Life is a BEACH !

Well yea, literally(often) as well as phonetically(occasionally). Or at least that’s what it seems to me after spending the last week of last year by the seashores of Bombay and Goa. While Bombay’s beaches had an introspective effect on me (I guess every beach does that if u visit them alone), Goa’s beaches were simply rocking at this time of the year(with techno and trance playing all around, it was difficult to keep your feet still). Ok wait, let me start from the start. (!)

I had not intended this blog to be any kind of a biographical account, but I guess since I’ve had such a rocking time this last week, it would be a waste if I do not keep an account of it.
First a quick wrap-up of my time at Bombay(for the record) - I reached Bombay on Christmas day and put up at my college buddy Pushkar’s flat. Despite it being a lazy Sunday, we were out in almost in no time and I was shown around the Colaba area and we went pubbing at Café Mondegar. Later at dinner we met up with our common friend Tapasya and her sister Stuti, who were both absolutely thrilled with the idea of us going to Goa and insisted that they would like to tag along as well. The next day Stuti’s friend Shweta called up to confirm her seat in the gang as well. Apparently Goa was so popular with these Bombay’ites that they’d been celebrating New Year’s there for the last 4 years in a row. (After being there myself I can now understand why). So ultimately 5 tickets were booked for the Bombay-Goa Volvo for 28th night. The remaining 3 days in Bombay were spent visiting my buddies in Santa Cruz and Andheri, also some shopping as I bought myself a blazer styled leather jacket and some tees for Goa.
So finally the entire gang started from Bombay on 28th night and reached Goa early Thursday morning, then quickly checked in to Pushkar’s friend’s flat in Porvorim. The females were swift to pack themselves into 1 of the better rooms(obviously!) while we had to make do with a couch and mattress in the living room. Anyways, within an hour of our arrival we hired a cab for next 3 days, and the party was on!
I have to mention here that even though I’m not much of a party freak most of the time, yet I guess it was the exotic combination of the destination, the timing, and the contagious company of some serious clubbers that brought out the dormant wild party animal inside me.
The 1st destination that we hit was the popular Anjuna beach, where after some time of surfing the sand in the sun the females realized that this activity was non-hazardous only for the pigment free skins of the scores of firangs who were trying to soak in as much Vitamin D as possible, and so we moved to the shady shelter of a nearby shack for lunch. Post that we scanned the various stalls for some exotic Goan handicrafts, and even though I hate any kind of accessories yet I picked up a chain (just to go with the flow!).
Another noticeable thing about Goa was that wherever we went and at whatever time, the atmosphere was so lively and festive, that it was unlike anywhere I’d been before. No wonder there was the buzz of Amitabh, Shahrukh and Salmaan having checked in the town for Vijay Mallya’s famed party as well. We even spotted a black Hummer at Baga which according to my knowledgeable Bombay’ites belonged to Sanjay Dutt.
Next we reached Calangute and stopped over at a lounge called Kamaki. The ambience was neat though a bit expensive. Now we headed straight for the famous Zanzibar shack at Baga, where Nikhil Chinappa and DJ Pearl were jockeying from 29th to 31st from 5 pm to 10:30 pm( http://www.submerge.in/gallery.htm ). Ah, the first glimpse of those flickering Neon lights and the booming music was enough to send us like hungry tigers on scrumptious prey, and we literally kickstarted the dance mayhem.
After about 2 hours of dancing we took a break for dinner at a nearby shack called Oceanic and feasted on some seafood. (I tried a Pomfret but somehow didn’t like it.) Now we headed for the famous Tito’s where we again gyrated to some pulsating music till about 2 am, and then were so tired of the traveling and dancing that we decided to call it a day.

The 2nd day (30th) everybody got up around 12, and soon made a quick tour of Vagator, where the junta was bored with the same sand and sun so quickly found our way back to Baga. Here we had lunch at Oceanic, then tried some mouth watering desserts at Britto’s (best food in town), before launching ourselves back to the mania at Zanzibar.

Post dinner a quick plan was formulated to check out the No. 1 nightclub in Goa (and maybe in India) called Club Cabana. It was aptly located on the top of a hill from where a flickering searchlight proudly boasted it’s Numero Uno status to the whole of partying town below. It was definitely the highlight of the trip as the crowd was Crème-de-la-Crème, and plenty of models and TV actors could be spotted jiving around. We reluctantly left the place after sunrise around 6 am.

The 3rd day(31st) started with everyone getting up around 3 pm, and even though we were all simply burnt out with fatigue, we were still raring to go. We took a quick tour through Panjim around 5 pm but it was so crowded everywhere that we thought it was better to stay near the beaches. So we again started shopping around Calangute, and around dinner time decided to check out a rave party happening in a club called HillTop. But there was such a Jam of partyhoppers that our cab couldn’t move beyond 500 metres in half an hour, so we thought it better to spend the midnight hour at Baga rather than in the cab.In any case we were told it was useless to go to a rave if you don't do drugs, so i guess we didn't miss much.

So as the clock struck 12, we were dancing away at Zanzi while there were thousands and thousands of people all around as far as the eye could see. There were dazzling fireworks almost for an hour all along the coastline.
On 1st morning I bid a sad farewell to my group, and pushed off to another friend’s home in Panjim where I’d been invited for some delectable Goan lunch.
And then it was time to get back to Bangalore and the monotony of work life. (but I’m somehow sure I’ll be back there soon).

'Oh Milton, if you had ever visited Goa, you would never have written Paradise Lost'. – A popular Goan phrase.

(Some more pics at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8IZN2LVuzbsRe )