Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Goa Redux

The rate at which the author seems to be packing off to Goa these days might suggest some rather interesting motivations, but I’m just in love with the place. And to compensate for all those I missed last time during the monsoon, this time, it was the beaches all through

Chapora

Easily has the best view in Goa, and perhaps the country. The actual place where Dil Chahta Hai was shot, quite contrary to any local guide whose first job to trick you into going to a particular beach (and therefore a particular restaurant-shack) is to mention that DCH was shot there, with practiced nonchalance. Sunset here is must-see-before-I-die experience. Simply breathtaking.

Ingos Saturday Night Bazaar

This is quite an experience. For the first time, I felt like a stranger in my own land. All around me had collected firangs from all over. It is also quite the place to find some young firangs as opposed to the usually almost-nude flabby 60+ lying-all-day-on-the beach- to-get-tanned elderly firang aunty. The flea market is a riot of colors and is replete with the daintiest, beautiful, exotic and most importantly, the most USELESS of things. Basically anyone can sell anything here and pass it off as memoirs. Stones, shells, necklaces, stuff...some of these things are so useless I don’t even know what to name them. The only saving grace for a shop-o-phobic like me was the food. Now there’s an interesting micro-economy at work here.
Tourist arrives in Goa. His plan is to take a cheap holiday, get tanned, doped and do nothing. He manages to do all this. Then tourist realizes he’s broke and does not have money to go back. So he tries earning it back. What’s the easiest way? (if you are not a babe, i.e.) He cooks whatever he can. Who eats the food? The new homesick tourist, of course. What this elaborate microeconomy however ensures is that Ingos turns into a veritable agglomeration of the world’s best cusine, cooked in the most authentic of fashions. Dutch pies, Danish pastries, German Red Meat, Brit Salads, you name it, Ingos has it. The desserts are also truly world class.


The blind turn off the Lighthouse!!!


Ok, here’s for the really adventurous. On a fully moonlit night take the right just before the lightouse and go in for a while. You will come to a cliff which has quite a breathtaking view with very strong winds. The experience is truly worth the possibility of getting into trouble with the cops. Looks exactly like the many shots of South Africa regularly dished up in Bollywood. songs. (or should I say Indian Film Industry:))

Getting a Tan

As much as our national obsession with fair skin sometimes embarrasses me, the Caucasian obsession with the tan borders on the insane. Imagine waking up every morning as soon as the sun is out, coming to the beach and lying down on your recliner, getting baked in 35 degrees, hoping the sun will do the rest Just lying down!!! How many of us remember our grandmas chiding us for playing cricket just for a few hours in the summer, with that rather prophetic “You will become dark” threat. My grandma should take a look at these freaks.

Doing Nothing

I don’t think anyone can love the spirit of Bombay and Goa at the same time. If you ask me to encapsulate the Goan spirit, it would simply be “doing nothing”. After a point, it started getting to me. Rows and rows of Goan men and women, sipping their fenny or sitting on the porch, or a hammock, with a generous sprinkling of perennially doped firangs just “doing nothing”. As are most human emotions, sloth is also contagious. You start getting into the Goan mood, and feel that lifting your butt from the beach shack facing the azure sky and serene ocean is a gigantic task that requires a lot of thought. As a famous campaign said “ Goa…. On Holiday…365 days”!!!!


As I’ve already got into enough trouble with my dedications, this trip is simply dedicated to free spirit, wanderlust and flirting(Don’t bother decrypting that)

2 Comments:

Blogger Gurpreet said...

:) liked your post. chapora is a personal fav too, but on a full moon night...

3/09/2006 8:19 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

it's really awesome. Thank you for the information.


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12/05/2011 4:34 PM  

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