Desengate de Goa

The Christmas trip to Goa was quite amazing. We had planned for this trip from a very long time. What was planned as a trip needing a tempo traveller turned out to be a Tata Indica trip. No R&D was done for the trip, no planning. We had not even booked for any hotel rooms (Take that for audacity!)

We leave Bangalore pretty late on friday night (as usual all estimates got screwed up) and even an uncomfortable car like Indica could not stop me from having a decent sleep. I was half awake the next morning near Karwar and I was humming the song "I ain't gonna miss her tonight". Hey, I don't seem to remember whose song it is. Have I heard it before? Then, it strikes me that it was some stanza and tune I had composed during early morning sleep! It does not take me even a minute to realize that the inspirations for this song are two contrasting songs - Jim Reeves' "I Miss Me" and Eric Clapton's "I Ain't Gonna Stand It". Its not plagiarism, I try to convince myself. Well, as they say, even a random number is just a pseudo-random number!

We reach Panaji by noon, and we find a hotel room pretty easily (Nothing beats determination - okay, audacity) and we hit Aguada Fort by the afternoon. We have our luncks (lunch plus snacks) at some shack. And walk for sometime on the beach. I am very much a water person, but its one of those days when I don't want to get into water. I just wet my legs with that salty sea water. I sit on the beach, staring at the sea. I love listening to the sound of waves hitting the sea shore. Sea, for me, somehow represents the turbulence of human mind (Well, I know some people say that you can compare anything to anything - like a cycle chain to reincarnation or the lunar eclipse to creative bankruptcy. Whatever, but I love this comparison!) Looking at the sea makes me feel like meeting myself, its very contemplative. Its almost like meditation! After a couple more omlettes, we move towards Arpora Saturday Night Market.

The market was more like any other market, its just that there are so many foreigners waiting to be cheated! The women who sell ornaments, look like illiterate village women, but you should listen when they speak! They could easy be brand ambassadors for Rapidex English Speaking course. I go to the drums shop and check the rates. Too expensive, and its too big also, can't carry it in Indica. Wanted to buy one from a very long time, forget it for the time being! There are so many music shops having great collection of music - Prem Joshua, Karunesh, Buddha Bar, Asian Lounge, Goa Trance. I look at them with greedy eyes, like a kid in a huge chocolate store! One of them is playing Dakini Lounge. I love it!

We reach the end where there is a percussion orchestra going on - the drums and a long wind instrument. There are fire fighters dancing with fire rods and big rings to that music. I capture those videos till my arms pain like hell. I am tapping my foot to the music, enjoying every moment of that evening. When was the last time I was so happy? After the concert, we go and congratulate the artists. I ask him what that instrument was. "Didgeridoo, its an australian instrument" he says. We eat Tibetian momos, egg fried rice and a turkish food called Blinchik (Its was awesome - banana pieces inside something similar to chapathi/dosay, and chocolate syrup and sugar on top. I can still feel that taste on my tongue!) I would remember that evening for a very long time!

After two more days full of beaches, swimming, sun burns, shacks, omlettes and egg sandwiches, we are back to Bangalore. Somehow, I feel relaxed and at peace with myself. I am less irritated, less restless. May be I need to visit Goa once a month. Or how about looking for a job in some software company in Goa?

P.S: I don't like writing travelogues in general (though I started my blogging with travelogues!) But, I just wrote this so that I can read it when I have a really bad day.