It was New Year 2009 i.e 01-01-2009 00.00 AM. These are some things I remember before I went into a state after which I dont remember anything , some people refer to this as passing out I prefer calling it blissfully unaware.
1. There was this girl selling Santa caps, but this was a New Year Santa cap, it had 2009 in red on it which would start blinking when a hidden button was pressed!! That floored me right there. I didnt bargain beyond Rs.50 as I thought the lights itself was worth each & every rupee of Rs.50.
2. Loud music was blaring from the inside of our shack (My Desi Girl seemed to be in full demand), Ashwin & Suttu went to check out the dancing going on & came back without shaking a leg saying it was extremely crowded. Then Me, Ajay & Ashwin squeezed our way through, danced a bit (full hardcore hindi item numbers) & came back satisfied.
3. Me & Suttu took our glasses and went a little into water to gaze at the dark sea, just stood there for a while to soak in the entire atmosphere.
4. The water started coming very close to where we were sitting & once it almost came under our chairs.
The next scene I remember is that we were all near the steps at the entrance of the beach, it was around 5.30 in the morning and very very cold. I honestly dont know if I had actually passed out or just gone to sleep but from what the others tell me it seems like I had actually passed out. Since anyone who has passed out wont remember anything to be able to tell what it felt like, all I can say is this was my first time. On the way towards our bikes we stopped by a tea shop & the piping hot tea did feel good, only for a minute though. I was later told that the tea shop is what sustained the others all night in the chilling cold, when they were all waiting for me to wake up & ride my bike back !!!!! We reached our bikes & saw Ajay's helmet strap hanging by his bike - Both Ajay's & my helmet were stolen. I am not sure if the others were jealous of me when I first bought the Santa cap, but now I am sure everyone was eyeing for it to cover their head & ears. I also realized that I was wearing one of Suttu's half sleeve shirt over mine!! I didnt have the patience to bother how this happened. Anyway we got on our bikes & started on our way back to Margoa in the piercing cold.
I dont know why but that early morning weather in Goa was severely chilling. We gave a pee-stop a little after Panaji. I asked Bhatta to light a fag, but everyone were like 'we are getting late, lets just reach home & not waste time fagging'. But I really wanted to fag then, thats when Suttu my pillion rider told me he had everything necessary & that I should not take any tension. So we got back on our bikes & I switched on the blinking lights of my Santa cap. Suttu passed me the fag he had lighted, that entire scene - riding my bike in the cold with a Santa cap having 2009 blinking on it and smoking a cigaratte was something worth taking a photo, but alas it will just remain in my memory. We stopped for breakfast at the same place we had stopped at yesterday. Had a nice filling breakfast & went back to Shreeshaa's uncle's home. Me & Shreeshaa went to return the bike we had hired, it was then that we saw the guy there removing the petrol (filled by the previous hiree's) from the bikes and leaving just enough to get to the petrol bunk!! Money, I tell you makes the fucking round world go rounder. Back at home, all of them were fully tired coz none of them had slept the whole night and all that they wanted to do was hit the sack & close their eyes as long as they could. But I was fully fresh and sleeping was the last thing I wanted to do right now.
It was the first day of New year & I decided that I had to do something significant, something which would signify the arrival of change, something which should be visible not only to me but to others as well. Thats when I got this brilliant idea of getting a hair-cut done. For the past 3-4 months I had been growing it, I am not sure why, probably I just didnt go to any saloon so it kept growing. I would tell anyone who was concerned enough to ask that I was growing it for this trip. So I set out to find a good saloon and get it cut real short, a significant visible change for others & a significant philosophical change for me signalling the unburdening of the past.
I reached the centre of the town, parked my bike & started walking around. It was the earlier part of the morning of the first day of New year in Goa, all the shops had to be closed, and they obviously were. But fortunately I saw this posh orange board of a saloon (dont remember the name, I must notedown these things) & in I walked. An elderly man guided me to a chair, I explained in half english & half hindi that I wanted him to basically cut all the garbage on top of my head & make me a decent-looking guy.
I have never been able to get a hair-cut done as I have visualized it, so I always try to give as detailed instructions as possible (maybe this itself is the problem). But as soon as I saw him I knew I was in safe hands. I felt that he knew exactly why I had walked into that saloon that day at that time. I am not sure what prompted me to ask him "Kannada barathaa?" and he said "neevu kannada andre naanu kannada, neevu hindi andre naanu hindi" in a pure kannadiga tone. I smiled and told him I was from Karnataka only. From then on it was a complete one-to-one chat. When I told him I was from Bangalore, he said that I was a tamilian & not a kannadiga !!!This statement was based on his experience one morning to Electronics City near Hosur. I told him (with an inch of pride) the Bangalore I knew was surely kannadiga's Bangalore. He told me he was from Shimoga. I then told him about our bike-trip & our night-out at the beach the previous night. We then discussed about politics in Goa & Karnataka and also how this politics was affecting the bad state of roads between Goa & Karnataka. He suggested me the best route back which happened to be the way which we had already decided. I then got a shave done. Then I decided that I might as well get a head-massage done. This in any saloon is done with tons of hair-oil (usually Navaratna thel). At the end of everything I was truly feeling like a new person. If looks could kill I would have died instantly coz I couldnt take my eyes off the mirror!!
I paid him & started debating in my mind if it would be appropriate to tip him. When he returned the change, I handed over Rs.20 and he gladly accepted it. Since that went off smoothly I bade him goodbye and walked out. When I was paying the bill it occured to me that we hadnt paid the bill for breakfast this morning, more correctly I was handling all the money & I had forgotten to pay!! So on the way back I stopped at that restaurant & fortunately the owner smiled at me & accepted my apologies wholeheartedly. I paid him the amount & headed back home. All in all, it was an extremely Good Morning and it was then I realized why people wish others 'Good morning' (which is the abbreviated version of 'Hope you have a Good morning') the first thing in the morning. If the morning is good, then it just sets the tone for the rest of the day!
All of them woke up by noon. I was thinking that we need not start back to Bangalore today itself, but the others were certain that we had to start today itself & halt somewhere on the way for the night so that we need not have to cover the entire stretch in one day. Roshan left to Bhatkal by bus and we were now 6 of us. We went to the same place to have lunch which we had been to on the day we arrived in Margoa. I was desperately searching for a helmet shop. Bhatta was actually wearing Ajay's old broken helmet (Ajay had bought a new one just for this trip..hehehe). Ajay decided to save money & use his old broken one itself. Bhatta's head (the only portion of his body in good health) was now at risk, but then no one was bothered, including Bhatta. On the way back I (luckily) found a decent helmet shop & bought one. There was this nice fashionable shop which me & Suttu decided to check out. We ended up buying a cool-looking belt each, which happened to be the only purchase-item I made on this trip. We went to Shreeshaa's uncle's bank to hand over the keys of the house. We thanked him profusely & took our leave. It was around 4'0 clock then.
Our plan was to just keep riding till it turned dark enough to stop. So we kept on going till Honnavar. There we found a Kamat Lodge which had an awesome room at a super cheap price. We didnt think twice & took it. By the time we came for dinner, the restaurant at the lodge was almost closed, he however let us in as the last & only customers. We had to choose between - North Indian meal, South Indian meal & South Indian Special. Bhatta & Shreeshaa were the two fools who opted for North Indian & the rest of us went for South Indian Special. The sight of the plate was itself special, with an amazing variety of dishes. It was a truly finger-licking-tasty South Indian meal. Long live South Indians & longer live South Indian meals!!!
Knowing fully well that the next day was going to be the longest ride of the entire trip we decided to have a dry-night's (nothing to drink) sleep.
01-01-2009: Margoa-Honnavar
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