Goa living/loving

When moving to Goa one must realise that certain aspects of ones life are best handled drunk. 

Living in a place that is on one long holiday can be hard especially when you are attempting to be productive. It struck me over dinner with Haathi that living here requires any new comer to be at peace with certain things; Not only does this make life a whole lot easier it also does wonders for anger management.

1. Nothing in Goa is open on sunday. Any shopping must be done during the week.
2. Lunch breaks are from 1pm to 4pm, any self respecting Goan will close at 7pm sharp for drinks and dinner. This includes pharmacies.
3. There is only one plumber in Goa that actually fixes things on time, his name is Arvind. Leave a comment if you need a number.
4. Laundry will take 2-3 weeks for them to realise it exists after which if you're lucky it should take a few days more.
5. You will soon realise that being mad at a Goan is next to impossible. Shouting is met with a glassy eyed grin(incredibly cute) or a bewildered look that seems to say 'I can't believe you actually thought we would deliver in time'. It is best in times like these to find the nearest local bar and wallow until you calm down.
6. Local Goan food can only be found in the most obscure of places, since I now have Goan friends I will post great places to eat as and when they are discovered.
7. Give up trying to be vegetarian, food here is fantastic embrace it.
8. Make it a point to visit the beach over the weekends. Living in Goa knowing you're not far from sand and sea can make    you lazy. 
9. You don't get broadband here unless you are willing to brave bsnl. Catch up on your reading perhaps?
10. Liquor stores are open nearly all night, it is pretty much the best answer when distressed, cranky, upset, bleeding or just bored. 
11. Buy a good music system, it can do wonders for your soul.
12. You could look at living here in two ways. You could either be frustrated or simply entertained.On choosing the latter you will find that it is actually a fabulous place to live.

A few days spent away and I realised I miss this small defunct state. It's good to be back.

p.s: Has it ever happened to you when something becomes ridiculously popular and you had no idea until you saw the four page spread in the rolling stone? The black keys are a two man power house of raw blues energy. Its so great to listen to something so rugged and well unscrubbed. They also happen to have the song for the occasion. Black keys with everlasting light.

Enjoy

 

Of bizarre relationships and old school loving

"Your light's reflected now, reflected from afar

we were but stones, your light's made us stars"

I'm saying this in full knowledge of the fact that I will now be considered a flake but in every cliche lies some amount of truth. 
Love is in the air.


Its been a whirlwind year of tearful ends, shady beginnings and well old school romances. I remember my first high school romance. Dating wasn't allowed so we had to make do with passing chits and leaving letters in each others desks. We would sneak off into the bushes and spend hours uncomfortably perched on rocks and talk about life, books, dreams etc. When I finally took the initiative to hug him he ran away and well that was that.


Of course the rather pathetic end to that story is not how this year is shaping up. Shkaplan and I have already turned into little old ladies that share juicy gossip over tea and its fabulous! Here's to love found, attraction that cannot be explained and Steamy romantical weekends in exotic locations. 


Before I turn this blog into a gossip column(It will make for an extremely interesting one mind you) I will leave you with an all time favourite. Light years by pearl jam. It isn't the happiest song but it does seem to fit. I am forever in debt Sargam. 
Enjoy.

Thursdays

Thursdays are random days, It isn't the middle of the week and it isn't quite the end. Most of my thursdays are spent thinking about fridays which now that I come to think of it is such a waste of time. 
I found this song while doing my last thursday facebook stalking session(yes, all things shady are reserved for thursdays) I'm not sure if I want to scoff or be impressed with the fact that they are all playing on the same guitar but Walk the earth has an interesting sound. It's a great showcase of different voices all coming together in one harmony. 


I think this would be something you would listen to when attempting to make stir fry with instant noodles in your kitchen. All in all one successful stir fry and a glass of wine later I was humming this song in my sleep.
Walk the earth covers a Gotye song "Somebody that I used to know"
enjoy

Letters

Last week wife sent me a link to challenge. It involves writing a letter a day for the month of feb. It all seemed very exciting until I got home and began actually writing. 

In school we were made to write a letter a week to our parents. I remember those sundays when I sat at my desk with my colour pencils and bits of craft paper writing and illustrating long letters about my not so fascinating 7th grade life. It was fabulous! I would draw my friends, floor plans of my new hostel, write about about music, classes, food, plays, boys and just about every aspect of my little life.

Receiving them was another story all together, Wife and I would run back after lunch hoping for a letter. Sifting through the mail as if our lives depended on it. My fathers letters were works of art. He would draw out all the interesting people he met and places he went to. The margins were filled with little cartoons of all the interesting things he did. My mother's were just beautifully written, she would write about family, life concerts and just about anything that came to mind. It almost felt as if I was having a conversation with her.

Of course there were tons of letters from friends and family all over the world. They would send photographs, stickers, comic strips and just about anything you could stuff into an envelope. I remember cleaning out my cupboard and finding literally hundreds of letters packed into a paper bag. Sitting on the floor of my empty room I spent hours re reading, touching, laughing, crying and smelling all these memories from my six years at boarding school. 

When I sat down over the weekend I looked around and realised I was beyond repair. I had no paper, no idea where to procure stamps and of course no envelopes. Determined to make this work i pulled out some drawing sheets, made my own envelope and wrote out of a notebook. You realise that even though you talk to someone every day when you begin to write things just seem to flow. Two hectic and rather stressful days later I managed to find the Panjim post office. 

I'm a few days late but to make up for it I have posted my first five letters in what seems like a decade.

Hopefully someone might even reply?

P.s. Twinkle(after much deliberation we have agreed that this the best name for my roommate)introduced me to Manjah over our domestic weekend together. I've been looking for a new fix and well, here he is with 'don't joke with a real pro.' My monday responsibility of putting up something that gets you through the day has also been addressed. enjoy!

Caffeine

Coffee and I have a rather strange relationship. After four years of drinking it one would think that one would be just a little immune to its effects. 
I wish...
Somehow I always seem to end up thinking I am some sort of booty shaking, potty mouthed, female rapper that will eventually dominate mankind. Post which I giggle and start vibrating.
I'm not sure if this is in anyway good for me but it does get me hooked onto some pretty interesting music.
My new caffeine fix is Azealia Banks. Already named the voice of 2012 this little thing is a riot. Do not be fooled by the braids and sloppy minnie mouse sweater under that cute little exterior she has all the bad ass, bitch qualities that we look for in female rappers. 


If coffee does the same thing to you then you will probably end up attempting her dance moves against a wall but I think it should be just fine.


Enjoy!