Before today, I never understood what the quote, ‘live like
it’s your last day’ meant. However, if someone was to ask me tomorrow, I would
tell them I have lived a day as if it was my last. The fact that it coincided
with the last day of the year is just a coincidence. SKT, who is now travelling
with me, has put a lot of pressure on me. Her instructions were simple, ‘Khot,
you have to blog today. It has to be as awesome as the day we spent.’
So, let me start at the beginning. We began the day by
watching The Sound of Music on the TV
in our room while the three of us took turns to get ready. Once in our beach
attire, we decided to walk to the taxi stand. A lady, who we asked for
directions, told us that the walk to the taxi stand was half a kilometer. In
the same breath she told us to take a bus. Bonds that we are, a unanimous
decision was taken to walk the distance. After walking for more than 30
minutes, we decided to go for a second opinion. Luckily, a bus was in the
vicinity and this time the gentleman who was giving us directions almost pushed
us into the bus.
The three of us toyed with the idea of taking a bus to
Panjim. Playing with the idea tired us soon enough and we took a taxi to our
destination. The first goal of the day was to hire a car and enquire about
transportation options to Gokarna (our next destination). After haggling for
almost an hour and what seemed like forever in the scorching sun, we hired a
cab. The driver promised to take us around wherever we wanted to today and then
drive us to Gokarna tomorrow, for a handsome sum of course.
We went for a late breakfast + an early lunch to Viva
Panjim. The meal and the ambience was an experience in itself. The old pebbled
street, the tiled tables, and the delicious Goan cuisine ensured that the day
began at a great note. Yes! We believe that the day begins only when a meal has
been had. OK, OK, I confess that is not my philosophy. I believe that chewing
is a waste of time. But today’s Goan meal had even me thinking that ‘jeevan safal ho gaya.’
Done with the lunch, we went to Colva Beach. The sun was
strong and both SKT and Frooti had really strong reactions to the beach. They
hated it as much as they had loved the Baga Beach. However, as the sun went
down their spirits soared. I was super excited throughout. I was looking
forward to some time in the water and ending the year on an adventurous note.
Thankfully, managed to do both!
SKT and I went parasailing! She went first and I followed
suit. We were in the air for only 2-3 minutes. But it was the best 2-3 minutes
of the year gone by. I laughed throughout the ascent, the flight, and the
descent. The experience was liberating to say the least. I would have never
thought I would ever do anything closely related to adventure sports. But I did
it! And I cannot wait to do it again soon!
We walked for a long time on the beach. Spotted a lifeguard
and decided that it was a good place to go into the water. Two men, drunk and
obnoxious, decided to inch too close to comfort. The three of us shouted at
them and then went to complain to the lifeguard on duty. The lifeguard was very
prompt and immediately called the police. When confronted by the policemen, the
men addressed us thus, ‘Please don’t create trouble for us. We approached you
only because we thought you were foreigners.’ This response ensured that we
rebuked them even more. The policemen escorted the men out of the beach. And
the line, we thought you were foreigners, became our motto for the rest of the
day. We went back into the water. Came out, made sand castles (or shivling
versions of it), and then went back into the water again.
Just before the sun was about to set, we found a not-so-busy
beach shack. We ordered some food and just sat looking at the last sunset of
the year. The wind was cooler now. We sat listening to music, talking, and
laughing. It was a great way to end the day.
But we had more exciting plans.
We went to a pastry place and picked up some, you guessed
it, pastries. Our second stop was Domino’s. We ordered pizzas and headed to
pick up a Breezer for each of us. We reached our holiday home after an hour-long
drive. We ate pizzas watching You’ve Got Mail. We realized we had no bottle
openers so our Breezers are sitting on the TV trolley, staring at us. SKT and Frooti
have slept after repeating time and again that they will sleep only after
ushering in the New Year. I am living an exciting dream and writing the last
post of this year.
Happy New Year!
May it be exciting for all the right reasons!
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