It is never enough. Goa as a place grows on you... You never get tired of the place...
I just took a snap of the sunset in the background while my
daughter was busy with her sand play and sent it to my friend. The banter
continued as though it had never stopped
We were part of a common group of friends who always used to hang
out together. We heard a common friend go gaga on his trip to Goa and couldn’t help
but contemplate a trip to Goa.
Initially we thought most of our friends would jump on an option
to travel once we had a nice plan in place. More we started spending time for
planning, more things to do in Goa got added onto the list.
We started
talking amongst friends on a possible trip to Goa and we both were tasked to
plan for the trip. Planning a trip is never easy. I used to work in Whitefield
those days and my friend near MG road. I started coming down every evening to M
G road to discuss and plan for the trip. We were like poles apart in our
thinking but we both were workaholics.
I used to inform her when I start and expect her
to be free by the time I reach her office. But more often than not I would end
up waiting for her. This continued for a while and in a few days the local bhel
puri wala near her office had become a close friend. He would prepare a tikki
puri and give me saying madam aajayegi sir aap tab tak yeh lijiye.
A week into it the boy managing the parking in the hospital nearby
where we generally parked our vehicles would tell me didi abhi wapas nahin aayi
hein, gaadi leke dopehar mein baahar gayi thi.
Looking back I feel how much people observe us, without our
knowing there are quite a few people who manage to keep track of things that
matter to us for no special reason.
Moment we met I would get into a tussle as to how she kept me waiting
and that it was not fair. Every time she used to win using her innocent smile
and grinning sheepishly.
But love for Goa was much more than these incidents and having
been to Goa quite a few times already I kept my composure to plan a nice trip.
Though initially we met for planning the Goa
trip, over time we kinda became bosom pals or bsuen friende. So we started
meeting regularly checking out the latest places as both of us were avid
foodies.
We tried out different places like Olive Beach, Sunny’s,
Café masala, coffee day, Barista, Brio, Konark, Casa Picola, 13th
floor, Tandoor, Pinxx, Paparazzi, Spinn, Taika.
Some of them are long closed now.
We used to love walking in Brigade and MG road those days. Metro
was nowhere in the scene and those were the places to hang out during those
days. I was an avid book lover and we would regularly stop by the guy selling
books on the footpath in front of shrungar complex. Over the years of buying
books from him we had come to an special agreement on the price irrespective of
new or old book.
Generally we would start our evening by walking
to coffee board and then have dinner somewhere and end with a dessert in lake
view, corner house or Richie rich in st marks road.
We would fight like children over the ice cream each wanting the
ice cream which the other has opted for. Then we would start deciding on where
we would see off each other and as we stayed in opposite sides of Bangalore.
Saying good bye generally used to be the most difficult part.
Phones would take over once we parted our ways and we would think
why Airtel has disconnect the calls exactly at one hour and can’t they find a
way out for it.
Our calls used to typically run pretty late into the night, we
would converse on every topic under the sun. We both were very opinionated and
we would get into crazy arguments. Both would hold forte to prove their point.
Around 3 or 4 am we would ponder on who will disconnect the call. We
would plan to meet early the next day and again give each other a good morning
call early in the morning.
We both were crazy souls, suddenly there was a subconscious attempt
to always please the other. What we felt as differences in ideology or thought was
no longer that important. We started looking over the shortcomings and became accommodative
of the other. Over time we could simply predict what the other argument tends
to be, what would someone like, dislike or opt for. We had become like besties
for life
In the middle of all this the Goa plan kept moving every month as
one or the other friend would say not this week/month.
Finally we decided we cannot ensure everyone would be onboard for
a given trip. I wrote to my friends saying I am going to fix the dates and
whoever can make it will go, for the rest its tough luck.
We met in our usual jaunt Brio Cafe on the top
floor in home stop with other friends to decide on the dates. Used to love his
cheesy garlic bread with coffee those days. While we jostled to prepare a list
of things we do, inadvertently it included a lot of things we had garnered from
friends which we didn't want to miss out on. We had a couple of friends from
Goa, who helped plan it that much better. We didn't want to miss out on any
kind of fun, we just wanted to enjoy Goa to the fullest and leave nothing for a
next time.
Our list looked small when we started out
- Para
sailing
- Banana
boat ride
- Water
ski
- Water
scooter
- Trek
- Visiting
Fort Aguada
- Visiting
all the beaches
- Viewing
Dolphins
- Island
visits
- Water
falls
- Casino
visit
It was such a wonderful time we friends had back then in Goa. In
our rush to cover the items on the list we ended up making the trip very
hectic. Three days passed in a whiff and being the party animals we hardly had
slept those three days.
When
we were set to return to Bangalore I checked with her if we can extend the stay
and let others leave, we were both in between jobs. We had some time to join
the new firm and we both still wanted to spend some time in Goa away from the
pressured times at office.
Initially I didn’t
want to do anything, idea was to just relax on a beach preferably over a hammock
and read a novel and simply laze and do nothing.
My friend was a very active person, lot into
fitness and exercising. She woke me up very early in the morning and said lets
go for a jog on the beach. It was a
totally different experience. Early morning the sea was serene, air was fresh
and after the jog just relaxing on the sand was like ethereal.
Over breakfast
she asked me what is the plan what do you suggest we do and I was like there is
no plan just go with the flow. She simply couldn’t fathom and pestered me to
maybe think of something interesting and nice to do.
That is when we started
visiting the beaches in Goa, we started with vagator up north and covered all
of them till mobor down south.
We covered all the flea markets and roamed like vagabonds, picked
up all sorts of stuff, trinklets, tried crazy hair styles. False tattoos etc
I was surprised with her fondness for shopping,
she was very clear and absolute on what she planned to buy. She chose colors
which would suit her and had a clear picture or thought/idea of what
combination would work fine. As we walked through the different flea markets
she picked up wrap arounds, long skirts, short skirts, kaftans, sarongs, hats, tube
tops, jump suits, shorts, mini skirts, necklaces to go with the dresses, other
accessories like hangings, drops, studs, bracelets, huge wooden bangles, hair
clips, hair bands, rubber bands, shades,
umbrella, stole, well it was an endless list of stuff. As I shopped with her I was mentally making
notes, putting a name against every type of dress because rest assured I would
be pulled into decision making on what would go with what, if the color was a match,
would she need to buy a pair of sandals to match a particular dress? I was like
patiently looking in awe of her shopping spree, my thought was around how would
she carry all these back to Bangalore?
We would bump into a lot of kannadigas who used to sell wares and
we would try to bargain more taking the advantage of language.
Inspite of all this what stays in memories are
the time spent on Baga, for no single reason. Maybe we liked to hang out there.
Maybe Tito's was one of the reasons we ended up there daily. Maybe it was one
of the beaches where we felt one with ourselves. We both loved Titos so every
day evening we would hang out in Baga
We would hang around in Brittos and laze on the sun kissed sand,
have a drink, lose the thought of time and talk endlessly. We had a gay abandon
for the world around us, it was just us and there was never a dearth of
subjects, we moved from one subject to another. It is difficult to find a
person to match ones wavelength lest alone have the opportunity to have him/her
for a friend. We both were folks who craved for conversation. So the banter in
Baga stays afresh in memories till this day.
My friend was
like an encyclopedia on movies and music. So we would start talking on movies, latest
gossip etc. We would discuss on novels, the fiction writers we like, the
autobiographies which have had an influence on our life. We would find
something to talk about even by observing people who used to flock Britto’s.
We would discuss the dressing sense, the hairstyles,
glint of love in someone’s eyes. We would go for a stroll on the beach during
sunset. Ponder over the rashes on the legs caused by the fine grains of sand.
Just look at the horizon and gape at the expanse of water. Chat up with
strangers, spend time on beach beds while sipping on coconut water and play
footsie whilst watching people frolic on the beach.
My friend was a
big prankster too, one day she said she would be back in a while as she had to pick
up something for a quick bite. While I waited for her in Brittos a gorgeous European
girl came by and asked for a light. I said sorry I don’t smoke and she said ok,
no worries can I join you. I said fine and asked her if she would want to have
something and ordered her a drink. We started talking on Goa, things to do. She
told me about backpacking in Europe and how I should do it and in no time we
were talking on quite a few interesting things. Once my friend came Natalie
excused herself and left. Only looking at the mischievous smile on my friend’s
face did I realize she was the reason Natalie had spoken to me. When I said she
was asking for a light my friend said that’s how folks ask people out in Russia/
Eastern Europe, so guess you lost your chance to have some fun. Later I got to
know that my friend had sent her a chit saying “you fascinate me”.
It was during one of our beach walk sojourns
that we noticed a couple holding hands and walking towards the shack from the
beach, both seemed to be lost in love. My friend said holding hands is a big
step in a relationship. It is like the relationship has moved on to the logical
next level. I gave a perplexed surprised look. My friend had a hale and hearty
laugh and said looks like quite a few faces passed by in your mind where you
held hands but didn’t take it to the next level.
I gave a look as though I didn’t understand what she meant. She
started off in her natural way explaining how even hindu wedding used to be
called “pani grahana”, which means holding of hands. How usually when you trust
a person with your life you find comfort n holding hands with that person etc
and so on. Like always I prefixed Sant to her name and said I am blessed, leave
me alone J
Spending time at
Baga had its advantages, once we started hanging out there we got to meet a lot
of interesting folks with varied interests. We started getting invites to
exclusive parties. We ended up attending a party on a yacht. We tried out a
beach hut just to experience staying overnight on a beach after a lot of people
went gaga over it. We hopped almost a dozen shacks overnight with a group of Europeans.
We were invited to a brunch in a villa on the beach which was really awesome.
We got to know of a greek restaurant in vagator
on the cliff, I guess it was called Thalassa, It had an amazing view of the sea
and I guess one of the best spots for a view of the sunset.
One night while at Britto’s or St Anthony’s I remembered what one
of my friends used to say “If you are awake till 3 am, it means either you are
in love, lonely, drunk or all the three”.
That kicked of an interesting conversation where my friend was pent upon
proving the statement wrong. The
argument went on and other friends chipped in with their thoughts and finally
we decided not to agree or disagree.
We used to roam all round Goa on bikes, still
remember the promenade road and the old Portuguese houses in panchayats of south
goa and visited innumerable shacks for food.
How time flies and now the snap of Baga
rekindled all those old memories, we were back doing what we do best banter
over any nonsensical thing. They say people change with time but I guess with
us time stands still when we talk.
She started with a stupid question if the view of sunset has changed
from those days, so the argument continues and banter has no sign of ending….
