Beautiful Goa

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Born and brought up in Bombay, India, journalism happened to me almost by accident. It was not a career that I had planned, but once I got into it I enjoyed it immensely. My focus was advertising and marketing. My life revolved around advertising agencies and companies while my head buzzed with advertising and marketing jargon.

Food and travel was a source of joy, something which I enjoyed during my leisure time. Much as I loved my work, I did not want to bring journalism into food and travel and convert a strictly leisure activity into work. However, some years back when I gave up journalism I began to miss my first love - writing. I have therefore decided to take up blogging. After all it is an excellent way to combine my first love -writing- with my source of joy—food and travel.

Recently I visited Goa--- one of India’s popular tourist destinations. People from all over the world fly into Goa to bask in the sun and enjoy the sea and the beaches.

When we (my family and I) landed in Goa, we visited the usual tourist spots like Miramar beach, Baga beach, Vagator beach and Fort Aguada. My brother- an avid photographer- went on a photographing spree after all Goa is a photographer's delight . We did what most tourists do and took a sunset cruise on the river Mandovi in Panaji, Goa’s capital. We also couldn’t resist going on a dolphin cruise and had the good fortune of spotting a few dolphins. Our visit to the spice plantation in Ponda was quite a learning experience. On payment of Rs 400/- we were first treated to a glass of lemon grass tea and a bowl of cashew nuts—Goa’s primary cash crop. Interestingly, the bowl was made of leaves from the betel nut palm. After a round of the plantation and having gained some knowledge about spices and organic farming, we settled down to have a sumptuous lunch. Once again the plates were made from betel nut palm leaves. The highlight for me was the Chicken Xacuti- a popular Goan dish.

However the place which stole my heart in Goa was Mayem Lake. It is here that I heard silence. Hear --silence? Isn’t that a paradox? Well it is but words fail me. This is the only way I can describe it. If you want to get away from the stress and strain of living in a city and soak in the beauty of nature, then this is it. Absolutely bereft of crowds and unspoiled by development it is here that I experienced the feeling of being one with nature, or is this what people mean when they talk about being one with the divine?

Well I have no answer, but I found the serenity here almost unmatched by any place that I have known. Goa Tourism runs a beautiful resort here. The resort is well -laid out with comfortable rooms and suites (air-conditioned and non- air-conditioned) and does not in any way intrude upon the beauty and serenity of the place. This place is indeed ideal for those eagerly looking for peace, well as I mentioned earlier it is difficult to explain, you have to experience it.

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Photos

Lunch at Spice Plantation
Plates made from betel nut palm leaves