Thursday, March 31, 2011

Panjim & Mapusa, Goa - 25th Jan 2011


We set off towards Goa Beach today, making full use of the limited time we get to spend in this beautiful place. We make our way down the road and our guide points out the church where they shot in the hindi film “Josh.” And everyone was like “Ooohh” or “Oh yeah...”



We stopped at the beach for a bit. Aaaaahhhh.. Blue water.. Blue Sky.. Bright sun.. Waves.. A couple of puppies running around in the sand.. No need to say more..

We pass through the town on the way to St. Xaviers college and I notice the houses and how all their roofs look the same, whether the house is big or small. Slanted and tiled. Probably for the rain. But it was interesting to see the identical thing in the whole town.



Another thing I noticed was that the vegetation was majorly thick here. There was a like a jungle in between every 2 houses. And all over the sides of the road. Normally, there are trees and all like this in other parts of the country, but it was particularly dense here. But nice.. And green..

St. Xaviers College was a real treat for us. They welcomed us with their Goa culture, so exotic and all. And they put up a few songs with a violin, guitar, an earthen-pot-drum and vocals. With their own traditional wear too. But the violin! What feel!




 And then they put up this mime act on the environment and corruption which was sooooooooo cooooool! One of their professors gave sound effects on the mic off stage and they acted it out. And believe me their timing was IMPECCABLE. We’ve seen stuff like that on tv, and it’s blown your mind – this was beyond that. And it was so humorous and entertaining.

But the highlight of the day was the interactive session Rakesh led. The points these young people raised, the awareness they had.. About the way things were in their country and in their state. And why. The drive they had from within to take action and the plans they were forming to do that.. They were discussing a lot of things that we had focused on in our campaign and I mean seriously.. It’s places like this, and people like this that make you feel that the whole thing was worthwhile. Like things made sense. And that is a very fulfilling feeling.

I wished we could have stayed a while longer here in Goa. But just after lunch we started off for Mumbai. 14 hours. By bus.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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