We were 11 heads and two Sumos. We divided ourselves such that in one sumo we were all Daru pine waale and the other had soft drinks pine waale. As it was 18 hr journey, we were supposed to leave at around 12 so that we can reach Goa early in the morning but there were people who takes hell lot of time to get ready and moreover our Bank balance was not updated. We left the campus at around 2:30. One Sumo went to Vijyeta to pick up some eatables and our sumo stopped in lingampally to pick a bottle of Gin and a carat of Beer. We reunited near the Sangeeta theatre to find that the other sumo has some mobil lickage problem. While they were fixing the problem, Dinu, Suni and me went to the theatre to watch "Hum tumhare hai Sanam". Dinu's moblie ranged at around 5:30 saying that the problem has been fixed. So, we left the movie in the middle and said bye to hyderabad.
So, we left hyderabad and made our first halt after 30 mins as liquor got over and dinu started shouting for getting very little share. But that was not the end as very soon we found that there is no more water left in our car. So, we signalled the other car, which was ahead of us, through our mobile device to make a halt. We found them waiting next to a dhaba as people in that car got hungry by that time... We had Dal, roti and sabzi and got a discount of 9 rupees in the total Bill upon my request.
Suspected Diabetic Binoy already started showing his Jalwa. He was going for pee twice at each halt. Ek bar immediately after we stop aur ek bar just before we start. Anyways, that was our early dinner at Hazirabaad or something like that. As usual, I started feeling sleepy after food, so to keep myself awake I started SMSing. But that ended very fast as we entered the Maharashtra border where there was no connection. The next halt was made at around 10 when the drivers got hungry and with them we had our final dinner of the day with Beers substituting water.
After that break we resumed our voyage once again with loud music, giving tolls at every check post with our eyes fixed on the approaching turns on the road. We should not miss the turn which would lead us towards Goa. With the only knowledge that the turn is after Sholapur and about 200 kms before Pune, we finally took the left along with the independent India, leaving the highway behind. As we were moving ahead the road became more and more narrow. Every milestone was showing names of different different places. With the full confidence on drivers, we entered a small town ( name I forgot) where Binoy needed a desperate stop. We made a halt at a Bus stop, had tea and after asking the way to Goa, the trip was once again resumed.
Now, we entered the best part of our ongoing trip. The roads were smaller than it was ever before. We could see the left and right signs of villages on the milestones but we couldnt see the roads going there. Probably, they were even more smaller, you know, like bicycle roads or like one of those short cuts in our campus. With the only two Sumos moving on that no man's land, we were kind of lost under the moon. We could see no vehicles coming or going and also we cant afford to stop in the middle with the fear of meeting some hungry wild animals in the search of thier prey. We got a sigh of relief when we saw a couple of men walking down the road.
"Bhaisaab Goa jaane ka raasta kidhar se hai?" the driver asked. "What Goa, where is Goa" was the reply. "Hum abhi kahan hai aur yahan se kahan jaa sakte hai?" came out of frustration........
We were in a village called "paragaon" or something like that. According to those men, if we go straight and take left then we will reach a village from where a road goes to Kohlapur. Our driver took few left turns and after moving for some 30-40 kms we could see some truck drivers resting on the side of the road. We were now in some village with "B" and the way to Kohlapur is "go straight where we would meet a highway which goes to Sangli and Kohlapur is some 50 Kms from there." Out of curiosity, I asked one of the truck drivers whether they know how far is "paragaon". I was not surprised to know that "paragaon" is just 3 kms from that small road going to the right. Moral of the story: "Take 4 left turns and you will come to know that the earth is round."
With one slang out of my mouth, I went to sleep after that and woke up at around 5 with the music of the freedom songs to find that we were now in Sangli. Our drivers needed some rest.
Ladies were out on the roads with thier dogs for an early morning walk. Garam garam jalebis and other sweets were getting ready for school children. While I was tasting those jalebis and some other stuffs, other guys got busy going to the jungles. They hated me for eating without even brushing my teeth. But thats my way and moreover, I dont want to upset my teeth by giving them brush without feeding them.
When our guys finished up, we woke up our drivers and ask them to move.
"Kya driver saab raat ko to accha ghumaya aapne", I said.
"Arre nahi saab, woh chai pine ke baad hum ek turn miss kar gaye the... lekin ab aur koi problem nahi hai... yahan se seedha Goa jayenge", he replied. Hope so!!, I said in bengali to ourselves. We had another 250 Kms to reach Goa.
So, we put a tri-color flag on the front of our car and started moving ahead. School kids were marching on the roads of the town with patriotic slogans. I also started delivering my favorite slogans from the inside of the moving car and once we left the town of Sangli behind, I again went off. I woke up when the car stopped again and I was wondering ke itni jaldi kaise pahunch gaye. It was only 1 hour that we left sangli. But then it was a stop made by Binoy. I could not sleep after that. After moving for another 15 - 20 mins, we met Bombay to Goa highway. Someone in the car told the driver not to hesitate to take the right turn as Bombay also is a nice place. " Kya saab galti baar baar thodai hota hai" the driver replied. We took the left turn and saw the milestone " PANAJI - 140". Together came the shout " yeeeeaaaaaeeee". The car needed its fuel and seeing the dhabas at the other side of the road, our guys also needed the same. We decided to have a breakfast as it was already 9. Bread Omlet was the favorite. The halt was very long as first, the makers in that dhaba were slow and second those who could not download in Sangli started finding thier way to the jungles. I and Suni decided to do that part after reaching Goa. Goa is not far now, just a matter of 140 kms.
We were now over the Ghats. One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. We stopped in between to take pictures. I tried jumping over the hills to pose in a most natural way. Then suddenly, it started raining and we all ran back to the cars but Binoy was missing and none of us were worried. The next 100 kms were Bottle kholing, daru pouring and sight seeing. We entered the territory of Goa after paying 500 Rs. bribe to the Local Police. Very soon we crossed the bridge over river Mandvi to land up on the city of Panaji.
We were stopped by the local guides for hotels but trusting on our experienced drivers, we ignored them and told the driver that we need a cottage kind of thing at the sea side so that we can enjoy the beach at every moment, both days and nights, of our stay in Goa. He said all right and took us some 35 kms down south and landed up in vasco da gama. We were so delighted at the sight of the sea that we completely ignored the dirtiness of the place and went looking for hotels leaving one Sumo and some of the guys there. After seeing some of the hotels and enquiring a bit about the places in Goa, where we can get what we are looking for, we decided to go back to Panaji and find something there. We returned back to the place where we left our guys and what I heard next were some of the unforgettable words of my life. It is very difficult to translate those words which were spoken in Bengali. The basti kind of thing on my left was a place where they trade girls. Already three guys approched Moloy asking "what age we want, 15, 16, 17; ekdum taaza maal chahiye to woh bhi hai. Wahan mat dekhiye, woh saasta market hai, andar chaliye, aur bhi bahut hai." Ya, we were at the center of the Red Light Area of Goa. With a grin on my face I asked everybody to sit inside the cars and we all headed back to Panaji in a deep silence. Afterall, everybody has the right to spend some time in peace.
We returned back to Panaji and because of the long weekend, Goa was full even in the off-season. I am not going into the details of looking for the hotel which took us some 2 hours. Though the beach opposite to our hotel looked pathetic, the receptionists were cool. We checked in at around 5:30 and we were ready to explore Goa within one and a half hour. We decided to spend the evening on the cruise which flows over river Mandvi.
Whatever little tiredness of the journey left inside us were nomore there after seeing the beautiful Goan girls welcoming us on the boat. We rocked the floor along with them on the mind blowing Konkani music. It was a nice ride with the cool breeze taking all the credits. We had dineer at Edu's, Kingfish was the favourite. We got two pints of beer free on the total bill amount. We bought an ice cake which would be served at 12 midnight after singing the "Happy Birthday" song for Moloy. I got a nice sleep with two dreams, which would be broken at 8:30 in the morning by a local guide.
Goa is a small state with only two districts, North Goa and South Goa. The bridge over river Mandvi divides it so. While most of the beaches and the fort are in North Goa, churches, temples and naked beaches constitutes the South Goa. The very first thing we did after leaving the hotel was to pick up fenny, port wine, rum etc. so that we wont run short during our stay there. We will be covering the North Goa along with our guide Chandrakant, who will be remembered every time we remember Goa.
Two bottles of wine got over before we reached the Sikrim beach, the first of all beaches we saw. This beach is behind the Taj residency and our guide suggested that if we ever plan to honeymoon in Goa then this is the best place to stay. I noted down his suggestion and looked at the sea which was much beautiful than any other water bodies I have seen in my life. We climbed down the rocks to get closer to the sea, took snaps and got back only when one of the security personnel blew his whistle to come up immediately from that restricted area. Our next sight was Collingot beach, one of the most happening beach in Goa.
By the time we left Sikrim beach, it was already 1 and those who didnt have the wine breakfast started feeling hungry. So, we decided to have lunch at our next stop. At the first turn we found our guide sleeping. We woke him up to ask which way to go and his reply left us with a surprise that he is out!!
"Left lelijiye nahi to right lelijiye, kahin to pahunch hi jayenge."
We somehow reached the collingot beach where we had pomphret in the lunch. After lunch we changed into our bathing dress and went to the beach.
The tides were high and the water was cold. We had fun in the water for sometime and then went to play beach side Volley Ball. We divided ourselves into two teams. My team won the first match convincingly and upon changing the side we realized that it was very easy to lose the match playing at this side as it was hard to fix the eye on the ball and we also lost in no time. None of us were willing to play the third match and we were again back to the sea. When we got tired of playing with the throwing water, we went to a multi-purpose hut to change our clothes. We had tea and some snacks after changing and then we got the offer of "Body Massage". We needed to pay only 150 bucks and a young beautiful lady will do the rest.
Our next target was Wagator Beach, one of the cleanest and romantic beach. But, I shall continue only after seeing your further interest on this.
