This is my first post in a very long time. I’ve actually been away to Goa for the past few days and before that I was too busy thinking about going there. I returned today morning.
The bus that brought us back from the beautiful place was late as usual and we managed to reach the college premises by about 10.30 as opposed to 8 AM.
I said goodbye to my friends, had a sip of coffee from the college café and headed home. Arriving at my empty house was a bitter sweet feeling. I had spent the past few days in the company of my classmates in sub-standard accommodation and yet the yearning of the place called home had completely gone. I felt guilty for not missing my home.
I kept down my bag, and called mum.
‘Ya reached safely’
‘I’m alright…how’re you?’
‘Had the key with me…no problems….’
‘I’m tired now. Bye’
I sat down and watched some TV. We hardly spent any time in the hotel room in Goa, so watching my Panasonic 29 inch flat felt pretty good. After 30 mins of mindless surfing, I switched the set off and went to my room.
Mum had cleaned it while I was gone…and so naturally I had to dirty it again. I took off my traveling clothes and fished around for fresh garments. The cupboard as well had been neatly arranged in my absence and now smelt of naphthalene.
After changing into washed clothes and freshening up a bit, I made my way to the kitchen and gulped down 5 glasses of water. Whilst in Goa, we consumed very scarce amounts of water as the tap water there was suspect and so we had to buy or borrow water every time we went out.
I looked around in the kitchen and noticed that mum had made me some breakfast before leaving for office. Tasting home made sabudana khichdi after five days of outside food felt awesome. In the hotel where we were staying, breakfast only comprised of bread-omelet and egg sandwich. Despite being a vegetarian, I had to chomp down on egg-sandwiches every morning…which were not all that bad I must say.
After breakfast, I had a long hot bath. This was the only thing that hadn’t changed during my trip to Goa. Sure, the bathroom there wasn’t as big as the one at home, but I enjoyed the hot showers after a long and tiring day of sightseeing and time wasting. While drying off, I noticed how the color of my arms and face was many shades darker than that of the rest of my body. Roaming on the streets and playing on the beach all day long had taken its toll.
On any other day I wouldn’t even consider going to bed at 1o’clock in the afternoon, for it would consequently rob me of the little amount of sleep I get in the night time. But this wasn’t any other day, I was tired from the overnight journey in the bus and just wanted to get a good shut-eye.
The sound of the doorbell woke me up and I looked at the watch to realize that I had been asleep for 5 straight hours. I got up from the bed and opened the door.
It was mum.
‘Kay rey kaalya? Zhoplaa hotas kaa?’ (Were you sleeping or what? Blackie)
I told mum that I was very hungry, and after realizing that it was because I had skipped lunch she started yelling at me. Ahhh…I did not miss her yelling I’ll tell you that. This woman will go on for hours I thought, but only after five minutes I was being served hot tea and buttered toast(NICE!!!).
My LAN card is busted and so I couldn’t go online. It had been so many days since I had been to the Blue nowhere (I call the internet that after reading a book of the same name), what’s one more day I thought. I decided that I’ll go out and meet some friends and catch up on things, and at that very moment it started raining.
It rained the last day we were in Goa. Two of my friends and I had decided to visit the Candolim beach after a late and delicious lunch. It was just the kind of beach I liked…deserted and windy as opposed to crowded and sunny. After strolling on the beach for a while, we had decided to head back to the hotel and just then it had started to rain. We didn’t take cover…just kept walking, it was beautiful.
Anyways, back in Mumbai, it had stopped raining after half an hour and so I went down to the parking lot. The bike wouldn’t start, so had to kick start her. This didn’t work either, at first, but after a few more kicks she was roaring like a lioness. I felt liberated and free, riding my bike after almost a week. In Goa I had to ride in the back of a small car which the five of us had to rent for the duration of our time there.
I met up with a few friends, shared stories from Goa.
I got back a little later than I usually do. Thought of calling up a friend but then decided it was too late to call, so I picked up a pen and made a reminder on my forearm. I had dinner and watched some soaps with mum. After she went to bed at around 11.30 I got bored and decided to play some Counter strike. That too got boring…and so I opened MS Word and began typing away.
So here I am, after an hour of continuous typing. I think there’s a ManU match right now (UEFA Champions League).
Bbye for now…
