My wife seemed to have recovered from her illness completely by today morning. So we decided to go out and do some sightseeing in Goa. Almost everyone who has been to Goa talks about the fun of hiring a bike and roaming around the narrow roads of Goa on that. Moreover, my wife has always had a fascination for bikes and she has always chided me for not owning a bike. Today seemed like the perfect day to set the record straight!
As always, even with our best intentions, we could leave our resort only by three in the afternoon. Actually, there is a good reason for it. We went for a lovely, 2-hr long walk on the beach early in the morning. It was outstanding! But as a result, our tired bodies retired to a blissful sleep after breakfast and by the time we got up, half the day was gone.
Any way, we went out of the resort looking to rent a bike and found ourselves a Honda Activa. It is amazing the kind of market share this has in Goa – almost 80% of the two-wheelers seem to be this. I hope there is some government mandate to have it this way, otherwise it is a big blot on the marketing teams of other brands.
Our destination was the famous flea market on Anjuna beach, 75 kms to the north. At first the person giving us the bike seemed a little surprised that we are willing to undertake such a long trek this late in the day. He wanted to charge us Rs. 50 extra saying we would come back very late. But we assured him that we will be back in 6-7 hours and settled on a price of Rs. 250 for the day. So we set off, me with my huge helmet and my wife with our backpack, balanced precariously on that scooter. The initial ride was good as we went through some of the by-lanes of south Goa. But from the city of Madgoan, we had to take the main highway of Goa , NH-17, and that is when it became a little less exciting. The highway was quite crowded with all kinds of cars and trucks. Moreover, the highway was quite narrow with it being two-way and just two-lane for the most part. A little distance before Panaji, the capital city, a bypass road had been closed leading to a huge jam. By the time we crossed Panaji and stopped for an ice-cream break at a Basken Robbins, it was already 5 pm. We had thoughts of taking a U-turn and going back. Our bums were already hurting quite bad. But having come so far, we decided to carry on and at least see Anjuna beach once. By the time we reached there, it was 6 pm. We took a few snaps of the beautiful sun-set. The flea market was a little walk down the beach but the few shops that were there in the beginning gave us a good idea of the kind of market it was going to be – completely targeting the foreign tourists with nothing useful to offer. The markets in Delhi (e.g., Janpath for clothes) will give better stuff at 25% of the price. Also the parking lot guy told us that the market would have pretty much shut down by that time. So without wasting much time, we starting our journey back to the resort. By now, it was quite dark and we lost our way a bit. A kindly old uncle gave us directions and also, very sweetly, requested us to drive slowly as it can get quite dangerous at night. The return journey was longer as there was a massive traffic jam on the same stretch near Panaji as in the morning that made us lose almost an hour. Luckily, we were on a bike so we could do the dirty tricks of driving off the roads and finding our way between cars (things which I hate the two-wheelers for when I am in the car). If we had been in the car, I am sure we would have lost close to 3 hrs. The journey was also more stressful as you had trucks rushing past you on narrow, unlit roads and you just prayed that they can see you in the dark and not bump you from behind. We finally reached the resort at nine in the night, meeting the deadline we had promised the bike rental guy.

Sunset at Anjuna Beach

Sunset at Anjuna Beach
When we reached our rooms and looked in the mirror, we got the shock of our lives! It was impossible to recognize ourselves, we seemed to have spent a year working in the coal mines of Jharkhand. Our faces were dark and slimy, our hair dusty and ruffled. I was wearing a lemon colour shirt that had turned to dark grey. I suddenly felt a new found respect for all those people who travel by two-wheelers in the traffic of Delhi and Gurgaon.

But it was still a great experience to ride a bike after a long time. The last I did it was for a few minutes in 2003 I think. During my IIT days and earlier, we had a TVS Champ moped in the family and all the kids used to ride it a lot. But since then, I have rarely ridden a two-wheeler. I am not sure I will be keen to take more highway journeys on bikes but I will certainly not mind riding them on small by-lanes. Might be a good idea to do more of this if we come back to Goa and stay in the North Goa area.
A couple of interesting observations about Goa that this bike drive threw up – one is that Dominos and Baskin Robbins seem to be the only mainstream food brands present there. Moreover, they always have their shops next to each other in all places. Maybe the franchisee rights for both are with the same agency. Secondly, I have never seen foreigners so much at home in India! No wonder Goa is so popular with them – you see more of them than the domestic tourists.
61st Republic Day
Watching the Republic Day parade on DD after a long time. The program started with an introduction by a typical DD-style lady clad in a silk saree saying a few words in shuddh Hindi. This was followed by an introduction to the key monuments – the India Gate, the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Parliament House – all done in plain words, in a simple way, as if someone reciting an essay we used to write as kids in high school. There is something unique and unchanging about DD – the slightly faded colours of the images, the appearance and style of its presenters, the tone and pronunciation of the words,… …and it feels wonderful!
Truly wonderful indeed. No sensationalism. No remixed music in the background. No flashing of images before you can make out what they are. Less focus on the presenters and their wardrobe, more on the content. Language that is proper and punctuated, not full of slangs and slogans. Watching this I realize how much I miss it in the rest of TV I see today. It is the difference between having hand-whipped coffee at home compared to a cappuccino – with hazelnut flavour – cream-chocolate sauce topping at Costa!
Today, they have launched a new version of ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’. I just saw it. It has been done well – they have brought in new flavours to make it relevant for the younger generations. But most in our generation it will never match up to the earlier one. This is because that something like this gets its relevance and attachment from the way it becomes a part of your childhood as you grow with it. There is so much history and memories that go with the old ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ that make it so special for all of us. Still it is good to someone thinking of re-making it. Somewhere it might connect our generation with the next and create a common linkage across the chasm of facebook, I-pods and twitter.
What a misty day though – I wonder how they will perform the air show today? Hope all goes well
doordarshan
generation gap
Republic Day
TV