godlyk Gokarna..

Its time to leave for Gokarna, bags packed and all... We reach the railway station and scoot about here and there, wondering where our train is halting and why isnt the announcement being made??!!
Upon enquiry, it turns out that that particular train isnt gonna show up and that we have been fooled, once more, by the Indian Railways. Heads down, red-faced, we finally decide on going by bus, a full 5-hours journey through the foothills of Goa and Kanataka. Luckily, we all got seats at the back..
Around 10 pm, we reach Gokarna and proceed towards Om beach, through some very horrifying terrain with dark hills and darker waters on both sides of the road.
Finally, we are there. And man!! What a view! Even at night, it seems amazing... The moonlight has lit up the rocks and waves, a pearly white glow with sounds of forward and reflected waves colliding at anti-nodes.
However, our joy is short-lived... Not one shack has vacancy for 5 guys... That too, in the off-season time of the year. We trudge along, trying not to curse aloud about having trusted the Internet.
In the last shack, Anurag and Asati display remarkable amount of cleverness and convince the topless gentleman that we are all peaceful and mature and that he wont have any trouble with us. Reluctantly, we are given a good room, with a bed for two and loo for one. We settle down nicely, doing pushups to feel "manly" :P
Finally, we are fulfilling our dream... Guys, armed with beer, drags, coca-cola and chips, sitting on the beach, with nothing but the stars for company and sky for blanket. God bless Budweiser!

After about an hour, we decide to light up the fire we had decided about. Having no idea about it, we go to a big foreign group for advice, seeing that they had a merry bonfire between them. They politely ask us to join them if we want. But we care too much for our ego(we looked very small next to them!!).. We politely decline their offer and get back to our territory.. And now, we search for wood and anything that fires up without a smell.. A big log, some small twigs and two big cartons later, Anurag fires up the lighter and about half an hour later, we are lying on our backs, warming our feet around the fire :D

Too good to describe.. The coolness of the beverage and warmth of fire brings an unusual sense of calm... Who needs lights and computers and movies and gadgets to lead a happy living??!! One could experience bliss just with a bit of sand and saline water.

Once we run out of the eatables and drinkables, dancing desires start ruling us. Anything and everything can make you feel good as long as you have friends to enjoy it with.. And we had 5 of us, black-benchers, to share the joy.
After some tiring minutes, we lie down on the sand again and start discussing about human relationship, ego, cravings and other dirt.. Its a long talk, yet it feels good to listen.
Anyhow, we get up at 4am, reach our rooms, thrown the double-bed mattress on the floor and curl up next to each other, trying to avoid physical contact and smelly feet..

Morning dawns, bringing the sweet music of birds and snores of Swapnil right in my ear..

We get up and proceed towards the Mahabaleshwar temple in the city. Considered one of the seven Mukti Shetras of India, it houses the Aatma Lingam of Lord Shiva. Legend has it that the holy Lingam was given by Shiva to King Ravana to make his kingdom an invincible fortress. And right here, I come face to face with the largest bull I have ever seen in my life... Its simply enormous :O

Although the sanctity of the temple is unquestionable, I was surprised by the way pundits and other religious people behaved with us. First, there was the language barrier. On top of that, they were yelling at us like we were too retarded to understand the meaning of God. The southern part of India has the highest literacy rate, but still, people go paranoid over their religious beliefs. How does it matter whether its a brahmin or a kshatriya who prepares your food? Why arent we allowed to ask questions about the rituals followed there? When we touched the Lingam, a pundit started yelling his head off at Asati for no apparent reason. After a while of terrific yelling, we withdrew our hands and went away. But I was surprised by the way our so-called holy people behave. They must remember that they are just translators of God's language, not God himself. And God is inside all of us, not just in a shrine, mosque or a temple. He doesnt ever differentiate between people, we do!

Anyways, we proceeded towards the Paradise beach thereafter. It was a long trek before we reached down to the beach. But all of it proved worthwhile when we feasted our eyes on the panorama that is nature. The sea looked untouched except for a few women who were splashing around in the water. And the crowd, totally non-Indian, looked relaxed under the fog of weed and LHD. This beach has always been notorious for drugs and gore. Hence, the administration destroyed all of its beauty and reduced it to shambles. But they couldnt keep the dedicated smokers and dopers away :P
We relaxed there until the wee hours of the evening...
In the end, we were at the railway station, sipping a wonderful tea and waiting for the train while playing with little choppers given to us by a guy in a straw-hat.

Back to Goa late at night, we head to our hostel, reminiscing in the bonfire of the previous night :)