The sun appears to wink as it is about to set. From a distance, a lady in a white gown readies her phone for what looks like a social media shoot – the new telltale sign of the presence of tourists soaking the pleasure on Goa’s shoreline.
Aishwarya smiles and is not ruffled when her looks are acknowledged. Instead, she is receptive and open for a chat.
The story line floats: “The sunset in Goa is something extraordinary. Nature makes me feel natural and it gives me a happy vibe,” says the lady from Mumbai, who has flown to Goa to celebrate her birthday with a few friends.
Tourists from different parts of India venture out of their hotel rooms to take in the sunset. Some stroll on the shore and allow the breaking waves to kiss their feet, some sit and soak in the special moments, and many prepare their next social media frame.
Turning 28, Aishwarya decided to spend her birthday with a couple of collegemates instead of her family or loved one. So, she and her collegemates flew down for three days seeking to enjoy “the freedom that Goa offers good minds.”
“A good mind,” in her thinking, is a tryst with herself through nature and the spirituality that flows through it. “The question of romance now or later does not cross my mind because I think being in a relationship is like wearing a handcuff. There is no freedom in love with another,” reasons Aishwarya.
“You have a partner, and then, you have children at the cost of sacrificing one’s individuality and not being able to do what one wants?” asks the girl from Maharashtra, who has moved to Mumbai to set her own footprints of life.
“My dream,” says the vivacious lady, “is to set up a home for the aged where I will be part of that family. Homes for the aged need not be a business, when one is part of the home,” reasons Aishwarya as she lays down plans for her birthday celebration at night.
“I come from a district where the old are forgotten or ignored. It is a feeling I cannot come to terms with. They have no decent place to live the last days of their lives,” says Aishwarya, as she moulds her idea of setting up a home for the forgotten.
The young lady from Maharashtra claims she is in the textile business and has a brand for children, called 'Majestic King'. “I have enrolled for a law course this year in my quest to start a home for the aged in Goa,” admits the birthday girl.
“I enjoy my wines, and Goa is one of the best places to do so. But, drinking wine is just a side kick. The joy of coming here is a feeling of happiness; the feeling of not being fettered, the feeling of being closest to God,” explains Aishwarya.
A short distance away, Nafisa struts around wearing a bikini, followed by colleagues in swimwear. They set their phones on the sand, put their phones on timers and run towards the sea.
Unlike the ladies from Bombay (now Mumbai), Nafisa and her friends are into the trip of turning business into pleasure.
“She earns well with her social media posts. It is her job, and it makes her feel happy,” says her friend who confesses that she uses any excuse to get a chance to be in Goa.
With the monsoon at the stage where it gets into quick bouts of hide and seek with the clouds, the shores of South Goa are slowly coming back to life with the joy of people from all over the country – and even a couple of foreigners – casting their shadows on our sands.
Goa has been tagged with medical tourism, sports tourism, hinterland tourism. Why not affix a tag of spiritual tourism that inspires idealism?