Go Goa

I got a chance to explore Goa once more this weekend. This trip brought back some wonderful memories and the visit, for me, was nostalgic. The self-absorption, joy, and feeling that there is nothing more to say were the manifestations of a walk in the memory lane. I had visited Goa last August for the first time and had instantly fallen in love with the place. Goa is one of those places which one can never have enough of; at least for me. This last visit was very special to me as I had gone holidaying with a bunch of like minded people and all of us had a great time there; moreover I also got to meet someone because of which my life took not one but quite a few detours. Apart from all this I also got to drive at the place as we were a group of five and car was the optimum mode of transportation that could be there given our number, so a car was what we hired for our movement, locally.

Believe me there’s nothing more exhilarating for a person who loves to drive, than driving at a place like Goa. It’s mostly a hilly track with nominal traffic- as it was off-season when we went vacationing. The weather was a bit hot, but for most part not very sunny with some squalls here and there. Roads in Goa are a single lane, two-way track flanked by lots and lots of greenery on both sides. If not trees and bushes then its water which is there on either or both sides of the road and driving at such a wonderful place is extremely appeasing and the experience is hard to forget. I really enjoyed my stint as a driver there. This particular aspect of my visit had also in a way left a lasting impression on me.

We hogged onto a lot of sea-food at Souza Lobo on Calangute Beach and Britto’s on Baga Beach apart from some hardcore partying at Club Titos, the famous discotheque cum nightclub near Baga Beach. This as a matter of fact had been strategically placed on my fixed agenda for further visits to be made, to the place. So I made it a point to visit Souza Lobo this time and the food as usual was yummy. Nothing beats a fulfilling round of Baked Crabs with White Sauce and Fried Masala Prawns as starters and King Fish Curry with Rice as the main course. Who has any space for dessert after such a hearty meal, definitely not me. Brittos was unfortunately closed as it being the peak off-season and the owners taking a vacation, leaving the best vacationing spot and going off to the not so best vacationing spot, I presume. Luckily I found a small shack next to Brittos, called St. Lawrence Restaurant and Bar, right on the beach. It was an open air bar with Karaoke on Saturdays and my entire evening was spent sipping on to a drink and humming on to some very old tracks like Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton and some relatively newer ones like The Reason by Hoobastank and Hero by Enrique Iglesias, apart from various other numbers.

Next morning I woke up early, as a habit and after having breakfast went off to the beach for a walk. The weather was slightly overcast with a bit of sun. It was a high tide and the water was foamy white. I took a long walk at the beach all by myself and sat at an upturned boat looking at the beautiful waves. Sea has always fascinated me a lot more than anything else and I think I’m more of a water person. Therefore no other thing is more relaxing and unwinding than looking at the strong waves, like a billion horses galloping down with their mane in tow.

With a lot of remorse, I took a Monday evening flight back to Mumbai; once again feeling that I was unable to have enough of the place. I had always wanted to do Goa alone and was damn sure that that in itself would be quite an experience; and so it turned out to be. Though I'm back to my clichéd city life but am also planning to pack my bags soon enough and once again saying, Go Goa.

Of Bloated & Inflated Ego

This is a tale from one of the not so distant lands in galaxy. There was a planet called Earth, inhabited by various carbon-based life forms, apart from other things. Amongst these carbon based life forms was an extant species of the primate family Hominidae. This specie was of the genus Homo and was called Homo sapiens. They were included in this genus because they had a larger brain as compared to their predecessors; who had initially surfaced some 5 million years ago. They were broadly classified as Men and Women in earthly terms.

[The word “Home sapiens” is derived from Latin and means “wise man”
(Latin) homō, man + (Latin) sapiēns, wise, rational; present participle of sapere, to be wise]

These carbon-based life forms, called Homo sapiens, could have lived in perfect harmony with one another but for the fact that they had bloated ego which made it immensely difficult for them to admit the truth….

Yes, that my dear friends is the situation. People never fail to amaze me and I’m sure with the way our society is evolving, they never will. We cook up such folklore- as an excuse- that one is left extremely flabbergasted and bemused, even regaled, at times. Well as a matter of fact almost anything would do other than the truth.

I wonder why it is so difficult to admit the truth. How about “I was angry and irritated with you that’s why I did what I did.” That’s it; that seriously is it. Well doesn’t sound all that difficult to me. Not to say that my ego is not inflated and at times even I stammer when it comes to admitting the truth. In fact the speech, then, is not so verbose and one is completely devoid of the look eloquent in compassion. The truth is also that I try to deflate my ego as much as I can.

Funny thing is that every other person that one knows is almost ready to point it out to you how egoistic you are. I presume it’s the blame game that all of us love to play without looking within.

….And thence the synonymous Homo sapiens of the planet earth were urged to deflate their inflated ego and to thus live in perfect accord by being truthful to one another.

My Abilities…

I know where I am going with this one; therefore to start with, I would like to state that I don’t consider myself to be a part of the unfortunate lot in any way. I have had the most terrific upbringing that matter-of-factly lesser number of people have. Supportive parents, abundance of freedom, great childhood and a wonderful teenage are what my life, so far, comprises of. I don’t see any reason why I should complain and subsequently state that I have missed onto a lot of things in life.

Apart from the upbringing and the education that I have had, there is also this one another thing which makes me different from a lot of other people. It is my ability to not forget things. The good part is that I cherish all the wonderful moments of my life by remembering them and thinking about them; the bad part is that I can’t forget my terrible times and therefore can’t help but think about them at times also. Well I suppose that a lot of us are made that way and there would be many amongst us who can’t really forget their bad times. What makes me different from them is that I don’t tend to find an escape route for my not so picturesque moments in time. I put up a very brave front and like a martyr take all my difficulties at face value. Neither do I blame others nor do I look to be melodramatic and get into a self-pity mode for all my mishaps. Come to think of it, it’s more like a self-contempt mode that I get into, not degenerating and certainly not demeaning in any way. The net result is that I storm out of my sorrow very quickly but at the same time I also capture it within me, thus restoring it to some part of my memory which is quite frequently made to visit by small and big instances.

I’m not a very religious man but I have a substantial amount of faith and faith does come before hope as well as before love. Well I believe that I have been made this way for a purpose, along with a certain level of resilience which makes me prone to pain in life- the balance of nature as we call it. Therefore I am subjected to it time and again; suffering but also recovering quickly and moving ahead. But there is a certain level for everyone, as much a human mind can take. When we transgress then it’s all numbness which is left and the pain simply goes away.

At times, I wish I could also take the easy way out and just blame others for everything in life. Or perhaps get drunk and put the onus of it all on the other person, like most people do. That, is what we call wishful thinking- the vicious cycle still goes on.