GOA

It got set up like this ....

12th, 13th Aug - Saturday & Sunday
14th Aug - 'Holiday in lieu of long weekend', courtesy the Company
15th Aug - Independence Day
16th Aug - Janmashtami

So, 12th - 16th was a straight 5 days of declared holidays after the 'holiday drought' prevalent since the last holiday in May.

Too good an oppurtunity to be missed, me thought, as did Praveen, Divesh & Sid. Arni had to prepare for a certification exam, Ajay had commitments at work, Anu faced domestic compulsions & Neeral, well, he is on the East coast & coming over to the West coast was a bit prohibitive for him. So, it was the 4 of us who would be leaving for Goa on the 11th.

It didn't start off well. For starters, we didn't have confirmed tickets on the Madras Vasco Express. Travelling in the general compartment for 14 hours was not a thought to be relished. Add to that an auto ride from BTM to Yesvantpur that lasted for an hour & a half (& cost ~180) & you realize that our 'ride' had already begun! Plus, the train was a good 3 hours late, which meant that we'd have to sit somewhere on the floor of the crowded station (all of Bangalore seemed headed to Goa) while trying not to freeze from the really cold wind blowing across (smart asses that we are, none of us had packed in anything warm, while the rest of the populace walked around in leather jackets).

The train finally chugged in at 12:30 a.m. & each of us managed to get a berth to sleep on .... it was a miracle! Spent the night sleeping peacefully & dreaming of Goa's beaches & stuff that I can't mention here.

The morning of the 12th dawned as we found ourselves high up on the Western Ghats. This section of the track was unbelievably scenic, with steep walls of rock rising up on one side of the train & sheer drops hundreds of feet below on the other. The monsoons were in full force & the train seemed to be passing through clouds which were thick & all around. The forests were extremely lush & green, prompting Sid to mention "yahaan bahut saanp hoga" a number of times. The monotony was broken by tunnels (a total of 17) & waterfalls, wondeful white streams of sparkling, bubbling water which would descend down the rock faces on one side of the train, pass UNDER the tracks, & fall away towards the valley below on their way down to the plains. One of them, called Doodhsagar Falls was especially huge & produced an awesome spectacle as the train passed right in front of it.

Along the way are stations called Castle Rock & Culem, which tell you that you ain't in Karnataka anymore .... the train has crossed over into Goan territory. Call it irony or what you will, but here we were, enjoying the beauty of nature high up on the mountains, while on the way to a seaside vacation! That's India for you.

The train pulled into Margaon station at around 4 in the evening & Swapnil called up to say that he'd be there in 5 minutes. Div had arrived earlier & checked in at the hotel. Soon enough, my 'jigri dost' from the best days of my life showed up in his silver Honda City. Apart from a bit of weight gain, he was the same old Swapnil I knew back in school. That, & the fact that he had become awfully busy, staying glued to his Moto Razr V3.

The first thing that hits you about Goa (especially if you've reached there from a place like Bangalore) is how laid-back & relaxed the people & the place is. I was beginning to wonder why Margaon looked like there was a curfew on when Swapnil rightly stated, "abe ye Goa hai, Bangalore nahin. Idhar 10 baje dukaan khulta hai aur 2 baje bandh, Phir shaam ko 5 baje se subah 5 baje tak." Of course, he was referring to the bars & pubs which are as prevalent here as are traffic jams in Bangalore. And this was the off-season! God knows what this place turns into during the tourist season.

Swapnil had booked us into Hotel Sea Coin right on Colva beach & that's where we met Div. It's a great feeling meeting old friends after long periods of time. Soon we were off to Benaulim beach, a beach known only to locals, according to Swapnil, to watch the sunset. It's a fantastic beach (see the pic). The only people present were the 5 of us, some fishermen casting their nets & a couple making out on a bench on the far side. Foster's in hand, the 4 of us caught up on old times & future plans, while Swapnil was busy chatting up to his Bombay based girlfriend. Soon, it was time to return. Goa has narrow, albeit very well maintained roads, & it's a fantastic feeling cruising on them at 70-80 kmph after doing a max of 10 kmph on Bangalore's roads for the last 1 year.

Dinner time & we decided to move into Kentuckee, the neighbouring eating joint by the Colva beach, where a live band added to the great atmosphere. Goa has some serious hotties coming over from Europe & half the time was spent in checking out the femmes. Coming to the food, the Pomfret served at this place was too good to be true, huge sizes, non-smelly & absolutely fresh. Div wasted no time in ordering one & Prav was made to pick up the tab (by common consent). Thanks dude .... the dinner was wonderful.

Swapnil returned from town at around 11 in the night, & while the rest retired to the hotel rooms for the night, Swap & me decided to catch up old times whilst sitting in his Honda on the beachfront, the Sony Xplod pumping out the beat. It's been more than 10 years since we parted company, due to circumstances that still stir up some bitter memories & half the time was spent in discussing how life had been such a bitch since then. I've had my share of ups & downs (more downs than ups, really) & as Swap said, he'd learned a lot since then too. He's had his share of female company & had turned wiser for the experience .... but still couldn't help wonder why there was still no girl in my life .... oh well. He was leaving for Bombay the next day. One thing is for sure, this is one guy who was, and remains, a great friend .... I haven't found many like him. The late time did not make a difference to the local populace, gangs of girls & guys kept driving up & going down to bathe at the well-lit beach .... at 2 in the morning .... I love this place!

The next day (the 13th), we hired a cab which was gonna show us around all of the places worth seeing in Goa. That meant 2 huge temples, 2 huger churches (the Basilica of Bom Jesus & the Se Cathedral), some beaches, Dona Paula, the Panjim riverfront, Aguada fort (the one made famous by Dil Chahta Hai) & sundry other spots on the way. Our driver, Laxman took little time in developing a great rapport & was soon enjoying his driving (& cigarettes) as much as we were enjoying the sights of his state. The churches were some sight, huge structures built long ago by the Portuguese & the calm & silence prevalent inside them was to be experienced to be believed. Couldn't help imagining what it must have been like back then during the time the Portuguese ruled these parts. Aguada fort had the 4 of us posing at the very spot where Saif, Aamir & Akshaye delivered those famous lines, "10 saal baad ek-doosre se milna to door, .... something, something". In the meantime, lunch had me sampling some Feni & the guys buying up some more Feni & Port Wine for the people back at Bangalore.

It was all topped off by a river cruise on the Mandovi (to the point where it meets the Arabian Sea & back) during the evening. And during the course of the whole day, we kept running into packs of Gujju tourists who seemed to be following us everywhere we went .... or was it the other way round?

Headed back to Kentuckee for dinner & this time we decided to drink ourselves silly. So, it was beer & Bacardi all around till 2 in the morning & this time Div picked up the tab. Plus, Div being the cigarette connoisseur that he is, had brought along the best of the fags .... 555, B&H, Marlboro & these were passed around freely. Hail the great Lambu! Then there was the waiter, named Bagh Rodriguez who said, "hotel line mein main pehli baar aapke jaise customers dekh raha hoon" .... that's how well the 4 of us were gelling into the ambience.

All of us woke up late on the 14th (our last day) & headed straight for the restaurant. Beer was ordered (to go with breakfast!) & the final rounds of bakar-c indulged in before the packing for the return journey began. Boarded the Vasco-Yesvantpur Bi-Weekly at Margaon (our tickets had thankfully been confirmed) that night at 9:30 & reached Bangalore at 11 on the morning of the 14th. It had been a great trip. As Praveen said, "boss, achcha hua jo hum log nikal liye". Yup, I agree .... it was not looking good, what with the unconfirmed tickets, the flood situation & all the uncertainty .... but venture out we did, & The One Above decided to smile on our small group. Thanks a lot, mate!


Addendum - There are times when your heart tells you to do something & the brain asks for the absolute opposite. This time I decided to go by what the heart was saying .... only time will tell if I made the correct decision. It wasn't easy.