The trip before this was also to a Beach side. There was no logic in taking another trip to seashore, but emotions defy all logics and so it happened. I had been planning to go to Goa since college days. All plans were cancelled due to varied reasons and I was never able to visit Goa. It was our last night at Shiroda when Sonal had called to wish Mayank on his B’day. She had missed the last two trips and was quite eager to join us for the next one. We placed the onus on her to decide for the trip and she came up with Goa. We had already planned for a bike trip to Coorg (A small hillstation near mysore). Being Sonal’s wish, there was no chance of it going unaccepted. We forgot about Coorg and started to book for Goa.Eleven of us were willing to go but as always there were some problems and we were reduced to nine. Saket sir and Shilpi were not able to join cause of Bhabi’s exams. We knew they will be missed but we went forward with the plan hoping something will get chalked out. We thought of a long weekend and finalized the one with 2nd Oct holiday. Though it was a dry day so we planned to reach Goa by 1st Oct and pile our stock for the next day. Tickets were booked and 8 of us (Sonal, Mayank, Praphulla, Bhaskar, Ravi, Ashok, Sushmita and me) left on the night of 30th Sept. Tanmay was the one who couldn’t join due to some unavoidable circumstances. The journey was planned by train so as to witness a rare waterfall on the way.
We boarded the train at 9:15 pm and reached Londa by 9:00 next morning. There was a halt of around 2 hours till the next train to Madgaon. Four of us left to arrange for some breakfast in the city. Londa is a small place, not at all famous. The only thing is that the trains engine gets changed here as there is no electric line from here onwards. For some it is also a changeover place from train to road. Taxi’s can be seen lined up outside for Goa. Being a small place there were only a couple of restaurants and we chose one. To taste the food we ordered a plate of poori and some upma. Upma was good, but the sabji for poori had a hint of kokam. This was quite common in the Konkan and nearby regions. We got some packed for the others waiting at the station.
Indian railways trademark for getting late was witnessed here also. The train was around 3 hrs late. This time there was another blunder by the railways. There was no announcement for the train which we were to board. To enquire we headed to the enquiry room. The person there said that there is no such train that comes to Londa junction. With a Indain railways ticket in hand we stood there in a sense of shock. There was a train waiting at the platform for Madgaon but it wasn’t our train. We left the enquiry counter and went to the ticket reservation counter. He told us that the train waiting at the platform is the same. There is some problem with the train number mentioned on the ticket. Some place back, two trains join and leave for Madgaon and the train no. with us was of the one joined at the previous station. We ran on the double to catch the train, called ashok to load all the bags in whichever bogie he gets. Before we could reach the platform, the train started. It was a near miss. Somehow we got together in the train and searched for our place. We started passing our time playing cards amid loud squeals from the neighboring place. They were overly excited about reaching Goa, as it was evident from their enthusiasm while the train passed through the tunnels. The journey to Madgaon was of 3 hrs, including a peek to a beautiful waterfall, The “Dhudhsagar falls”. We reache
d Madgaon and were welcomed by the rain god himself. We took a cab from there to our resort at Calangute beach. It was another one hr journey. Reaching the resort, we dumped our clothes in the rooms, changed to some comfortable clothing and headed for the beach restaurant. The resort was on the beach side, with a beach side restaurant and bar. The rooms were comfortable with a view of nature. We had some food and a couple of drinks to quench our thirst and hunger. Then we headed to the market outside to fill our quota for the next day. Came back with hands loaded with all type of beverages, ranging from whisky, vodka, beer, fenny to breezers. Night we stayed in our rooms as it was raining and had some drinks. The only time pass we had were cards and the only game we could think of was gambling. The night went on with drinks, cards and some unheard and some frequently heard stories (they are quintessential after some drinks).We woke up next morning to a continuous shower of rain. That couldn’t stop us from going to the beach. Though we were not really able to have a morning walk at the beach but being there in the morning is always calming. Had our breakfast and waited for our rented bikes to come. In the meantime we all plunged into the resort pool, as that was the only accessible place (Sea was out of bound due to rain). The only good news of the morning was that Nandi was coming to Goa with his bunch of friends and was to stay at our resort. Finally our bikes arrived, we had a standard Enfield 500 cc for Bullet fans, 2 FZ and a Bajaj Avenger. It was drizzling when we took off to see the Aguara fort. The whole day it rained while we visited the fort, and the Taj resort. Next we headed for Panaji, the capital of Goa. There are a couple of world heritage churches from the 17th century. On the way the bullet stopped and resisted to start. We knew it was game over and we had to call the day. All attempts to start it proved futile. Finally we left it with the bike owner and returned to the resort to call it a day. The night went in drinking.
Next morning we woke up with another bike at our disposal. This time there was no Bullet and we had to be content with another Avenger. As usual it was raining and we jumped into the pool after the breakfast. In the afternoon we left on our bikes and reached a beach side restaurant for lunch. The sea food loving gang had Crabs, fish, jelly fish while were content with chicken and egg. The food was great and the place was also awesome. While moving out we noticed a Hukka shop and we couldn’t refrain ourselves from purchasing it. With all the flavours and accessories required we got it packed. The day was a little good today with little drizzle. We headed for the world heritage churches. The place was great and very soothing. We left from there for Panji, to have a glimpse of the cit
y. After passing through some tainted policemen we reached 18th june road. Roamed around there for an hour and then headed back to the resort. We had planned to visit a Casino and a Disc today. Got a little late and so had to shed off the Casino plan, but left for Tito’s, a disc on baga beach. It had an amazing crowd and a wonderful DJ. After dancing till around 1, we left for the resort. It was planned that today we going to drink till we pass off or till its morning. We collected our quota of booze and got our food packed. First thing to open up was Tequilla. After a few shots some people also started to open up. Then next was the turn of Fenny, the local liquor of Goa. Fenny drinking brought out some talent and it was fully recorded. Now we started searching for the leftovers of the previous day. A quarter bottle of whisky was emptied, then some cans of beer. Some were having wine and so we mixed both wine and beer. Now when nothing was left, we found some breezers. They were also emptied in no time. After this the real party began, with stories and funda’s flowing out of all. By morning every one had passed off except Nandi and me. We went our for a little walk on the beach. It was 8 in the morning when finally we slept and woke up at 10 as we had to check out of the hotel. Every one was tired and it showed on everyone’s face. We checked out, took a cab and left for Madgaon. Boarded our train to Londa, got our dinner packed and boarded our next train to Bangalore. The tiredness had taken over everyone and so all lay sleeping on their seats.The morning brought us back to realm and we were ready to be back to office by 11:00. Though the body was in the office but our minds wondered on the beaches of Goa and we all knew it would take another week to get past this hangover.
Recently I visited Goa. Its not that I hadn’t been to a beach before, but this time I noticed something.
