Familiarity always leads the way. We know the roads that lead us home like the back of our hands.
The same old stores that we’ve memorised like a nursery rhyme, the same rhythm of the by-hearted potholes that we sway our bikes to and the same places that we stop by at the command of the traffic signal as it changes its colours faster than a chameleon.
Despite being a licensed driver for the past seven years, it is only recently that I came to the realisation that I always have the best thoughts and revelations when I’m cruising through my beautiful Goa on my two-wheeler.
Maybe it is the illusion of moving a little faster than the rest of the world that puts things in a different perspective or Oscar Wilde’s beautiful quote that I see coming to life in every corner of the street: "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life."
Although a complete mind pretzel at first, I took my time to understand this quote before concluding that Oscar was right. Even though art is a reflection of life, life by itself is art with the only difference being in the way we each see the world.
Not forgetting one of life’s lesser known art forms, the art of noticing. And, there’s so much you notice when you are on Goan streets– both, the lovely and the ugly.
I was returning home one late night. It was May 31 and June was almost here. Passing through the night, I watched the streetlights flicker and skip a beat hoping nobody would notice.
The night was a warm one and prayers for the rain disappeared into thin air as God did not oblige. He believes that there is a time for everything, and I believe that he knows best.
It was almost 2.30 am when I was passing by Kala Academy and was surprised to see a group of people fighting and abusing each other.
Among the group, two people stood out from the rest – a middle-aged woman who was screaming and charging towards a younger lady who stood and shielded her head as the others tried to pull her away.
Of course, my curiosity piqued, but my disadvantages were the time of the night and lack of safety as a woman.
Besides, it looked just like any other one of those tourist fights gone wrong, so I proceeded to nod my head from left to right and accelerate away from the situation.
It was only a few seconds later that I heard someone frantically yell something from the back. The voice got louder and what I saw next was horrifying, to say the least.
Seated between two other men was the girl who had been shielding her head, except, this time with blood oozing out of her head as the men yelled and inquired the route to the nearest hospital.
I directed them and watched stunned as they immediately took a U-turn into the same one way lane that we were on.
That fateful night was just one of the many accidents that happen in Goa every second day, whether someone is watching or not. This is the sad reality of our touristy State after hours.
Over the last few months, Goa has been trending on social media for more bad than good. Right from drunken driving to street fights, rash driving and vandalism, being on vacation does not give people a free pass to misbehave and avoid accountability.
Safety must be a top priority and responsible tourism is the need of the hour no matter where you go. And, while people often visit Goa with a long list of the trendiest places to visit, one place in Goa that you will never want to visit is a hospital.
The year is 2024, and everyone wants to trend on social media.
But, anybody will tell you that going viral for a cool reel would make more sense if you weren’t watching the views blow up from a hospital bed in another state.
