a wildly romantic book called goa .. go slow!

ocean makes u think depth. it makes u think vastness, power, and might. it gets u to introspect... and sparks thoughts that never existed before.

...waves as high as you, a few meters ahead of u... on a early Goa morning. u wake up... and walk on the beach. even before you are conscious, the ocean and the sand has already hugged your feet and grabbed your shapeless thoughts. u see an old big ship anchored in the middle of the waves... holding grounds as if it was built into the sea...

a beach cafe... that serves old monk and your brand of smoke. no one in sight.. except the vast, slightly violent ocean. the stretch of the beach ending into greens, trees and a fort on one end, and ocean till the horizon at the other...

u talk of life, physics, beauty and danger... and wonder how beauty and danger both have a strange pull. is beauty dangerous! or is danger beautiful!? ...the ocean is a surprising mix of both...

[ this was a 7 am walk on Candolim beach, ending near Aguada fort. We almost gatecrashed into the Taj from the ocean facing end. The waves were hitting the walls and we walked though them :)... the cafe is in palm beach resort. ]


is it a house? ...someone sure lives here!!... hey look there, a lovely collection of books this guy has.. all those deliciously strange old books that you only get to read from a similar delicious strange old library, but never get to buy!!! ...and look here, an entire room full of the latest best seller stuff...

and then you realise this nice homely place is actually a bookshop. of course, a residence converted into a bookshop. sit here for as long as you want... order some nice homemade cheese sandwiches and kokum juice... and bury yourself for hours into those lovely pages, and smell of old books. one of the best book places i have visited ever...

[ this was Literatti... the book shop. on the way from Candolim towards Baga beach ]


the afternoon begins with some Goan clothes shopping... a floral print bright shirt and shorts... a hat and an OM kurta... well equipped, you cross the regular Tito’s and end up at Britto’s :)... at the beach...
a little food and a few drinks later you realise the onset of dusk... they got candle like stuff they place on your tables...
you are on the first table facing the sea... and you sip your drink with the most extreme relaxation you could ever feel... you talk in breaks and pauses... relishing every second for many many minutes... life is peaceful... slow and just right!

[ this was Britto’s at Baga Beach ]


another morning... another sleepy eyed mind, another short walk towards the sands... and here you have a cup of tea after the ocean winds have woken you up... of course a few dog foot marks on the sand don't hurt the eyes much... but try not looking at a the dogs being overtly playful at this early an hour...

a dip in the sea to tick mark that 'you had a dip in the sea’ ...and you move back to relaxing, living moments, and living slowly...

oh! was that a dolphin u saw jumping out of the ocean 30 meters ahead!!!?!? :)

[ this was Palolem Beach, and on it an otherwise neat and lovely beach resort called San Fransisco... they have an amazing speed of getting food... seems like they outsource each meal straight from San Francisco :) ]


a secluded beach.... there are very few things of more value than a long evening spent here, entering into the night. and entering deeper into your own thoughts...
a setting sun and a rising realisation of something that you always knew existed... answers to long forgotten questions!!

[ this was the Palolem Beach end in intercontinental the grand resort territory. No Dogs ]


am sure in love with goa!