Travel Bytes-GOA

There came this point in my life when I felt that I had to be ALONE. Took the map of India- zeroed in 3 of the places- Ahmedabad, Goa and Mumbai. The card fell for Goa. So there I was with a suitcase bundled with things to last for the next 6 months at the Karmali railway station. My destination- Panaji [pronounced as Paanjim], the capital of Goa.

Around Panjim ….

Most of you might head to Goa with the beaches and parties in mind. But wait, if you want to get a taste of good old Goa, then do get down at Panjim. Unlike most of the capital cities, it is pretty laid back and is best explored on foot. Most of the old houses [with storage quarters downstairs and the living quarters upstairs] have been converted into shops over time. And trust me,  you would never get fed up with the window shopping!! The fashion savvy have reasons to cheer up- there are designer boutiques at every other corner. Most of them are highly priced [targeted at the tourist folk] but if you know the right fabric and designs, then I guess some of them are worth the buy.

and it was a bubble...

And I thought

it was like a bubble

Floating high and high

taking in the essence of

all that was around

Reflecting

all that was around

female infanticide

SHISHUHATYA
Krishna was one of the serials I regularly watched in the 90’s. That’s how I chanced upon Kamsan, the villain. The scene that was to haunt me was the one in which he kills the babies born to his sister Devaki. He would smash the newborns onto a rock. Such scenes were quite horrifying for me to bear, so I would shut my eyes tight and close my ears with my hands.  It made me aware of the barbarous act called  infanticide.. In those days when surfing wasn’t so common, it was newspapers that quenched the thirst for facts. The Hindu ran stories such as on human trafficking, rebirths, naadi jyotsam, sati practice etc. I was glad to find an article on female infanticide. Going through it, I developed a big hatred towards the Punjabis. How could they just kill the female foetus and if not the foetus, the new born babies?

adieu

It was not the first time that they had fought. He had been rude enough to have mocked her sincerity towards the relationship. And she was equally rude to have showered him with abusive words.  She didn’t feel obliged to stay back. He didn’t feel obliged to call her back.

'Raktarakhshas'

I was probably in my 5^th standard, when I first remember having seen a play. It was organized by a Malayalee organization ‘kairali’ as part of their Onam celebrations in Mumbai. My parents, big-time fans of kadhikan Sambasivan could not take me to his ‘kadhaprasangam’, so a play came in like compensation.