Soulful Goa - where History meets Horizon

I just wrapped up a 4 day trip to Goa, my eighth trip so far to this State - 5 with friends, 2 with the family and 1 company offsite. There is something quaint about this place which pulls in lakhs of tourists every season... They come here for either some or all of these - laidback lazy days, beaches, shacks, seafood, music, drinks, casino etc. 

"Peaceful" would be an expression which my younger-self would have frowned upon, going by how some of the earlier holidays to Goa were.. But this trip (with wife & kids) was all about peace and hitting the 'pause' button !! Some may say it's getting old, some would suggest it's all about getting wiser 😜 !! So the North Goa beaches, the shack/pub hopping, the adventure sports, the discotheques, late night parties of the earlier trips were not repeated this time.... Please do read on if you want to find out how a relaxed Goa vacation could look like. 😊

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Sunsets & Strolls by the Shore

There is something theraupatic with the Goan beaches, especially the South Goa ones. We stayed at Club Mahindra Varca and every morning started with a long stroll on the beautiful Varca beach. The beaches are less crowded, the white sands and waves rolling on to the beach in a rhythm. Bliss !!!

What's more mesmerizing are the sunsets, as the sun melt into the Arabian sea, the horizon glowing orange/pink & the sky slowly fading to purple.

There were few water sports organisers and enthusiasts who ventured out, but somehow the concern of these operations being unsafe kept us away from them. Instead we played with the waves, built few sand castles & clicked lots of photos !!

Retreating monsoons dampen Diwali festivities 

What was advertised as fascinating Diwali gala event on 20th October at the resort turned out to be a dud, thanks to the untimely rains that timed itself to perfection, pouring cold water over the set stages, decorations and cancelling the Diwali party. Instead we all had to huddle into one covered space, for some delightful Indian sweets... Soon all the disappointments of the missed party lost to a plate of crispy jalebi dipped in delicious rabdi!! 😋 

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"Food is an opinion"

My daughter announced the other day sitting at a restaurant. She was apparently not very impressed with the fish curry rice, something which we liked there. She however did agree with our choice of local desserts - be it serradura, bebinca or coconut puddings. They were as yummy as they come!

While we won't call ourselves as foodies, but Roshni & me both agree that the best way to explore a city is by experiencing the local food culture .. we have been doing these for years.. Before landing to any place, we chalk out eateries offering local cuisines.. so for this trip too, we did plan out few popular joints and made it a point to weave our iterinary around the lunch/dinner choices.. and we did enjoy our choice of seafood and drinks!!! 

Every meal felt like a mini celebration - simple, flavorful and best paired with glass of feni/urrak or some nice cocktails !! Few restaurants worth mention here :

- Fisherman's Wharf, Cavelossim, I found the ambience much better & homely than the North Goa franchisees.

- Martin's Corner, Betalbatim - This was my second trip here after the last one in 2018 with friends and I loved it once again

- The Southern Deck, Benaulim - Somehow this felt bit letdown, probably the sudden rains caused the crowds to swell indoors and resultant not-so-great dinner experience. 

- FlavorBoat Varca Club Mahindra - Though not traditional Goan cuisine, we found the wood-fired pizzas comforting.

There were many more eateries in our list, but these would have to wait for future trips. 

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A Step Back in Time ...and a Long Drive

On the 3rd day of the holiday, we decided to go for a long drive up North to Old Goa & then eastward deep into the Western Ghats. 

First stop was the former capital of Portugese India - Old Goa, situated near Mandovi River. The Viceroy's Arch (built in 1599) served as the ceremonial gate for the Portuguese Viceroys as they entered their colonial capital. 

Next to the Arch, were the Church of St Cajetan and the more-popular Se Cathedral. Both Christian shrines have an history of 400 years, being built in 1600s and their tall white structures glew against the blue Goan skies. The interiors of the churches were beautiful with wooden altars, the chandeliers and high arches. 

From 1600s Old Goa, we drove further back in time to the 13th century, much much before all these Europeans reached India!! Situated deep in the Western Ghats stood the one of the oldest temples of Goa - the Tambdi Surla Kadamba Mahadev Temple. 

The drive itself was pure magical through winding roads flanked by forests and ocassional must drifting across the road, creating a mirage of sorts.

As for the temple, it was beautifully carved black basalt stone built in Kadamba-Yadava architecture style with intricate carvings of Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. The temple,though small in size, had an amazing positive vibe and very well preserved. The temple vicinity was quiet, serene and situated amidst lush vegetation and flowing river Surla closeby.

That was a quick summary of our 4 day trip to Goa. We made a mental note to visit the state again for some other similar rejuvenating experiences such Diwar island, Usgalimal rock engravings etc. Though Roshni & I were keen to explore these, the kids preferred the resort activities, swimming pool and the beach, so we spent more time at Varca.

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Before I end the blog, a quick note on our commute experiences too. This trip we skipped flights and chose trains instead. The onward journey to Madgaon was an interesting experience aboard the Tejas Express Vistadome - a special train coach with panaromic glass windows, 360° rotatable seats and special observation lounge at the end, providing an unobstructed viewing area. We spent the 10+ hour enjoying the scenery 😃, food-on-board (though this was not as tasty as we hoped! 😔).

For our return, we chose the overnight Matsyagandha express which ensured we got some sleep before reaching Thane by 6 am.

We also hired a self-drive car from Madgaon train station for 4 days. There are several hiring operators and these are fairly priced too. Our Baleno automatic car came at Rs 1500 per day, which was economical and convenient. I was pleasantly happy with the good quality Goan roads too. 

That's it from me, hope I captured the essence of my 8th Goa trip. Signing off with plans to visit here again!! 

Cheers

Sunil

The yellow season at Kaas - Finding Beauty Beyond Expectations!!

Sometimes, travel isn't about the perfect view or photo. I and 7 friends experienced this last weekend at Kaas Plateau. Kaas reminded us that nature doesn't always perform on schedule, at times we have to just accept it as-is!

For the uninformed, Kaas Plateau is a UNESCO Heritage site in Satara, Maharashtra popular for a kaleidoscope of floral blooms every year, towards end of monsoon lasting for about a month (typically early September to beginning October). The Google images and online Insta reels prompted the gang of 8 to embark on a weekend trip (11-12 October) to Kaas Plateau. 

 (Photo not from our trip, sourced from Google Images)

Overview of our iterinary

- We all started early morning from Mumbai and after a couple pit-stops for breakfast, tea and lunch, we reached Satara. 

- Before checking into the homestay, we decided to take a short detour to Baramotichi Vihir, a historic stepwell located in Limb village, at the outskirts of Satara.

- We checked into the homestay at about 6:30 pm and retired way past midnight after an evening filled with karaoke, impromptu dances, drinks, fun chats etc etc.

- Next day, post breakfast and checkout, we reached the Kaas Plateau around 9:30am and explored the place for ~2.5-3 hours. 

- The trip ended with me reaching home by 8 pm.

Now this trip was not the first (and hopefully not the last) of this gang of colleagues-friends who had done others like Andharban trek (Link to the blog here : Andharban Trek blog), Nashik and Yeoor Hills. So there were few constants - songs, dance, bantering, camaderie, drinks and good food etc. That's what kept the 14 hours on road and the 6 awake-hours at the homestay enjoyable. 

As for the trip highlight - the Kaas Plateau hike - The trip started with sky-high expectations of the entire plateau being covered up in a floral blanket of varied colours, with clear blue skies as backdrop. We envisioned ourselves soaking up the cool breeze and nice fragrance of the flowers. We were the subject matter of envy for our friends & families when we told about our plan, as we headed out to the Valley of Flowers!!!

But nature had her own plans! Instead of the vibrant pinks, lavenders, blues and purples we had imagined, we were greeted mostly by yellow blooms dotting the landscape. The person at the entrance gate mentioned that the yellow flowers indicate the end of the flowering season!

For a moment, we felt the familiar twinge of disappointment with expectations not aligning with reality :-(

Now when one is faced with such an instance, there are 2 options - either (a) to criticise/frown about the missed flowers or (b) soak in what's on offer.

I chose the later and soon started to see some finer details :

🌞The warm sunlight making the yellow flowers glow like tiny flames in the green.

These flowers are called as Mickey Mouse flowers (scientific name : Smithia hirsuta), for the round & cheerful face-like petals.

🐝 Gentle humming of the bees as they hovered on the flowers.

 (Photo by Prashant Agawane)

🍃The cool breeze in the open valley made even the afternoon sun bearable & pleasant.

🌷Though 90-95% of the valley was yellow, there were several spots of some different types of flowers - patches of purple, whites, pink ones nestled between the swathe of yellow.

🦅Flock of birds flying over the beautiful Kaas Lake situated near the plateau & surrounded by lush green hills. We didn't get down to the lake though given the time constraint, but clicked few group-fies!

🤳📸 Like us, the Plateau had many other groups (old and young) who were also busy clicking selfies and making reels/videos for YouTube/Insta/FB etc. I too shot couple of reels for some group of strangers dancing with the yellow flower backdrop!! 

🏞️ One other highlight of the Plateau were the Kumudini flowers or water lilies. While it's an aquatic plant similar to the lotus, it has very distinct petals & much smaller in size.

These floating flora is situated 2-2.5 kms away from Gate 4 and there are buggies/mini open buses to ferry tourists. We decided to walk instead to Kumudini lake, a serene & tranquil place with a rich aquatic plants. It was indeed a beautiful experience and felt quite refreshing/ peaceful.

In the end, it wasn't the explosion of colours as we had imagined but the experience felt real, raw and exciting !! I did try to pass on these happy mental sights to few friends who refused to budge. Well, you are lucky to have landed on my side of the story instead of their sad versions of the trip! 😁

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Before ending the blog, I wanted to go back to the ancient stepwell - Baramotichi Vihir (stepwell with 12 moats) made up of black stone. The stepwell was constructed in early 1700s by Virubai Bhosale, wife of Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj. It's 110 feet deep and we managed to go down 2-3 levels and the others were submerged in water. 

This stepwell had some good stone sculpture and definitely worth a visit. The stone architecture is still well preserved fortunately, however the water was not clean and filled with algae. Possibly better maintenance & approach through collection of some entry tickets could help in preservation & attract more tourists. 

I seriously feel that Maharashtra tourism department need to do much much more to showcase the beautiful impressive  historical inheritance the State has. This stepwell being one of the examples. 

On that note, it's time for me to sign-off. Over to you wonderful readers for sharing your good thoughts in the comments section below. 🙏 

Cheers

Sunil

How stupid is Brave?

Imagine your colleague has registered for a sporting event (say a marathon or cyclathon etc?) and she/he gets some medical ailment fortnight before the event. Now this is an event which she/he has trained for a long time (judging by the strava feed) and which he/she had announced to the online world and at the office too (for applying leave!). 

On the Race Sunday afternoon, you decide to check for social media posts from your colleague on how he/she has fared. There are 3 possible scenarios:

Social Media post — Scenario 1:

“I wanted to attempt the race, but I felt health is important and so decided to be BRAVE and skip it. I’ll come back stronger next time”

The posts have some 20–25 kudos with speedy recovery wishes.

Social Media post — Scenario 2:

“Inspite of fever, I decided to test my body and I am proud to say that the body works wonders if the mind is BRAVE. Happy to have completed the event!! Not my Personal best, but I was BRAVE enough to do it” 

The post garners some 500+ reactions, most praising the dedication of the runner, ‘Fortune favours the brave’ etc etc.

Social Media scene — Scenario 3:

Well, there is no post anywhere but I hear that the colleague was BRAVE enough to start but couldn’t finish the race!

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So the question remains “Which of the 3 alter-egos is the real BRAVE one?”. Jotting few mental notes for myself as well as some fitness freaks looking for glory !

1) I am not a medical expert, but I know with experience that running marathons (or other similar events) takes a big toll on your body and coupled with the medical ailment, the recovery could be longer & painful.

2) Stick to the first principles of being a good person — Before any act, one should always place the society in front, then your family (& friends) and lastly yourself. So for example, if you are in emergency services and get called for duty to serve the society, then your bravery is valid. If you are doing it for your family (which I can’t think of any example to quote here!), then you are brave. In Scenarios 2 or 3 above, you are not even making yourself happy… after the body went through with bruises, all you get are a few bananas, a badge and few social media kudos… Except for the bananas, the other two are only for your ego and not for your Self.

3) Your mind may be stupid to try feeding make-believe things about Bravery, but primarily listen to your body.

4) Always chose Health over Fitness…more importantly never be Brave only for social media kudos… they don’t last that long too!!

5) To quote a quote attributed to Sir Edmund Hillary  addressing the mighty Himalayas after a failed expedition —  “I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human I can”. There are many other events which can get you the social adrenaline.. Listen to your body and decide how BRAVE you want to be !! 

Why did I write this blog now?

One memory post of 2015 came on my social media handle reminding me of a half marathon I did in London a decade ago. Suddenly I also remembered the year before I had to miss out on London marathon experience because I had a medical exigency 14–15 days before. Still under heavy sedation, a confident-me asked the doctor if he was fine with me running the marathon. He looked at me with a smirk and replied “If you think you are brave enough even after the meds wear off, then I don’t have an issue with you participating”… Trust me, the next week was so painful in the recovery, I didn’t even put a thought on going anywhere near the starting line! Instead I registered for a Half marathon after 6 months.

With the prime running season started in India and lots of near-dear ones registering for several events, I thought of posting this if it helps someone in their bravery (of participating or not  participating)!

Cheers 

Sunil

p.s- Sharing a link to my old blog where I have tried to capture my limited experiences and learnings from and for running marathons. 

How's and why's of running

Special House

This blog has been in draft perhaps for the longest time, mostly for want of the right words to express a delicate subject. Hope that I did justice and that it will open few conversations on the topic.

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"How was the special house like?"

"How did you know it was me if there were other kids too in the house?"

"Who took care of me when you were not there?"

It's been seven years to Makar Sankrant 2018, when Roshni and I went to this "special house" to bring Anika home and we have been telling the story to our daughter since she was a toddler. She is seven & half years old now, and often lying down in the bed at night, she asks such questions about this house. 

A part of us is happy, as we think/ hope that these conversations would help in her in accepting the fact that we are not her biological parents when she grows up.. While we would want to always start her life-story with the day we met her at the "special house", however we are aware that one day will come soon, when Anika would want to know the prelude to the story, as to how/ why she came to this special house ... At that stage, we won't have any answers and not sure how she will react then.

Our hope would be that, by then, we would have given her a good life with happy memories and the right set of values, to lead her on the right path. 

For us, the journey began in July 2016 when we decided that we would adopt our second child and registered with the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), the nodal agency under the Women & Child Development Ministry, Government of India. After multiple visits and document submission, we got ourselves eligible as 'Prospective Adoptive Parents' by Sept 2016. Then the wait of 15 months ended when we got the communication that they have found a match. 

The rest of the story for the last 7 years has been the same as her brother or any other children in her school or housing society.

[Pic taken on 15/1/2018, on way back home!]

I must say that the entire legal adoption process was seamless and more importantly digital , with a proper online trail of documents submitted, the court process, the home inspection reports by CARA agencies etc.

In this context, I thought of jotting down few points for couples thinking of adoption:

1) The journey would simply start with wanting to have a child - either as the first child or a sibling to your biological child. Once that idea is planted, how we get there ideally doesn't matter - Adoption is also another approach, like the conventional biology.

2) The biggest difference though is getting through the mental block and apprehensions. Societal acceptance may be the biggest worry for anyone but believe me, you would be surprised by the wonderful reception that the world mostly welcome such decisions. Me and wife had sat through the night chalking out potential Q&A before planning to break out our decision to our parents and our siblings... Our efforts got wasted when all of them said Yes in the first few minutes of conversation! Once they had agreed, there was no need to reconsider.. We had a welcome party when Anika came home and it was attended by 70-80 friends and families who welcomed her warmly into the family. ☺️

3) Having said that, there are several stories of couples not being able to convince either themselves or their parents.. In such cases, it may be difficult to proceed unfortunately, as it's important that the child grows up in a positive environment.

4) There would always be some relatives or friends who may show reservations or discomfort to the idea. You should respect their decision... and 'stay away from them' 🤦🏽 ! Let them not derail your plans if your immediate family, or the people whom the child is likely to grow together with, is agreeable.

5) After the initial few weeks of welcoming the child into the family, it's like any other day for the parent and the child. A special mention of our elder son who knew from the beginning and continues to be this amazing big brother to her, ever since she entered our home. Right from carefully sorting the toys safe for the toddler-sister to now making her cross the road carefully holding hands !! Before you think it's all happy-happy Suraj Barjatya film story, let me assure you that there are enough sibling fights (over TV remote, games etc) to cause noise pollution in the apartment!! 😜

Ofcourse as mentioned in the beginning, there will always be a thought on how will the kid react when they grow and start becoming inquisitive. Some parents chose to keep it a secret as long as possible, but such secrets may not be easy in this social media age (where everything gets recorded). More importantly, if the child comes to know from an external source, it may be more tough reconciling and adjusting. It's better to warm up the child right from a young age, blend into the day thru dining-table conversations or bed-side stories. There are some beautiful examples of adopted children in Indian mythology - Sita, Draupadi, Karna - who have been an epitome of 'all things good'.. Even Lord Sri Krishna grew up under the foster care of Yashoda ma. Let the child grow up listening to their stories and the values that these impart. After all, there is nothing wrong done which needs to be hidden and instead should be celebrated.

That's few tidbits from our journey so far. We are still learning and hopefully we don't falter much in the future. 

Hope I have provided some information or atleast opened up someone to this beautiful experience of making a family.

There are many special kids in "Special Houses" out there waiting for the right set of families to start their stories. Please feel free to connect with me if you want to discuss this further. Happy to help !

Cheers

Sunil ... & Roshni (the better half!!)