bliss