There was a trip to Palolem Beach (South Goa) organized for 2006 batch girls yesterday, that is 26th January. Now well, you know the reason for part of the title, and for the first part, read on.
We were supposed to leave at 8:30 AM. But given that many of us woke up at around that time, we left at 10:30 AM, and as we were sitting in the bus we realized that the '35' seater was well, a 31-seater. Anyway, we got 5 stools or something and the journey was fun. It made me realize that no matter how much times change, somethings just remain the same. Like the set of songs you use while playing Antakshari hasn't incorporated a lot of new songs. 'Na na karte pyar tumhi se..' WILL be a. sung and b. followed by 'Thande thande paani se..'
We reached Palolem at around 11:45. So then began woos that quickly turned into ow's, as the sun suddenly made its presence felt.. And then we started to find a spot where we could cut the cake (yes we had a cake, and it was delicious :| ) And so we started cheering for glory and CH4/GH4(J), as we couldn't find amy other subject matter to cheer about, nor was it anyone's birthday, while we frantically slapped sunscreen on to ourselves.
So after all the cake-cutting and eating and wiping-our-hands-clean, we all decided to split up for lunch and then meet up at 3 again. So me, Juthika, Madhura, Tvisha, Sanskriti and Saniya went our way to Cube, this shack with lotsa blackboards with funky stuff written on 'em. After a few non-alcoholic beverages, Sanskriti and Saniya decided to go kayaking. If you didn't hear what she said next, you'd think Saniya went kayaking for about 2 minutes. Well, she had come back as the guy had started asking her about her insurance details, and (this would sound familiar to BITSians), she was going out in the ocean on her own risk and responsibility.
So for the next 45 minutes we watched Sanso transform from a human figure in a kayak, to an orange speck beyond the horizon. (Technically, we couldn't see the orange speck after she 'crossed' horizon.) And then we went wood-oven-pizza hunting, and landed at La Pizzeria, where we were asked what we meant when we ordered for 'Coke'.
After a rather-insipid pasta and a good pizza, we went shopping. (Now I know why I stopped feeling hungry! :P ) So we went into a shop, came out and went into another, tried stuff out and occasionally bought something. Somewhere, we split into two groups of 3 each, with me, Maddie and Saniya together. "Oh! That is SO cute" to "not worth the price" was the general flow of the conversation, when we couldn't manage to strike a deal. Anyway, Maddie bought a dress and a skirt, I bought a kurti and a top, and Saniya too bought a dress.
During our little shopping spree, Preeti had called Maddie up and minced no words (in a nice way) when she had said that we would all meet up at 4, and then take a group pic and then leave by 5. So at around 3:30, when we were done with shopping (we ran out of shops), we made our way back to the beach, and started walking towards the river and the island. Me and Saniya collected shells on the way, and I noticed that the species of molluscs with snake-like pattern on their shells is pretty common at that stretch.
So we walked towards the other end, and the sun's reflection on the wet sand preceded us. The blue, the white and the golden hues all came together to make that one walk thoroughly fulfilling. The characteristic patterns rivulets made on the silt they carried all the way down, the boisterous flow of the water towards the sea, against you as you walk across, and then finally the green and calm of the rather secluded part of the beach. Nature really fills you up with sheer, innocent happiness :)
Also, we can safely say that we crossed a sea and a river to reach an island :P
Then we went back to where everyone was supposed to assemble, and got a group pic taken (a foreigner wanted to click us too :| ), and then we left for the bus. (Not before Sanskriti had a mini-adventure of her own :P)
Amazing trip, and the best beach I've been to. And a long post... :|
Oh, by the way, the first part of the title? Well, I saw a tee shirt that said 'God made weed, Man made booze. You decide who's better', which I was planning on buying for a friend. Thanks for reading :P
