Prarthana planned a family thing to coincide with Pooja's return after two and a half years in the UK -post her Maters in Architecture and her stint with various jobs. The venue was Goa and the month was May. But anything for family and anything to get out of Hyderabad which was like a furnace at that time - 43 but felt like 48. My plans of driving to Goa and then to Pune slowly melted in the rising heat and I used my grey hair to good effect and decided to fly despite the added expense of last minute booking. Due to some ill planning and last minute decision making by me, we ended up going to Pune on the 2nd and then to Goa on the 4th. (Many have asked me the question that might have come to your mind - why did you not fly to Goa directly? The answer my friend is that I have been touched by the heat a bit.)
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| Lily Woods! |
So off we were by the 1025 flight to Pune which was quite enjoyable - short. Reached the Deshmukh's place by midnight. Some chai and late night gupshup and off into dreamland. Woke up early and headed off to a long 7 km walk on the periphery of the township - trees, grass, walkers, runners, cyclists, dogs on leash, swimmers, cricketers - the place was abuzz with activity. I came back home after a nice long walk and settled down to a chat with Prakash and Gauri over chai and breakfast. Finding a lot of time for myself I opened the book Sagar had shared with me 'The Surrender Experiment' and finished it by later afternoon. Quite a fascinating book - surrender and the world shows you the way.
Malay dropped in and Kalpak did too in the evening. Flight to Goa was at 515 am which meant we had to get up at an ungodly hour like 230 am and head off which we managed to do.
This was an even shorter flight! 45 minutes?
Landed at Mopa airport, hopped on a cab to Candolim and caught Prarthana and Pooja up early with Anu. Then we got the place where we were to stay in the same Lily Woods which seems to have flats for all sizes - 1 bhk, 2 bhk,3 bhk and perhaps even a 4 bhk. Some boring breakfast and rest after the midnight caper and Prarthana invited us over to a restaurant by the name of Tomatoes. Nice food.
Now Prarthana (at just over 30, the older cousin of Pooja and Anjali) is one young woman who has her own mind and who has the capacity to figure out what's good for her. I've seen her since she was an infant almost (was there on the day Raja and Anu brought her home from an adoption centre in Pune) and the way she has grown from a withdrawn, sullen child into the uber confident, full of beans and self-love young lady I see today is amazing. I love her independence, her own way of sorting things out for herself - and standing by them for the good or bad, her ability to laugh at herself, her comfort with being in her own skin, her new found mantra of self-love and gratitude, her ways of beautifying herself and the environs around her. She has a very arty side to her, a taste for beauty. She can draw, write, sing very well. There's a natural intelligence there that simply flows through whatever she chooses to do. As she has grown older she has found the real mantra to happiness - that you are responsible for it and no one else. So she gifts herself solo trips to places near and far, gets family on board when she wants like she did now, and is thoroughly enjoying her life now. There's so much she can do if she wants to and she is full of ideas - runs a business where she sells accessories online, works in the education sector, does voice overs, manages herself alone. Oh, I forgot to add that she is a brilliant cook as well. And in the past I have found her comments on my manuscripts even as a 12th class student extremely well thought out and detailed. So much going for her and I love just watching her be herself.
Turns out there's the election on the 7th in Goa and they would not sell booze from the evening of the 5th. With considerable foresight we stocked up the fridge with beer and other products that will be in short supply soon. Raja came in a bit and we went to the beach. Sunset at the beach, walk along the water with Raja and Pooja and back to the Lily Woods where the girls regaled us with songs and stuff.
A rather full day. I like the look of the little restaurant called 'Taste of Goa' which I propose to haunt in the coming days.
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