We started around 10 pm from home.As usual i was a bit over prepared.I always over prepare for a trip.Anyways,we reached our friend’s place around 10.30.Total 5 of us in a Chevy Spark ( Only later did one tell me that the car was not finalized moments till we walked into the parking lot! I had “unholy” thoughts for a moment but then we were not exactly the planning lot.Our engines drew its fuel from an infinite renewable supply of instinct and replenish able hope,which reminds me of a nice story but i will save it for later )
Long story short we started. And yes,it will be worth mentioning that we love Monsoons. In fact we love it so much ,we often end up chasing it,at times literally. After a while ,we got rid of the frustrating traffic and hit the highway. What happened next i do not remember. I hit the hibernate button.I remember someone complaining over my shoulder about the music whose genre kept changing every once in a while.All i had asked them is not to play some songs from Doors or Audioslave(make no mistake,both are my favourite bands ! ) because some of the songs like “Riders on the storm” and “Show me show to live” pumped in a lot of adrenaline,sometimes a little too much for our own good and for the Captain(someone came up with that horrendous idea of using those nomenclatures,but I kinda liked it ) which sent the speedometer flying from 80 to a 140.
We stopped for dinner at a Dhaba.A friend had dropped his phone earlier,now I dropped mine and the screen broke(we did not have the slightest idea the worst for our phones was yet to come) and after getting past a few hurdles like a huge trailer blocking the road , a vibrating car at 120 and a few chai breaks we were greeted up at dawn by the roar of Monsoons.My first reaction – Wooohooo,finally – it happened again !
It later changed to how-the-hell-are-gonna-reach-on-time but that was only later. It was beautiful.
Sometimes i thought the Raingods loved us back just as much.At times, it was unclear whether we chased or monsoons or was it chasing us like the NFS hot pursuit. We were “rain-babies” 🙂 Wherever we go ,the rain follows.
That morning.We woke up and we saw :The front glass covered with mist,drizzle all around us as we stretched hands ,beautiful cloudy skies,lush green fields on both sides and a straight road ahead.
I could not help but think of Robert Frost
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
The rains and the bad roads stopped a while later and we so pleased to see the billboard saying “Gokarna this way” .Finally.We reached around 9.We wanted to go to the beach.Only the blue ocean could heal us.Although when we reached the nearest beach,I wasn’t so impressed at first.It was crowded and not so clean.We decided to go to Om-Beach.And wow,boy i am so glad we did !
Imagine this ,you are travelling down a mountain – down one of those ghat roads and suddenly you peek into this – lush green trees and the majestic view of ocean underneath- the perfect marriage of mountain and sea.
We got a room at a resort on the beach and then rushed down post breakfast onto the beach.I am not sure why but these is something so poetic ,something so grand and beautiful about seas and oceans. Wheather you choose to lie down,detaching yourself from the rest of the world or just choose to take a walk looking eye to eye onto its vastness,the sea/ocean never disappoints. The saltiness in the air,the seashells or the receding waves playing hide & seek .Every time i go to a beach, it seems so different .
Different kind of same or similar kind of different ,i am not sure.
In the afternoon we hit another beach- The Paradise Beach.I thought it was a funny name for a beach,but only till i reached there.I told myself,i was really stupid.Of course,this beach has to be named Paradise Beach.Nothing else would fit the bill.A part of it was so pristine,i thought it was a lagoon,the sea so calm,so aquamarine,i could spend my entire day there doing nothing.Nothing.Just nothing.
They said the Gods were jealous of man’s perfection so they always leave a defect in their creation.They are often jealous of it.On such a perfect moment of tranquility when a friend and i were sitting on the wooden plank by the river talking of life ,chaos knocked.The mobile of my mobile-addicted friend(he prefers the term socially connected for some reason i don’t understand) fell into the crab infested water.We rushed ,dived ,called folks whomever we found.We could not find his cell.Hopeless we rushed back and i felt like laughing.Not on him,on ourselves,not the cruel kinda laughter,the pitiful one,it was a perfect Shakespearean tragedy.
We moved to look forward to the ocean to heal us once again.That sunset i will never forget.It was beautiful,majestic,as the sun set against the lush green mountain and we confused for a moment Gokarna with paradise.
Next morning we moved to Murdeshwar,where there was a beautiful Shiva temple.We needed the favour of the Gods.It was indeed beautiful.After a quick lunch and a drive on the beach we started our journey back home,covering Jog Falls on the way(which sadly had only a stream flowing but i did not expect much as it was mid-summer).Yeah one thing worth mentioning on our way back would be our escape.We,guided by the Captain’s instinct were saved from going over a half constucted bridge.The Co-Captain was not even wearing a seat belt.The song playing in the background was Boondan-Boondan.The tired screeched as they turned left and we just escaped crashing into a tractor ahead of us.All well that end’s well.Wooh !That was close.I hope I do not come that close to death for another couple of decades at least.
We reached home that night around 3.30 am and were greeted by some Finnish chocolates .
The journey was over but the memories remained. The journey like any other left us craving for more – more adventure ,more experience .We were left wanderlust, restless, craving for more – and with a promise to return !
That night i dreamt of the blue ocean.
Nirvana - The search within ! 