This blog post is about a journey, a holiday taken after months
of hard work ,an escape from the thing called competition, performance ,results etc
etc So we boarded Goa Express (Mind it if you are not in a group or with a
romantic partner when days seem into minutes, don’t try this train 38 hours of
journey can take your nerves out).
30 of us went to Goa and all credit goes to Ankit sir for
handling not some little kids but grown up adults who every passing minute
wanted to do something different from the group Amid Aantakshari, dumbshall
act, mimicry our journey proceeded disturbing our fellow travelers when cards
start world comes to a halt and non players (yeah it was me) look as the most
foolish ones .The train journey was a roller coaster one with swords drawn out
on the movie names ,enmity feeling which can beat India Pakistan , the ever so
pathetic train ka khana ,some facebookites updating every single second and
cherry on the cake was ghost stories until midnight.
Goa gives you a liberating experience ,a kind of break free
attitude that strikes you the point you deboard the train as we reached ,I was
enlightened that “What happens in goa ,stays in goa”(does it remind you of some
other place?? Forget it…………J ).
We stayed at South Goa’s Palolem beach and if you are looking
for a serene, quiet place, beaches that remind you of a distant island ,a
romantic sojourn then South Goa is what you are looking for. The day had
already ended when we reached so we just sat on the beach talking, dreaming
There is something about beaches that make you dream, dream not of
materialistic gains but something deep ,something spiritual.
Next day was planned a trip to North goa and inspite of waking
up the earliest we were late (we means the three girls-Nova, Prema and me)
Finally on being threatened that we would be left behind we rushed secret is we
always were late because………ha ha ha u actually believed I will split out beans
of our girls talks, no way
The bus proceeded to Basilica of Bom Jesus church amid lungi
dance and fevicol types item songs and here was Gaurav Agrawal,he never sat on
a seat for a minute ,always dancing its people like them who never let the
dancing mood die down The church is marvellous, visit it not for the story of a
miracle called St Francis and his 400 year old body but for beautiful gothic
architecture ,don’t rush, absorb the intricacies of architecture ,its lovely
Agauda fort was next stop ,initially used as a water tank the age old walls
face sea and I could find some guides telling tourists about the movies being
shot there ,we can never come out of bollywood the continuity ,the walls with
small windows make Agauda Fort so splendid as if it challenges Sea, questions
its mightiness and still stands tall.
Yippee. North Goa and its water sports ,the fun part
actually began I was very terrified about the banana ride and the prospect of
being thrown into the mid sea and these friends of mine assured that they will
save me if I drown The person standing at the edge of banana
was holding my life jacket and I thought he was such a saint to support me
suddenly I saw God in him Mid sea he held my jacket and threw me into sea and
took the steamer with the rest of the people along I was like WTF !This demon
actually left me here, well life jackets were there and Sid and Vishal
screaming that keep cycling and yes inspite of that demon ,I was alive we went
deep into sea later for an hour and I know I was a headache by being a non
swimmer and always ending up coughing salt water after every wave, my friends
never thought of leaving me and made sure someone or the other was always
around to hold if I lost balance…..Love you doston for that
The main adventure was not water sports but finding out that we
were left behind as we were late after changing and the bus headed to cruise as
the tickets were pre booked (We here again refers to the three of us) we called
,bus waited midway and when we reached we could feel whispering and angry eyes
penetrating us and then again friends made
us feel that”Ho jata hai” nothing to worry ,making us laugh which we did not
until we said sorry to sir. While everyone assured us that nothing to
be sad ,sir made it real being the sweetest person .
The late night talks were all full of planning for the next day,
a group wanted to explore casinos, we wanted to go to Disco ,someone wanted to
have a lone time at the beach and the day dawns ,we all took a boat ride to
honeymoon island ,At the middle of the sea was carnatic music with Akshara
Damle and when we returned a big wave splashed over all the plans made a night
before ,after discussions, road safety ,distance issues, girls safety each and
every plan was headed towards a no (he he) and evening was spent in biking
,trying local cuisine, buying cashews and Mallikarjun Temple (Krishna – mere
ghar waale bolenge tu Mathura se Goa mandir dekhne gaya hai………;-) and
here came the shocker of the day-Silent disco now I really want to know who
came up with this idea ,Dance is a community feeling, to celebrate joy, togetherness
,happiness or just to enjoy ,Keeping headphones on and dancing is something I
could not understand and so did others When we perform classical ,it’s said
that you have to make the audience believe that he/she is actually Radha and is
longing for love and then this silent disco-something very individualistic,
very isolated and very silent.
Well Goa trip came to an end and I was at the beach at 6 in the
morning for I knew I will miss the beach ,the splashing sound of waves the
most when I reach back to hustle of Delhi and sitting there clicking pictures
of couples who were trying after every failed attempt of self clicking, I
observed something that I would carry with myself back” A Russian Father and
his 2 year old son at the beach, waves come,the boy falls and he puts his hand
towards father but the father does not hold, the child walks on hands and legs
,again the wave comes and he fells The father stands there just saying get up
and finally the child stands on two feet ,again to be splashed by a wave and again
trying ,Father never ever holding his hand and only boosting verbally
“……………….so on the southern most end of Goa at sunrise ,I got life’s little
lesson-lesson of parenting.
Back to the train ,everyone was tired, exhausted, sleeping,
exchanging numbers and in the process of one or the other person getting down
in between at their home towns,almost everyone got down ,hugged, waved goodbye ,promised
to stay in touch ,This made me believe that we may have missed visiting a
casino or a beach but we did not miss making new friends
This is for everyone there making it one of the most unforgettable experience:
"I couldn't find the right words
Nothing seemed to rhyme
To write something for you all
I think it will take time
Because when you have friends
That are very hard to find
There's so much to say
Because you make everything alright
So I will tell you right now
exactly what I need to say
To show you how much I appreciate
You all being there everyday
You're worth more than anyone
even a million pounds
Because you always know what to say
When I am feeling down
You made me smile big smiles
And my days so very bright
And when I was sad
we talked the whole night
I sometimes wish I could explain
How much you all mean to me
But its just not possible
To list a billion things
So I just wanted to say
I love you so so much
And I hope you never leave me
promise to stay in touch........
