Friends, Freedom & Goa

A post after a long time about how life’s been after the last post, I know. Well it’s not like many read it anyway. The days following the post up until October were rather normal & quite mundane. That’s when Priya introduced me to her friend, Sandhya and then came about conversations of a trip to Goa, the ultimate destination defining Freedom from All. I’ve noticed the mere mention of the place brings about this charged up energy and an inherent excitement. Once Goal Goa was decided, the crew talk was next. Who all? A factor equally important. Now that’s when as usual, the twists & turns in the story, begins. People cancelling, joining in, pulling out again & so on & so forth. It almost came to cancelling the whole Trip itself & I wasn’t gonna give in. I told Sandhya & Koshy, if none come we’ll go with whoever comes. Mind you, I had met none of the initially planned crew, before, except Koshy. Then came news, that Sandhya herself might cancel her trip. I was blown. I sent her a message where I told her how important it was for her to be in the trip as I did not even think of the trip without her. I heard that SMS made a difference & boy was I glad about my communication skills at that point.

Once there was a rough idea of the Gang to Goa, I invited 'em all over to one of my live gigs at Purple Haze, Koramangala. A clever way to have a ‘friendly’ audience (pun intended) and a perfect opportunity to introduce the strangers to one another. At this point of time, the gang went from being all of Sandhya’s pals to Mine & Koshy’s. All of 'em seemed to have a comfortable equation with each other. Err, this is where I adorned the garb of an organizer, of my own volition. My sis & Arun’s cousin, Pavan, who also came for my gig decided spot on that they too were joining us. Later we pulled in Teju. Thus formed the infamous “The Goa Ten” crew.

I wondered as to whether I’d have been able to do this if I was committed. I wasn’t taken aback when the answer was a resounding No. See I told you, things happen for the better. OK now let me go straight to introduce The Goa Ten in order of Appearance.

Me, the coolest of 'em all & also organizer boy, which btw turned out to be quite an adventure! Guess I’m ready to take on any challenge in the world now! :D

Priya – My very good friend from Engineering college days. A very cute little, bubbly girl for whom the Thani Kick travels real fast owing to her frame :P. One of the main planners of the trip and the reason for me to get included in the Goa trip. Showered me with the choicest of abuses in public after Paradiso. Lolz. And Yes, Did not get asked for an ID card to enter a club this time around :P

Sandhya – My friend through Priya. Our dentist gal incase we lost our tooth somehow. Never ever show her your teeth if you are going with her to Goa. For that matter any passionate dentist !! She’ll talk and You’ll feel like killing yourself for having shown your teeth-that-you-thought-were-perfect. The woman has a knack of finding the minutest of flaws in your set of teeth. A very chilled out, fun, knows-every-damn-song-from-bollywood, girl whom all the guys got along with, right from the start. Super Driver too btw.

Sreedevi – Mine & Koshy’s friend from Engg college days again. Very sweet & fun-loving gal who btw is Hot too ;) Damn that height of hers I say ! Well, tried making up my height through some good-idea-but-poorly-executed pictures :P .. She was 1 half of the Zebra sistaahhss of Goa. She’s the opposite of Koshy in Thani Kick travelling time. The kick never came !! Owing to her frame I’m biologically guessing (Pun intended). Big time dancer gal. Got featured on Indivibe picture for the day along with her other Zebra Sister, Namrata.

Namrata – A friend through Koshy. Another item only & the other half of the great Zebra Sistaahhs. Knows some godforsaken-ancient-bollywood songs from which era god only knows, literally. Made me almost deaf by singing the already intolerable songs in a highhhhh pitch (read Full Treble Blast) right into my ears !! Her tag line – Small Frame, Big capacity. She’s what you get if you mix Priya and Sree. Did not find her high even once inspite of all the gulping down :P. Also got featured on Indivibe picture of the day.

Pratap – My friend through Arun. Mr. Super-Organized. He brought 4 copies of an Authorization letter from Bangalore for the car rental guys. Luckily he did not take ‘em out there or I’m sure they’d think we were already friggin' high before reaching the damn place. Lol. Infamous for putting on left-right indicators on curved roads ?! Hahahaha and also for the great 25 Bucks DSP Black Whisky which makes him, a one man Entertainment Blockbuster. In Goa, thanks to him trying to act like a Gentleman in front of the ladies, 25 bucks did not happen. Ganja did :D

Arun – My good friend back from Intermediate (11^th & 12^th) days. An avid Photographer (we’ve got an awesome collection of Goa pics thanks to the dude), Kabrasthan Ka Watchman, Goan Local F1 Driver (impressed all the women in the gang I must say)) ;) .. Dude where’s my car – driving classes u promised :P .. Also got quite lucky in the graveyard & the path in front of our flat, I must say ;)

Mahalakshmi – My sister. Big time party freak & this time a certain-man-on-a-plane-crazy :P … This time around saw her dancing for around 3 and a half hours with very little breaks. What’s great you ask? This time without getting High!! :D .. My sis, so bound to be fun and cool (since I did not write much about myself.. putting in words here & there). Found it tough to catch up with her on Baga(Not because of the firangs in Bikinis.. Guess Heavy weight + thick sand ain’t a good combo !) when she was running towards a certain shack with all fervour. Ahem.

Pavan – A friend through Arun, his cousin. Fellow Saggitarian. Enough said. Ok Ok I’ll tell a little more. Lol.. THE most chilled out guy in the gang. Always game for anything. Got High on Beer… He says he went for a stronger one :P … The glowing man in the Mambo’s video. If one saw him then you’d think he’s tripping on some drug. Nicknamed “Hare Rama Hare Krishna Dude” on the Goa trip. One mast entertainer only.

Tejaswini – My friend through my Ex !! Hahahaha. Another item who went from 1 Vodka High to 1 Beer High with the infamous “Those BITCHES” dialogue. The 1^st one in the group to flip out. Lol. Another party freak. Went High, Crashed on the Paradiso floor, picked by sis & danced like a nutjob again. Blasted the shit outta Mambo’s Waiters, Manager & Bouncer !! Lucky me he did not take my teeth out !! (I was spared the pain & teeth-structure-lecture from Sandhya :P) 1 chilled out chick I tell you.

The Trip Diary:

Journey Day : 15th Nov 2007

Bunked Office, went to pick Sandhya from the railway station. We were meeting for the first time inspite of having become good friends over the phone. Waited for more than an Hour, owing to the punctuality of our Indian trains. Arrived, Looked, looked, looked & looked again. Sudden Tap on shoulder, meet face to face for the first time (Ok Ok no sparks flew and all, though, I know it sounds like those corny bollywood philums. Guess I like writing a lil more dramatic :D) We wait in line for Auto, meanwhile, we both share each others excitement. I, as usual was scandalizing a few lil Old people with my wonderful language (I think they heard my whole vocabulary cuz I think it took almost 45 minutes to get an Auto. Good for ‘em. Database Upgraded). Sandhya was a lil scared of standing with me I guess. Lol. Came home & finished writing my collection of Music CDs (cough) for the trip :P (Arun you reading this ? LOL) .. Scared Sandhya with a few Live videos of my band Souled Out. We all leave & reach the Seabird Travels Office by around 7 PM.. We are joined by Pratap there. We settle in our berths and Sree joins us later. Immediately, the gals all gang up on one side and we men are left on the other side!! Antakshari starts. My sympathies lie with ‘em other travellers (Ref: High Pitched out of tune singing?! by Namrata & her antakshari sistah Koshy) Since the guys were losing bigtime, We asked Sandhya to join our team & then it was even (though I was impressed by Arun’s & Pratap’s ancient knowledge of ancient songs :P.. And yeah I was utterly useless in the game)

Bus stopped for a break after which we all settled in our respective berths though none of the women were ready to share their double berths with me, I wonder why ?? hahahaha. So had to settle in a single berth and Unfortunately next to a double berth shared by Arun & Pratap (cough cough). Unfortunately I say, because buggers didn't let me sleep only !! They didn't feel sleepy cuz of the cold, got jealous that I was snoring away to glory, so kept whispering in my ear at regular intervals. Now how friggin fun do u think that is! I think I should get the kick-while-sleeping-disease or I should learn to practise that. So thanks to them, got up & began to chat. After a while, Sandhya & Teju also woke up, joined us and we all began to have a fun conversation. Fellow bus travellers, I apologize once again :P

Day 1 : 16th Nov 2007

Later everyone joined us on our berths and I put in a Hindi music CD in the Bus player which had quite a few nice songs & the chatter went on till……..

A bunch of local Goan motherfuckers came along and rammed their fucking car into our Bus & then blamed the driver for the fuck up & asked to cough up money due to which we were delayed in reaching Goa by another 3 hours !! Man I remember that Goan aunty in the bus taking all those Goan local fuckers single handedly.. man she was a charging Bull ..err Cow.. ahem. The best part? When the locals started fighting, the song playing from my CD was “B.C.Sutta” which I felt was apt with the infamous “Madharchod Behenchod” line.

We reach, completely famished, only to further delays in reaching our flat at Donapaula. By then Pavan & Sis land by flight. Funny, cuz we were thinking at the beginning of the journey that THEY would miss something. Murphy’s Law I say!

Then came the Money talk !!!!!!!!!!

Hahahahahahaha remembering that time, I still laugh my ass off. Me, Sis, Sandhya & Priya screaming, shouting, calculating. Sandhya was the saviour of the day ! Thanks a lot babe !!

Once all the commotion was over, we all freshened up & then headed to Sea Pebbles restaurant by the sea at Donapaula, thanks to Sandhya. This is when I realized when 6 women say they'll take 30 minutes to get ready literally means atleast 1 & a half hour. My bad. Been outta the committed scene for quite a while, so guess my memory got the better of me. Lol. Food was good, Also saw a Lobster which cost 1500 Rupees ONLY! We passed. Then started the Goan Fun. How? Beer & Teju is a killer Cocktail I must say. Lolz. All of us having general conversations about finally being in Goa & then comes the “They are fucking Bitches” .. And out I jump from my seat to locate the source of the wonderful dialogue. What do I see? It’s our very own Teju with a Kingfisher Strong in her hand. Ahhhh Yes, Goa! We've Arrived !! Lol… The conversation then lingers on different verbs being used with ‘Bitches’ & the likes. We men just sat back, had a relaxed dinner & loved every bit of the bitching drama (pun intended). Can we ask for a better start than this? :P Everything calms down gradually … I hear women sympathising with me .. sniff .. & then we all got into our party wear & geared up to go to Paradiso on Ujwal’s recommendation and Man was it a good decision!!

Incredible, Awesome, Killer (& more such adjectives) Music. Our first experience with “Goan Trance” Music. The place had an amazing feel & look to it. The place looked like some club in Firang land. I could count the Indians, literally! The best part? Unlimited Drinks!! Sandhya went with her killer combo – Rum + Coke & that’s it, we guys were done. The rest of the night was 1 funny awesome night with her crazy antics. Pratap & Arun went near the bathroom & smoked up… Arun’s face was a treat to watch after that. He had on a I-am-flying-friggin-high-smirk. Hahahaha. Pratap, surprisingly turned out to be the most sober of ‘em all drunk peoples! Maha, Teju, Sree & Namrata were dancing away to glory in their respective corners while being hit on by firang men who were checking out some desi chicks ;) .. Sree & Teju had quite a few hits. Lol. The babes of the day, I guess. For me, it was Take-care-of-the-women-Day & Dance-or-Die-with-Sandhya day. Koshy, was having a ball looking at my pathetic attempts at dancing. That li’l devil & I thought she wuz too drunk to even notice!!!

Btw on our way to Paradiso was the first time Pratap hit the lights .. lol… I mean the left right indicators stunt. The dude loves cops I understand. Hahaha. Another stunt was turning off the headlights in pitch dark on lonely roads. Fuck that was killer!

Got Home by around 4.30 AM. CRASHED!!!

Day 2 : 17th Nov 2007

This day was Beach-Shack-Water sports day. We reach Aguada Fort, click pics, roam around, run away from a Mallu gang of men & women, laugh at ‘em, lose my sisters mobile & then head off to Baga. We crash up at 1 of the shacks, Surprise Namrata by celebrating her B’day with an awesomely Melted cake. Lol. We meet my friend Srikanth without whom this trip would have not materialized and then head off to the Water Sports.. Yippeeeee !! Btw I hafta mention this here – The firangs who were at the beach in bikinis… I didn’t even feel like looking at ‘em, forget leching!! All friggin Grannys who have sagging.. ahem.. tissue… And I was expecting to see some nude chicks .. Thankgawd.. Oh yes.. I thank The Holy One.. that these women were atleast having those Bikinis on.. Else Goa would have turned out to be an Eye-Sore. Phew. Saved.

We go for all the rides from Banana Rides to Para Sailing (in the dark). Banana Ride was the gang favourite.. the thrills, the shrills from Namrata & Sree (thinking they were gonna drown & us wavin’ ‘em goodbye et all .. Hahaha) and also screams from Priya on seeing a certain section of my body ahem due to loose pants & lotsa water weighin down on ‘em pants. Haha.. I hear Namrata also got a “sneak peek” (they prefer to call it somethin’ else) .. Well before the trip they wanted to see me in Bikini. I thought I’d show ‘em a Lil more. Last heard, the nightmarish image still remains etched in the memory of ‘em poor gals. Haha.

Meanwhile, while we were getting dunked like anchors in the sea, 2 women were quietly having a great time on the shore, in the shack, getting drunk on Feni, like nuts.. 8 glasses was the last count if I remember. Our Paradiso work-experience with Sandhya held us in good stead on handling her on our way back :P

Then we decided to head to Mambo’s on the recommendation of Srikanth. Another drama unfolded with the waiter short-changing Teju & then the ball began to roll. Lolz. The next thing the Man knew was he was being slammed by a barrage of abuses by Teju & joined by second-in-command Priya Koshy while Pavan & I watched in bated silence not knowing what to do. Well we argued, talked to 1 choothiya of a manager who I realized was Gay n ball-less as he called his Bouncer to settle an issue he should. Pavan & I somehow made the gals stand away & tried to speak calmly to ‘em to resolve the issue. When we realized they ain’t gonna return any money, we told ‘em to “Keep the change”. The manager goes ballistic saying – “You people come from Bangalore & throw money at us thinking we are some cheap, second class people” … I guess the poor thing got dumped by a Bangalorean woman who found him Limp where it matters. It must've been a traumatic experience. I was surprised when he referred to us as Bangaloreans cuz none of us had even mentioned it to him. Guess we people do stand out in the crowd. After all we were a good looking bunch of people ;)… Must’ve re-kindled his past. We forgive him. Hahahaha.

The second batch of our gang arrived and another drama begins to unfold where some were quite upset over no-parking, sour-comments made previously, a lil bad blood from previous interactions among the ten. Somehow convinced everyone to go in to Mambo’s & it turned out to be another awesome decision. Soooooooppppperr House Music was being played by Resident DJ Amit… This is where the Indivibe pics were taken. Shot us dancing with a handycam till a bouncer came & asked me to shut it. By around 3.30 most were tired and we headed back home with Pratap & his lights flashin’ etc … random fun & CRASHED!!!

Day 3 : 18th Nov 2007

This was relaxing day. Got ready & drove to another sea food restaurant by the Beach near some Casino. Had food, Arun clicked some great individual pics & Pavan & Sis left to the airport. The girls wanted to shop. So we drove to Anjuna Beach. Sree, Priya & Namrata went junk-shopping while Me, Arun, Sandhya, Pratap & Teju headed down to the beach. An awesome but small beach lined with colourful pebbles, slippery rocks onto which I landed with a thud. Thankfully I’ve good shock-absorbers. Haha. Found a Heart-shaped Pebble and gave it to Sandhya. Had a good time & then drove Home to pack n get ready to catch the bus back to Bangalore.. Ahhh how sad it was to leave it all & go. Wish it’d have lasted longer.

The gang promised to go on more such trips but don’t think that’s happening anytime soon due to bad blood between members formed after the trip. I wish it didn’t happen & it was all back to normal cuz I loved the trip & had fun with all of ‘em. So I end this post with that Hope. To Err is Human, To Forgive is Divine. Ok that was heavy. Lol. Hope this is a refreshing memory for all u guys.

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