GOA, Jun '15

How many times has an outing with friends ended with the hackneyed phrase : ''We should definitely plan a trip to Goa !'' ? ... You've lost count, haven't you?
''Oh, maybe we should go there this winter''... ''Uhm, but Winter isn't coming soon, I don't want to wait so long''... ''Well, then let's head out during the monsoons''..... ''Aah, that sounds like a plan. Let's do that!''

This is how our plan germinated and all it needed after that was a careful and well-addressed nudge.
I'd like to think we chose one of the better times of the year to plan one of the best trips that shall perpetuate enduring memories among best of friends.
The seeds of the plan were rather humble, but unexpectedly, it burgeoned and blossomed into epic proportions with folks jumping onto the bandwagon till the eleventh hour and finally we got the count to a rather sizeable number of 14.

Once the plan was concrete, the details were glossed over in the true Goa spirit of nonchalance.
‎We reached Goa on a Friday afternoon and were welcomed by mighty rains, which drenched us to the bones as if to immerse us in the Goa spirit.
After a brief journey through the villages and narrow lanes of North Goa, we landed up at the charming Birdsong Villa in Moira.

Thanks to the efforts of Radhika and Raj, we found the perfect den for our sojourn. The moment we entered the villa, it's grandeur and ‎avant garde decor took us over. The interiors of this magnificent abode ooze Class and Art in equal measure.
Each room is named after a spice and carries a different flavour of decor to distinguish it from the others. The earthy themes in the rooms bring you closer to Nature and make you feel even more connected to the environment enveloping you.

We spent the cool, drizzling evening in the pool with mood-setting music playing in the bar and dining area besides the pool. It was as relaxing as it can get and a rocking way to set ourselves up for the adventures to follow. Surbhi put up a valiant effort to impart some swimming lessons to the floaters but did succeed in infusing some verve into Prashant's attempts.
The cook and the runner boy made it even better for us by conjuring up delicious meals at short notice.

The next morning we set out to savour the joie de vivre of Goa. A circuitous drive led us to Baga Beach to scout for shacks, which were not to be found due to the seasonal lull in tourist flocks. The wind was worth the walk though and it picked up so fast that after some time the sand granules began whipping us. Maddy tried hard to protect Riddhi but acquiesced after a short while and we headed out of there. After a quick couple of bites, we just needed an excuse to be filmy and off we went to Chapora Fort to register our Dil Chahta Hai moment.

The drive was beautiful and Jigar made the most of it by hiring a bike which all the girls took turns to ride pillion on. The heavy rain didn't deter him even though there were times when he could hardly even see the road beneath his wheels. The steep climb up the Fort was worth every sinew stretched once we got there and the view from the fort was exhilarating. Beneath us, the waves pounded angrily onto the shores where the resilient tall palm trees stood up against its every attack and the colour of the huts complemented the palette. 

The grandiose beauty of Nature is such that it coaxes you to surrender the relentless pursuit of material possessions to make time for the 
unspoilt pleasure of watching time pass you by while enriching you with poetry and perspective

.
The crazy photo op mastered by Sonal was cut short when Jinen's stunt went awry and he worried about getting 'First Aid' treatment done. Then we descended from the Fort and headed out to Vagator beach. Once that was taken care of, we chose Anjuna as the next halt and while we were just getting to know the place, Ankit wanted to puff a cigarette against the wise warning of Nishi. So soaked was Ankit in the Goa feel, that he turned a blind eye towards the No Smoking board. In India, all the cops need is an excuse and they got a good one here. The cops were hell bent on punishing him for it, so much so that a scary spate of wild sparks in the nearby electric poles didn't deter them either.
Mayhem and pandemonium was the order of the day when people ran helter skelter trying to get to safety from the overhead electric lines.
It was a stark reminder of how panic can run amok if it's given the slightest opportunity. 

After so much of commotion, it was nice to get back to the villa for a quiet evening, before the night-out at LPK. The music was peppy, passionate and thumping and it was driving everyone high, none more so than our stag of the night, Jigar. So possessed was he by the spirit of the night and the spirits in his sight, that he made sure people enjoyed his antics more than they could enjoy the music. I had a curiously wicked feeling that we would soon be involved in our first bar brawl thanks to this, but perhaps the rejoicers at the club were not so keen on it.
The eerie presence of our 'personal paparazzo' was exciting at first but made us furious at the end. Once we were done dancing, the drive back was a long one.  The deserted, narrow, winding roads were straight out of a horror movie but luckily there were no other unexpected sights to behold that night.

The next morning we were bit by the curiosity bug and set ourselves on exploring more of the tiny state. Our prolonged deliberations resulted in the wise decision of driving up to Arambol beach. We were akin to wandering souls that morning and we decided to test the oft repeated mantra of making the journey more fruitful than the destination. As a result, we allowed ourselves the liberty to flow unabated like a flowing river and chose the most inviting twists and turns that we encountered in our journey. It was debatable though whether Sachit or us wandered farther.


The beautiful little village roads we passed through made us realize the resonating difference between a traveller and a tourist. We made our way through tiny nooks and crannies and ventured off-road onto narrow tracks surrounded inadvertently by ponds and paddy fields. The melodious whispers of the morning breeze coupled with our unwavering enthusiasm enveloped us with an ethereal aura. It was remarkable to note how little of this we end up imbibing in our bustling city lives and how much more the world has to offer. It was a most satisfying journey and the destination just seemed like a formality after that. However, it was a pleasant surprise to find the solitude offered by this quaint little beach at the northern edge of this little State.
 
We were quickly descending towards the last night of this short but memorable trip and we decided to add more substance to it through the night by following up a lovely dinner with some poker fun amidst bursts of banter and laughter. It was time now to bid adieu as the morning Sun rose high in the sky and heralded a literal and figurative conclusion to the cool, breezy nature of our time together. 

This trip was meant to transpose us back in time to the good ol' days of abundant and naive joy oblivious to the travails of our current lives
and I reckon it did a pretty neat job of it.

Once the goodbyes were done, we just had a couple of hours to bide before making our return trip ourselves.
I grabbed this window of opportunity to engender in Bhawna the notion of a romantic Goa by sharing a leisurely stroll along the beach, with us fondly gazing into each others' eyes while the waves washed up gently against our feet as if cajoling us into returning to these shores.
We made a silent promise to be back sooner rather than later and it's hard to imagine this promise not being honoured.

Prague, Czech Republic

Here I am in Prague, Czech Republic, reminiscing about the year gone by and the way things have transpired.

Life is a far cry (or joy) from the state of affairs a year back.

Prague is my first foray into the former East Bloc of Communism and its surprisingly a beacon of all things capitalistic and American today.

Be it McDonald's , Starbucks, KFC, Subway, or any of the Western superbrands like Gucci, Dior, Cartier, Marks n Spencer, Louis Vuitton, etc etc etc.

Even before you start judging it as a commercial modern city, you will be stunned into disbelief to see how medieval the city can really feel.

Its a marvel to behold.

Prague is called the city of 1000 spires. Well that count is not off the mark at all.

All you need to do is look skywards and there shall be a tall spire looking down at you. The city has an endless list of monuments and structures, each more inviting than the other.

Modest is not a word that would sit pretty on Prague; it is a very proudly endowed architectural wonder.

There are structures dating back even a thousand years and plenty more from each century thereafter.

There's so much that has already been built there in the past that the present generations would do well just to preserve the bequeathed wealth.

This would also ensure an unrelenting stream of tourists with their fat purses.

I came to Prague expecting a quiet city with a few important attractions which would make the long trip worthwhile, but what I came across was total magnificence.

The city is abuzz with people and activities.

I probably encountered more English-speaking tourists here than anywhere else in Europe. There are places in Prague where you can see scores of cameras criss crossing each others' ranges in all possible angles in order to capture the all round brilliance of the place.

The cobbled lanes and by-lanes of Prague transport you to an era gone by.

You can just sit there and soak in a feel of the times when we had horse-drawn carriages and royal families.

You would be bemused to see hundreds of people standing clustered like a beehive and clicking passionately in front of an immensely popular astronomical clock from half a century back.

Then you have the equally popular Charles Bridge where people clamour for space to land their feet on in order to snap away to achieve their preferred angle of the Prague Castle in the distance.

The city is untiring in its urge to satiate the architectural thirst of even its most discerning visitor.

The city has something to offer to all kinds of clientele and sensibilities, what with casinos and cabarets strewn all around.

The best thing about the city is that it almost effortlessly and harmoniously blends in the majesty of the medieval ages with the glamour of the modern age.

In the end, I cant help but realise that Prague is actually a wondrous recap of a lot of the cities I ve visited in the aforementioned past year. The city seems to be an uncanny confluence of Viennese art and Italian architecture, with dollops of Barcelona's buzz and Amsterdam's flair added for good measure.

Prague is surely a boundless beauty.

Benaras

They say expect less and you shall be forever grateful.

Wise words these and they certainly ring true about my trip to the holy city of Benaras.

Now, my conscious association with this magical city and its people is only two and a half years old ever since my engagement to Bhawna but there is an underlying inert connection that unfolds as you unravel the growing years of your better half.

My initiation to the city was during the relatively tepid morning hours perfumed by the freshness of the cold morning air. That impression was soon overwhelmed by the raucous cacophony of honking and screaming on the streets. In a strange way it was a familiarizing aspect as it reminded me of the childhood holidays spent in Raipur. The reception we received was really endearing and heart warming and convinced me that it was going to be a memorable trip.

Benaras is a land of temples, ghats, chaats and mithaais. We quickly set out to explore all these facets as much as we could. We were in haste, with hardly any time to waste. The main streets of the city didn’t inspire much enthusiasm in me. The traffic was horrific and chaotic even for someone bred in the cauldrons of Calcutta and Mumbai. Realisation soon dawned that this was not the way to enjoy the holy land. It takes some getting used to the narrow lanes of Benaras, but once you submit yourself to its meandering and befuddling ways, it embraces you with open arms and mesmerizes you with its labyrinthine formations. You start enjoying the jaunts through its nooks and crannies. There’s something intriguing about the tiny lanes and bylanes of Benaras where you are often jostling for space with lazy cows and restless dogs. The eternal charm of its ‘galiyaan’ surreptitiously envelops you before you consciously realize it. The age-old stone pavements are reminiscent of the old towns of Europe. It also serves you well to recognise that these walkways are actually the quickest and most convenient way around the old town.

Within these myriad lanes are ensconced temples of all shapes, sizes and beliefs. Word is that for every God and Goddess worshipped in India, there is a temple in Benaras, and it doesn’t seem too far from the truth when you come across the multitude of magnificent temples steeped in history and wrapped up in a time warp. Time stands still at these temples and you feel a surreal closeness to the Almighty irrespective of your personal disposition. We visited more temples in those 3 days than most people would in a year. The imposing stone edifice of the revered Kashi Vishwanath temple leaves you spellbound with a feeling of awe and humility. All these temples are notable for their power to elicit divine sentiments. You soon realize that this is indeed a blessed land. From Sankat Mochan to Bhaironath, every temple has its individual aura which pulls devotees from across seas as well.

The time spent at home was memorable for the genuine love and care shown by one and all. Each day was dedicated to a special mithaai dipped in the sweetness of Benaras, what have you with Malaiyyo, Gilori, Kheerkadam and that’s just scratching the surface. However, the gourmet wonders of Benaras have to be rounded off by chewing on the succulent Benarasi Paan which is famed to have the potency to unlock all the trapped musings of the brain, and remember, one is never enough.

It’s always a pleasure spending quality time with loved ones, and I would say I found a few more to add to the list. Be it the nostalgia of Dadaji, the love of Dadiji, the hospitality of Kakaji, the endearment of Kakiji, the excitement of Payal or the fervour of Akshat, it was all too warm to forget in a hurry. Not to forget the constant presence of Mom trying to ensure her Son doesn’t spend a minute uncomfortably.

We spent the last morning in the best possible manner by jumping onto a small boat which skirted all the famous ghats along the Ganges. There was a story to know and a tale to be told about so many of the ghats, besides the picturesque setting and fresh whiff of the morning river breeze.

That evening we walked to the famous Dashashvamedh Ghat, pit-stopping for a much anticipated Lassi break on the way‎. It's a testament to the international popularity of the town that this nondescript joint in the middle of the bustling market area had an overpowering Korean patronage writ large on its walls.

Once we got to the Ghat, it was time to bow before the ethereal aura of the Ganga Aarti, which was being conducted in harmonious synchronisation by young and enthusiastic Pujaris‎. The evening breeze of the river lent a soothing feel ‎after an enervating 3 days and calmed the mind and soul.

In the process of discovering Bhawna’s childhood memories, I felt like I was discovering more about her, in ever such little measures. Her unabated joy and the reminiscent thrill of her growing up years was very much visible. I was feeling happy for her and enjoying her little jogs through memory lane. Somewhere the bond between us grew stronger on this remarkable trip. Hope the bond grows to be as pure as the river Ganga and as innocent as Lord Shiva, whose divinity is espoused by the Holy City of Benaras.