The first trip of my college life and it was Goa. I was really excited and was looking forward to it. It was a 7 day trip with 3 days in the train. Well that’s how far goa is from Delhi. But I was looking forward to the train journey as well, since I had expected it to be fun with friends.
8th December 2014
The train was to leave at 3 o clock (check) from Hazarat Nizammudin Station. I along with Shagun had reached at the railway station way before time. We had to assemble at 1 and we had reached even before that since there was no traffic. We sat at some restaurant to pass time. Soon, people started coming in with suitcases, bags, backpacks and blankets. The railway platform was really crowded. We got on the train and just put our luggage randomly and sat. Around half an hour later, all of us were told to shift to the our respective booked seats. Mine was in S3 coach, which was 7 coaches away from where all of the college was in. I and shagun shifted to S3 after an hour. We settled our luggage and then had nothing to do. It was an odd feeling, just the two of us with a bunch of random people, while most of the people I knew were in the other coach. Evening came and passed without any event. We had dinner, and then played cards for sometime. Out of options I decided to sleep while Shagun watched a movie on the phone. It had been long since I had traveled in a train and sleep was hard to come.
9th December 2014
The morning was boring and lazy as ever. After having some breakfast we just played cards and talked. Shubham came by in the afternoon and it was nice to see a friendly face. We talked and played games on his phone. It was turning out to be quite a boring journey so far. All the excitement that I had was starting to diminish. I just wanted this train ride to be over soon so that I could get out of it. Evening came and so did Prateek. He told us to come back in the S11 coach, where everyone was staying. I was never more quick to get up, pack and leave.
I was so happy to see all these people from college, in the new coach. I was feeling a bit at rest and happy now. We had dinner and then I learnt and played some new card games with a group of my batch mates. I was really having a good time, finally. We were to reach Goa at around 6, next morning. The excitement, which had disappeared two days ago, was appearing to come back.
10th December 2014
I got up at around 10 o clock. The train was running pretty late. We were told that we’d reach around 12 o clock. But time came and passed, we still were not there. Slowly, goa started appearing – farmlands, with little huts and lots of grass. We arrived in the afternoon. The train was 8 hours late and with that, the first day in goa began. There were buses to drop us till the hotel, which took another two hours. But that was okay, because we got to see Goa. It was such a beautiful sight, with water on both sides of the bridge. I realized, that since Delhi doesn’t have a beach, we are more fascinated by the idea. The grass is always greener on the other side, they say.
The bridge crossing, with sea on both sides
We finally reached the hotel in the evening. There were four people per room and since it was just the two of us, we adjusted with Mansi and her friends. I was never happier to see a bathroom and an A/C. It felt so good, just to lie on the bed. After all twelve of us had taken bath and gotten ready, it was already evening. All of us were so hungry. There was a beach and market in walking distance from the hotel. So we went out and started exploring, for a good eating place. We went to a place called Fisherman’s Cove. Since I and Mansi were the only vegetarians, we ordered a lasagna and pasta. It was good. It felt good, happy, and refreshing to be in Goa, a new place, on my own, and independent. After dinner, we clicked some photos and then some of us decided to go to Candolim beach. We reached in about five-seven minutes. There was a market on the way, which I, Mansi and Saumya promised to check out later.
Me and Mansi at Fisherman’s Cove
The beach. Cool breeze blowing. Dark night sky. Waves lashing out on the beach. Wet sand underneath my feet. My perfect idea of everything. A date, celebration, relaxation or just spending time with one self. It was a feeling that can’t be put into words, you have to experience it. After a while, we decided to go back to the hotel. Since it was late, and we didn’t hire any mode of transport, there was nothing we could do tonight. It was late by the time we came back. Everyone else was busy having a party, so I and Shagun decided to explore the hotel. At 1 o clock in the night, we were roaming around. There was a pool, some flats, trees and flowers planted everywhere. Amidst all of this, we found a pair of swings and like a 5 year old kid, I was so excited. I ran towards it and started swinging. After a while, mosquitoes started biting us, and I was forced to leave the swings, even though I didn’t want to. We went back to our rooms and slept, waiting for a new, exciting and fun-filled tomorrow.
At Candolim Beach
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