WELCOME TO GOA

SO you are planning a holiday to Goa....and you are most welcome here.

WELCOME....most welcome......please come in have a seat...

on the cow-dung splattered ground on a bamboo-reed mat....have a soft-drink...LASSI(yoghurt)/(masaledar-spicy /namkeen-salty/meethi-sweet) or some CHASS?(butter-milk)...or a PELA of nice-cool well-water....and would you like a bite?....no not of oven-fresh cookies.....these are some banana chips fried in cholestrol free oil....
and some cashew-nut-kernals roasted over a lazy-fire.....
and do try these SANNAA....these are our typical rice-cakes(idlis)
and dont you think you can get Beef/pork/chicken/fish or ham....
oh no...no dear ma`am.....at the most maybe some mango jam!
and then git rid o that Cali-skirt n blouse.....wrap a BENARSI
Sari (bill footed courtesy yer spouse)....and Sandal-wood chappals to fit the score...wait don`t` go...we`ve got some more....try some glassy-reddy bangles
or green if you so please....bangle-seller pushin them over yer wrist with ease!!
and take an elephant ride...though you will have to trek there....up in the lofty mountains, where they are splashing everywhere....or nibble on some sugar-cane....and fly a fancy-kite....attend a Goan funeral....please dress in black n white!
and you kin visit the relic of the saint...he lives in a church which
refuses a coat o paint.....and u can take a trip along the serene Mandovi river....bathing at Dudhsagar might give you a mild
hydrotherapic-fever.....and dont you forget to watch the Sun go down
...wear a smile on yer face, not a brown-frown.....and then when its gone down....hit the crazy town.....yeah there are BARS all around..
but I do not propagate wine...cuz LIMBU-PAANI might just be fine..

Ther are some old caves and mines which I would not advise exploring....the soils constitution in those parts is not hard textured as in the neigbouring states. The mud/soil is REd in color...and the sand is golden/green/grey.....and the field soil is brown and soft.

The fields of GOA are centuries old and somewhere I had read that they had been"dug out"....by early civilization....i mean acres and acres of fields...

There are many myths saying as to how GOA came into existence...one says that Lord PARSHURAMA...shot his arrow in the Ocean and Goa emerged.

Our ladies...my mama including...like to sit in the evenings in the balconies of a common neigbour and gossip.....(mama I am just writing a poem here...not belittling you in front of my friends)...The papas...some play cards at the bar, while others enjoy a pint of country made liqour in between nibbles of pickled shrinked green mango or monkey-nuts....interspersed with roasted horse-grams.

"channa"

There are two or three main train stations too.....buses and traffic seems very heavy....but SUNDAY is a magic day when every body wants a holiday/....and voila...not a mosquito in sight!! Thtas my day; thats my night...SUNDAY!

We now have Luxurious cinema theaters  which play Harry Potter to Avatar besides the local and regional language films. 

Our Opera going crowd is strong and supportive of the TEATRO art...and every Sunday and other days make it a point to watch a 3 hour DRAMA at the Playhouses....sometimes in their own villages.

Most children study with a handful who stay back to learn their ancestral art at home.

Everybody seems to have at least one car each if not an additional Mercedes...and I still ride my Cycle...not that I am complainin'.

In the main churches you can join the walking procession of Saints on the roads...or take part in lightin "sursurim"...your pyrotecnic courses will come in handy here when you light the kottarlies and blast the rockets and sparklers...

there are even "snakes-out -of -a magic-pill"...Gadz they made me sick with their fumes....

Our local artisans, are potters, statue-makers, bamboo carvers, carpenters, and many.

Once we had an army of masons...but they vanished.

Every tenth house...just a way of sayin...will have a guitar...if not a harmonium or tabla.:)

or a DJ console...lol,,,everyone wanna be famous...

Our girls...like to keep up their fashion....they like to be glued to the television..some are professionals in Computers, and medical, and other fields...teaching etc..

but they work hard and help their mums in the kitchen...

earlier they used to married of at 18....my mum was...

now they wait...till say twenty five or so...some wait and wait...

Boys....they grow up....to be professionals...if not at least they hang out in small groups...clubs....and do sports....cricket, football, carrom, to name a few...

We have got swimming pools here...and we practically live on the edge of the water...but I dont know to swim...at least last time I jumped in the six foot deep pool when I was sixteen....I nearly dronwed ....not calculating that my 5'10 height was not minus the nose....which was underwater...sputter!!!GASP!!

Ahh...

I was saying...

Coconut trees dot the coastline and as long as coconuts drop on your head (we believe the slender tree does no harm)....you are fine. Coconut water is cool and the purest water-form we believe with lactose and sucrose and and though not a substitute for mothers milk.....there is a bit of glucose.

Our teens play football in open fields, at the beach, some ...in their backyards play the game of sticks and stones....i used to a long time ago too.....kids make imaginary trains with compartments of shopkeepers thread and reeds and chug-chug along the winding lanes, the baker honking at six am and again at six pm with hot loaves of tasty bread....peddling easily on their small cycles with enormous bread baskets, while granmas curse them saying white flour is not as good as tasty and nutricious home-made chappati (flat pan cake of wheat).
and you kin visit the relic of the saint...he lives in a church which

Somewhere at the village borders, you would get a strong pungent aroma of fried onions....oh that the village traditional reastaurants will fry ...to attract hungry customers...
refuses a coat o paint.....and u can take a trip along the serene Mandovi river....bathing at Dudhsagar might give you a mild

FONDUE..oh that is an art being fast forgotten amongst the womenfolk...I could teach em a thing or too....
hydrotherapic-fever.....and dont you forget to watch the Sun go down

There .....the green-grass grows ...and bent-back "kunnbis" or local farmers transplant the rice during monsoon...i never really understood why they do that though we have had been farmers too(maternal place)...at eleven in the morning we ahve a mid-day meal....its called PEZ......its just fat boiled rice with common salt and is a treat and appetizer along with mango pickled in asafoetida and vinegar.....and the heady smell that wafts from the pickle jar makes your mouth water.....we also make pickle of gherkins...usually sweet, 
...wear a smile on yer face, not a brown-frown.....and then when its gone down....hit the crazy town.....yeah there are BARS all around..

during festive seasons of Deepawali and Christmas..our people make sweets like NEVRy ....a half moon shped ...erm...what to say?!!...a half moon shaped....fine crusted...erm..biscuit...no not a biscuit...its like a pie...no...whatever...with a filling of grated coconut, and jaggery and flour....and RAWA....whats rava called in english?....i dunno....you come here and find out...lol

and if Im not workin, maybe we could dine at nine....and the pleasure would be mine!
and hire a sea-side shack....bamboo-beds to relax yer back...
and though you`d like a ciggarette pack.....smokins` banned here...
fer yer own sake....and if you feel restless and yet-sleepy....
lay down on the warm-golden sand.....watch the man-in-the-moon
smiling ......you`re in my dreamy native land!...WHOA!!---its GOA!!!

Author's Note

A few places maybe you would like to visit and be prepared to have an adventure at.

Reviews

[Inyourshadow]

Love the romantic way you begin this piece with the splatter lol, the whole scene set sounds beautiful though the women warm sand and weather to die for, you lucky beggar. I would love to see elephants somewhere other than the zoo, free to roam and show off the majestic strengths. Nice tourist ad makes me wanna be there, well done. Keep em' coming

[gcp]

a winding tale of places - I like the way you wander - seems strange not to swim - swimming is a beautiful thing - if the sea is high there is magic in the water - Not good to splutter though! practice in a shallow pool first!

smoking is banned in goa? that gonna be tough if I want to live on a beach in the sun....

[poetry-kiddo alienbaba]

i wil practice in small shallow pools yes...
thx
smokin in public places is banned...lol yes...
but there are separate smoking lounges..

u can leave on the beach...yes

[AK]

Great piece :) it is very informative and memorable. I love the fact that you chose to write about a beautiful place like Goa (okay, I'll admit my only trip there was quite a disaster, but I have heard that many people enjoyed it, maybe we didn't plan our trip well).
I love the pictures on the top :) they are like the cherries on top of a cake of literature. Keep writing!

[SM Davis]

I'm not sure what else I can say that I haven't already said, once again you've painted a fantastic picture with your words. There are some extraordinary writers on this site that you can really learn much from...not that you need to learn much at all, but they all have great feedback. I will send you a private note.

[Daytonight]

I love travel! Thanks for sharing!

[Cherrie Palmer]

this is rich in color I enjoyed the trip it took me on

[poetry-kiddo alienbaba]

added some more info here

[VelvetRosetta]

I so want to visit! I would love to slip a Sari on...take a trip on an elephant and sleep on the golden sand under the the man on the moon..you created a perfect vision of an adventure, one that may not be luxurious but is a true delight!!!
Beautifully done!

[Desert Dreamer]

What a beautiful land you live in! No wonder why your music has such spirit in it. I'd like to try every single thing you mentioned except the soda. An adventure to dream of!

[Muse]

This was cool, you almost made me hungry if it wasn't for the cow dung. This is one of your best so far, thanks for sharing. :)

[Raven Starhawk]

Another culture is a while new world of interest. The passions, the colors and music all make it a fresh experience I can earnestly look forward to someday becoming a part of.