On The Way To Goa - 24th Jan 2011

As usual, we leave before sunrise for our next destination. This time it’s Goa. Most of us are half conscious as we climb into the buses. Watching the sea waves lap up and down the coast, we drift off ourselves..

On the way, we got to stop at Sister Edleburgh’s home in Kundhapur, Karnataka and spend some time with her family and witness the beauty of the green surroundings and the most peaceful river running just next door. The feeling of family filtered through, enveloping everyone, and it mattered little that most of us didn’t speak the same language. Love transcended it all.

 

We all received a rose as a token of welcome and affection. It was the most beautiful rose I'd seen.. It was a deep, rich red and the thing I liked most about it was how much it was an 'opened up' rose. I mean, you've seen some nice roses, but even when they've blossomed they're kinda closed. These were large and bloomed. And they smelled just divine..

On the bus after lunch, we watched a Tamil movie (I forgot to mention that our buses are really cool. They have a tv and an awesome sound system). It was fun! Different from the conventional mainstream bollywood masala flicks and films are always more fun when you have the company of friends.

We reach Goa later than we thought. Alan says, at 12:45 – sleep early. 

Yeah.
Right.

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!