Goa the beach hub of india



Sunrise Arlem Goa

British rule in India gave us an inheritance that has been difficult to shrug off. So if names like Connaught place, Dalhousie, Elgin road, Chelmsford Road and the likes are common in most of India,the Portuguese gave Goa a culture distinct from the rest of India. So when the D’Costas, the Braganzas ,the Farias and the Carvalhos  greet you as you land in this very delightful state ,you know there is a wonderfully different experience in store for you.

The small Goa airport seems distinctly incapable of handling the number of tourists that must be visiting this place, so high on the must visit place on every tourists list. Come out of the Dabolim airport and take in a deep breath to inhale the very pure air of nature. I have a three day stay in Goa but only a one day and a little more of  touring itinerary. As we move away from  crowds at the airport , we pass the Verna Industrial area and I spot a graffiti on the wall which is a sign of the times I will spend here. It reads “Goa where you can hang out all day”. But I hope the busy manufacturing units of this area, I can spot Siemens and IFB ,do not follow this dictum ! The Sumo driver drives at a pace which belies the laidback attitude of the Goan people. I think he is not from Goa whispers Harsh . We head south to Arlem, Margaon reaching Arlem circle, in 30 minutes, crossing “many thank you for visiting …” boards. The smallest state of India has to have small handkerchief sized towns.

It was the second day of my trip which had been slotted for a Goa darshan,by which time I had got a glimpse of the relaxed pace of life of this beautiful city.The shops open late ,close for siesta at one in the afternoon and then reopen at four in the evening .No brisk commercial oversell here, atleast not where I was staying. In one day we decided to pack in old Goa,Panaji and a beach ! A cross-section of Goa I thought. So come morning and Harsh and I  set off for Old Goa or Velha Goa.The roads are two laned in most parts and traffic is comfortable. Our driver was an enthusiastic young fellow, Shiva,who drives such that the wind catches in my hair and my breath almost stops a few times.Though the roads are not so wide yet there is something so expansive about the place, with its swaying palms, its red laterite soil covered ground, its fields of lotus and the general atmosphere of peace fills me with such a pleasant feeling of relaxation that I do not reprimand him ,but let him continue with his mad driving.

We pass through the old Goa and I want him to slow  down to get a  look at the lovely houses which are the architectural inheritance of this place. The gated villas with  rundown gardens  and,  I fantasise, a piano kept in the sitting room, a grandfather chair, pink and violet flowers in vase , a picture of Mother Mary with  the Baby Jesus and strains of jazz wafting in the air. I wish I had the time to walk through the lanes and admire the charm of these villas . But time was scarce and we drove past a group of young girls coming back from school all with hair done in almost identical two plaits and a group of old women chatting in a veranda wearing pretty flower patterned dresses.


We reach the main square of old Goa, the part of Goa where the Portuguese had their capital and built their magnificent churches and cathedrals, convents and e.We had decided to see the most famous church of them all the Basilica of Bom Jesus and

Acts of Faith at Basilica of BOM JESUS

 then the Se Cathedral . The Basilica is the oldest cathedral in India  and we  go inside to see the very elaborately gilded altar  and the glass casket where the body of St Francis has been  lying for centuries. The vestry is closed for the public but we also see the original casket made of silver. A wooden staircase leads up to an old world wooden floored room which houses an  exhibition of  statues of saints and other  assorted revered ones and photographs of the church and Goa by the famous photographer Benoy Behl. Though we clicked photographs in the church below, posing for photographs was not permitted and I saw someone being chided for standing in front of the altar and getting clicked. No photography is allowed in this photo gallery but the displays are breathtaking and capture the spirit and history of this place. We come out and look back at the huge exposed brick 16^th century church again and then cross the road to the new cathedral .The new is always relative and this new cathedral is actually  the Se Cathedral ,also dating  back to the 16^th century. This is the largest church in Asia ,with a building that  is all white and renovations are going on. It’s an imposing church and I saw a belfry with a large bell, called the Golden bell because of its rich sound . The main church has the altar of St Catherine of Alexandria to whom this church is dedicated .And on the sides are small  chapels and altars like the “Cross of Miracles” ,Our lady of Doloures Chapel of Blessed sacraments . We spotted near the altar of St Joseph a slab which could be lifted and we made up stories of the secret tunnel that led all the way to the sea and then on to Lisbon   ,if you please ! Nothing like an overactive imagination to make a trip exciting! However the  slab actually covers the bones of Dom Gaspar de Leao Pereira, First Archbishop of Goa Next door was the convent which has  now been converted to a museum. The museum has exhibits from the past when Goa was also predominantly Hindu and took us through history ending with life-size portraits of the Portuguese Governor Generals till 1961. A lovely lesson in history. A quick visit to the adjoining church which was undergoing massive renovations and then it was lunch time.

We decided to go to Panaji where we could have found a vegetarian restaurant in this fish crazy place. The road to Panaji ran parallel to the Mandovi river on our right and we enjoyed the sight of several casinos at one point on the way. Did not stop to try my luck, I was lucky enough to be cruising along in a relaxed sleepy pleasant place. Panaji, of course is a little more crowded but has its very own character. In the main market, we reached the Church square and on the road which ended at the church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception made famous by the Aishwarya- Shahrukh film Josh ! The  white church flanked by flights of stairs on both sides was splendid. But we went instead to search for our eating place and found Kamats. Neat and clean we were served a huge dosa enough for both lunch and dinner I thought. And then we walked along the streets enjoying the market and its shops. I was particularly fascinated by the hats and caps and the lovely bags. Even though it was afternoon and warm, we loved walking and doing some window shopping .I am not much of a shopper, it was fun to see the lovely cotton  dresses, the strappy sandals and the bright umbrella so correct for a day at the beach.

Our next stop was decided by Shiva who wanted us to see the Vasco da Gama beach . We let him have his way because Harsh had never been there .We drove past the airport, to Mormugao and its dockyards, lots of iron and metal and unfinished ships being worked upon there. Ahead was a coast guard and a naval establishment  and next to the Mormugao Port trust residential flats was our beach . The Vasco beach was beneath a small hill and a garden called the Japanese garden  and we had to wind our way down to the sea shore.Interestingly the beach is also called the Grandmothers hole beach or even the Japanese beach . The place was isolated with hardly a soul to be seen. While descending there was a Durga Shiv  temple. We just saw  two groups of five or six people in the garden up on the hill where we were descending. But the beach had nobody except for a family which stayed near the temple and their women were busy in making some yarns .We did not linger much there, I am not given to a lot of bravado and instead of regretting later, I thought it prudent to go back .Anyways it was too hot and the sand fairly scorched our feet . We ascended the narrow path and were off to our home for some rest.

GRANDMOTHERS HOLE BEACH

As a reward for having given Harsh and his flatmates  homemade breakfast, hot tea, dinner and lots of motherly affection, the boys  took me  to a dinner on the beach . So in the evening we went to Benaulim beach some 5 kms away from his house . Motorbike is the way to travel in Goa and so I pillion rode. It was cool, the not so distant sea breeze fanning, the roads narrow but vehicular traffic was minimal and the joy of riding a motorcycle very invigorating and “being young once more”! On the way we saw some low mist crossing the road and I learnt that a ghost had been sighted in this stretch .  It was already dark when we reached the beach but the lighted shacks, the food and the music was so much fun.  

AT BENAULIM BEACH

Goa is a fun  place and the the gentleness of the place infectious. I promise myself a longer trip soon .

   

I must have flowers, always, and always.(Claude Monet)

When I lost my way in my spring garden last year ,I hoped I would not find a way  out of it and the romance with flowers would spill over to the next spring too. But come October and the unseasonal rain dampened (pun intended) my spirits, the nurseries,the seeds and the dream of another brilliant flowering season . All the seeds I had so carefully preserved from last years bloom would not germinate and even if they did the saplings would  be destroyed by excess water. I was miserable .I visited the nurseries in the city .The private small nurseries charge exorbitantly and are undependable .The Goverment nursery is a paradise and very economical selling a hundred saplings of lovely flowers in not more than 60 rupees . .But this year their seeds had also met the same fate and they had only a few plants on offer .In fact the demand was so high that the gardener there had rationed his supply to all garden lovers .We bought seed packets and continued to plant them in sheltered spots and  in pots. So we had a late flower planting and then the rains again in January .Yet persistence has paid off and here is my spring 2014 garden with many flowers and some new ones too.

Petunias ,Cineraria,Salvia

The Cineraria  with its purple mauve flowers is lavish ,though it has been planted in a place which gets too much sun .I must remember to plant it in a more shady corner. But its flowers continue to burst forth .I learnt that each petal is in fact a flower. So what we call a flower is actually a collection of flowers !The irony of my garden was that initially we had very few saplings and I had to fill my garden  beds accordingly, though later we did manage to have quite a few but by then my flowery mural  had already been made. Anyways candy tuft was in abundance and so I planted them next to the Cineraria and also along with Salvia to get a red and white form. But Salvias were very few so I did not get the desired effect .But candy tuft the small white flowers have flowered profusely and though I was not very fond of them ,I fell in love with these delicate white blooms this year. I can imagine how good they will look if I can plant them in a rockery ,whites peeping from behind boulders.An idea I must use sometime . Next to them also in a reddish hue are the sweet Williams ,but the January rains has delayed their flowering . Their other cousins, the Dianthus , on the other hand has been a pink delight.It has a dark pink centre and the edges are of a lighter shade.  They started flowering early with their zigzag petals and are still a row of lovely daintiness. The other flowers in shades of pink is the Ice plant ,which is one of my favourites. I have made a ground cover of the ice plant and also planted them in a now defunct circular fountain . So with the sun shining bright, these small flowers open up  and are such a breathtaking sight. The new flowers this year are the antirrhinums ,the lupin the godetia ,the sweet sultans . All of these are upright flowers and have given pink blooms this time. Alongside the pink flowers are the shades of purple ,mauve and violet .The larkspur or the delphinium is a new entrant in my garden and I have planted it around my garden lamps. They look wispy and delicate their stalks bending an waving in the wind. And then their is the cornflower,also called the bahelors'  button......... the only blue flower amidst a bewildering variety of pinks and purples ,yellow and oranges.Yet it holds its own and as if to say I am one of you too ,gives pink blooms too. But the blue are really my favourite ,reminding me of glass beads .Its florets spread like a ray and interestingly I found out that if it is worn in a button by young men in love.If it faded quickly it was a sign that the man's love was not returned . I Guess that is why it is also known as the Bachelors buttons!Can one imagine it can be used to cure conjunctivitis !These are more than two feet and I have used them along the walls .

Cornflower

I had planned to plant Hollyhocks ,another one of my favourites nearest the wall and keep the shorter flowers progressively near the garden .But I miscalculated the height of cornflower and now I have a row of larkspur hidden between the hollyhocks and the cornflowers . Blunder in designing. Holly hocks grow tall ,even taller than us and give a column of flowers ,lasting well in to summers .I have them against the wall ,against a window ,anyplace where a tall vertical appeal is required. And the best thing about these plants are that the seeds fall and they sprout up again next year . These are yet to flower fully but I don't mind that because they will be the last flowers to be uprooted. I have them in pinks till now. I am hoping for some reds and yellows too !

When I think of long lasting flowers there is the petunia too. They are in full bloom now, prolific ,in shades of pink,white, purple  and growing larger and denser as the sun becomes stronger . Also flowering more with the sun is the marigold ,again forming a border of my garden . Alongwith the yellow marigold are my other yellow golden herblike  the calendula .They were the first plants to flower. I had a row of marguerite daisy  ,tall about 6 feet high ,followed by cosmos and then lower still the calendula . yellows and oranges ,they gave a bright sunshine look to my garden .The bright deep orange of the nasturtiums ,I call them the free spirit flowers, brings a richness to the spring .And they grow with no restraint,no holding back ,climbimg ,spreading and their deep orange is fiery . 

Poppy,Dahlia,Nasturtium ,marigold in heavenly paradise

If I have the exuberant nasturtiums ,I also have the tall merry dahlias .This time I planted the single flower  ones ,because of the pastel colours which gives a very very soft look ,so gentle nodding their heads in a very joyous  yet graceful manner . If the dahlias are very elegantly merry ,the pansies seem like small elves smiling naughtily as if winking with their velvet petals and monkey faces .

But the garden merriment is full of some other fillers too like the stock which has just started to lower, a couple of geraniums ,gazania which have not flowered as yet ,the dogflowers ,the aster ,the carpet of phlox ,verbena and the climbing sweet peas ,making a pretty  curtain on my mesh .

Oh well despite the October  rains ,the November rains, the January Rains and the freaky weather my garden has come out tops .......a paradise  for my feasting eyes, a riot of colours for the soul , a palette of incomparable exquisiteness for my mind !

Yeh hai Mumbai meri Jaan !

“What can you possibly see of Mumbai in a day and a half ?”
     “I can spare just that much of my time ,” says I ,as I land at the Santa Cruz airport from Goa at around 7.30 in the evening and am being whisked away by my sister’s husband to their house in Kandivili . He gives me a rundown of the city while we  get stuck in some heavy traffic. Mumbai is all longitudinal , unlike Delhi which is expansive in all directions ,someone had once told me a few years ago. Yes travelling in Mumbai does not give one a big city feel . The roads aren’t really wide,the houses all look dumped together  and yet its vibrancy and modernity is visible, palpable. There are just three major roads all north- south ,he tells me, the Western Express highway,the Central express Highway and the Harbour line and we are on the Western  as we speed past the  Oracle office ,metro overbridge and  Oberoi Mall, Goregaon .The cab is a rundown Padmini and shudders when the driver applies the brakes ,but he takes us to our destination safely .

    But cabs are an expensive means of travel  and  if you haven’t travelled in its notorious yet superbly efficient  local trains ,you haven’t seen Mumbai .And so the next day I boarded the 9.25 am local from Borivili ,much safer to catch it from a terminal station rather than the closer Kandivili because by that time ,there would be no  space left to even stand comfortably . And my sister who was accompanying me had taken care of the sensibilities and ineptitude of a non Mumbaikar and had wisely decided to go to Borivili ,despite it being a second Saturday and most offices closed.  On normal days she tells me she does not wait for the passengers to disembark and the train reverse for its return trip. She has learnt the agile art of getting on to the slowing train if she wants a seat to sit down for her one and a half hour journey to Churchgate everyday. The local train is a whole world of its own , and travelling in Mumbai would have been near impossible without it. Efficient,timely and so much time saving, it chugs on.Crowds flow in  and out  at Borivili,Kandivili,Jogeshwari,Goregaon,Andheri and others and finally Vile Parle.  That’s where I have to  go  and I stand close to  a number of ladies standing at the gate , asking everyone where they want to get off,to ensure that I am in the crowd with the same destination . I get smoothly pushed along to the platform , no effort required except to ensure that the incoming travellers don’t push me back inside ! 
   Now I meet my brother who stays at Vile Parle . And then the Mumbai Darshan . Since we are near Juhu ,I choose  the most iconic of experiences for this day's visit .Those that define Mumbai . The Juhu beach in the evening and the street foods of Mumbai. On the way,   a motley crowd of onlookers catches my attention and I am told it is Jalsa, home of the one and only  Amitabh Bachchan and his equally illustrious family members . Its dusk when we reach the beach . Joggers, cosying couples,children , the monkey man ,the chaiwaala ,and so much more  all give the beach a life and colour .But we find our own space there and play  with the waves of the Arabian Sea ,almost tamed by urbanisation yet forbidding . Its pleasant and the children get busy  racing each other to the sea and then building sand castles. The sea is dirty ,occasionally a polythene packet gets washed up to the shore ,but there are also waste collectors with their gunny sack collecting rubbish thrown by uncaring revellers. Fun,frolic makes us tired and we head back to the stalls of pav bhaji , chat,vada paav,ragda patis ,sandwiches . But we decide to give these ones a miss ,and have chaat at Sharma chaat near Kala Niketan on SV Road . I love paani puri and this  pani was spicy and makes my mouth water as I still savour the tanginess even as I write. I save the golgappe ,(another name for pani puri which goes by several names for the last always) having delicious chatpati aloo tikkis before that . But there is more street food in Mumbai and I reluctantly  control my gastronomic impulses and very bravely forgo the temptation to have more of the chaat ,leaving place in my hungry stomach for other tastes.
    We move towards Vile Parle station , and stop at a corner under the flyover ,a stone’s throw from McDonalds." Lucky sandwich and Pizza Corner" has a recommendation  hanging on his corner shop from the Times of India for a best street food award and we queue up too .There is everyone there from an Aston Martin to a young couple on a bike,from 10 year olds to grandparents . And there is a sandwich for everyone there too . You want grilled with veggies inside, cheese inside, a Frankie or just a plain one with only boiled potato pieces and yummy sour green chutney  .This is the one my niece raves about. We have the grilled vegetable one, delicious and so filling . It is a small meal in itself and I agree the recommendation by TOI is not unwarranted. Next to him stands a kulfi chap ,no crowd here .Is it because the weather is slightly cool today ? We have one kulfi with paan flavour and we know why there is no crowd. But a dosa walla nearby does brisk business . 
       It’s about 10 at night ,but Mumbai comes into its own .We get an auto to take us back the 2 km distance.Autos are easy to get , though earlier  it hadn’t been  so easy getting an auto to this place  from Juhu beach where we asked almost 8 fellows before one of them agreed and not before we had also walked some 500 metres away from the beach by then. The long distance travellers lure the auto drivers and makes them refuse a short haul passenger. Delhi at night is only cars and road traffic. Mumbai at night, is about girls, women, boys,everyone on the streets ,animated ,happy ,enjoying, comfortable ,brisk ,laughing and joyousness. There is a comfort in the air, of being able  to stand outside street shops and eat, of no pretentions , of shops open till late evening , of being able to catch a bus or an auto easily ,of just enjoying life.

    Our plan to see the beach on a Sunday morning ,in its peaceful avatar were thwarted by the laterisers  and the working couples need to finish their pending weekly jobs . So we started the   day late and were out of the house only by noon . In the spirit of seeing things defining Mumbai we planned to got to Gateway of India and the places thereabouts .This time another local and being Sunday it was a comfortable ride ,getting off at Churchgate and then a cab .The Kandivili folks also decided to join us later and so instead of a family get together at somebodys’ house we had one later at the museum. The Gateway ,was seen by yours truly some 30 years earlier , more crowded now and with another landmark the Taj being pointed to all visitors. Too many Sunday visitors each one of them being followed by photographers with promises of instant photographs ,the most popular demand apparently of the one where you hold the Taj or the Gateway between your forefinger and thumb. The Gateway itself appears to stand immune to everyone crowding around below it,straddling the entrance to Bombay ,welcoming and yet unfeeling. You are welcome here but find your own way , it seems to say .

    On the way we had seen billboards of the Hindustan Times Kala Ghodha Visual Aarts festival and so we walked back to the erstwhile Prince of Wales museum,now renamed  Chhatrapti Shivaji museum .  And so we saw an exhibition of the paintings of the Flemish masters ! Landscapes, still life, black and white  and from the most famous of them all ,Rubens. There is nothing so frustrating than to see a masterpiece and realise your own inadequacies of not having the eye or the knowledge to really appreciate the finer points of a masterpiece. Must join an Art appreciation course ASAP ! But time was short and we criminally skipped the other parts of the museum to go to the festival next door . The museum was there to see anytime ,the Kala Ghodha comes once a year.  The crowd there was enormous and most of the visual delights were lost in the pushing ,jostling mass. The artists who had created some pieces were shunted to the background by people more keen on posing for photographs rather than enjoying the beauty of a horse made of gears ,a monumental structure of empty water bottles,some triangular mirror structure, and many such creative ad absolutely stunning works of art . A childrens workshop warmed our hearts .

And then the pride of Mumbai ,the Marine drive ,the Queens necklace ,the Fort Area. Walking by this very crème de la crème of Mumbai city , with its imposing buildings,its cobbled pavements ,its very historical antecedents . The Gaylord restaurant where Raj Kapoor would drop by for a meal . Areas familiar to us by movie scenes, where across the road we spotted a film shooting was going on . The evening at Marine drive where we sat on the embankments like so many others watching the sea below ,waves breaking on the rocks and the promenade with its breeze  and history ,Nariman point a short distance away ,Shanti Kuteer,Oceana and other residences of the rich ,wealthy, royals etc etc.   But the Marine Drive is egalitarian ,the sea is for all to see,the sea breeze fans every face and in each Mumbaikar’s heart is a piece of this beautiful view of the setting sun a ,reddish blush in the sky and then sinking in the sea far on  the horizon .

   Time  to go back . We missed the 7.05 ,which started moving just as we reached the platform on Churchgate station ,but the 7.11 was ready on another . The ladies compartment was empty when we sat down and I felt a little apprehensive .We thought of moving to the general but another passenger boarded just when the train was about to move and slowly at other stations ,it started to fill .  A group of three hawkers selling cheap jewellery boarded, trustingly handed there baskets in willing customers laps for them to go through and take them back a couple of stations later .A group of chattering Gujarati women livened up the compartment and got down at Dadar . 

   In a day and a half window Mumbai had been well covered ,I thought.