Wanderlust - Baga, Goa

Baga – one of the most popular destinations of North Goa. Goa is an exotic destination – sun,sand, beaches and fenny. Nestled by the seaside is Baga, part of the Calangute Village Panchayat, but looking brighter than any Indian metropolis. The vibrant Baga is home to the Baga beach. Cute cafes, restaurants, goa-kind-of-stores selling colorful caps, bags and clothes, lights – all a dream come true for a shopper. English Breakfast and Portuguese tea, you name it you got it, all in a kilometer's distance. Baga is extremely multi-continental, with Indian store sellers who sell colorful hairbands speaking Russian and Spanish! You can rent an apartment, cottage, room at Baga – but beware, in the tourist season you can run out of every option. It is useful to book it beforehand. One of Baga's most entertaining lanes is the Tito's lane – house to the famous Tito's disc. It is definitely worth a visit. The day at Tito's typically begins at 10:30 pm and continues upto 4:00 am. Tito's lane is colorful, populated, noisy, bustling with life even at 2:00 am in the morning. You must definitely catch the night life at this place – its one of a kind. Tito's lane hosts many eateries, discotheques and coffee houses. Mambo's comes adjacent to Tito's. It leads to the beach, eventually – which host the beach parties (something really fun too!). I don't remember the street ever going silent. In spite of being a really small territory, Baga can keep people busy for several days, with hectic partying and heavy shopping. You can rent out bikes at Baga easily and zoom into the nearby areas – Calangute, Chapora, Anjuna. Baga in daylight is a lazy, extremely cute, exotic village – reeking charm. The laid back atmosphere in the air makes it feel like home. Its the ideal vacation location, providing every traveler an experience of a blend of cultures – the Indian and the rest of the world. Watching the sunrise from the beach, is the icing on the cake of the Perfect Baga Holiday.

Wine, Dine and Dance - Bardez

Bardez. A place in Goa. A spacious restaurant on the main road. Serves almost all that you've heard of. Continental, Mediterranean and of course, goan. Great reception. Good food, i must say. Thoroughly enjoyed it until we found a strand of an aluminum scrubber in the noodle bowl. The cleaner apparently had done a wonderful job. We had evidence. A drink called "Love in the afternoon" was transformed, with ease, to a more cheesy version by the oh-so-coquettish owner. "Phirang" crowd swarmed the place. They apparently gourmandize on the turkey there, i was told. Due to its proximity to the beach, clothing is optional (A full body tan can be acquired with little effort) Sea food is a must try for those who don't mind having sea food. Tiny prawns and fish, to be specific. Awfully snoopy waiters who want to know all about you, your family and neighbours. Ketchup will be provided in abundance. Not to worry. Friendly crowd. They smile at you, wink too and definitely wish you a "good afternoon". A fancy place altogether. Scrubber was found before consumption and we were not charged for it. All's well. Do visit it.

I beg your pah-don!

We've learnt all our sophisticated tricks from the Brits. Balancing a spoon, knife and fork simultaneously while pecking at the food, for example. All the civilized behavior, polite references to the weather, spice-less cooking, buttering the bread with the knife, and holding that stiff upper lip stature, we have lapped it all up. So much so, we've also tried to emulate their humor into our lives – we've laughed at the way we even bother to simulate the British in our lives and why and how!
I've picked up the “I'm fine, thankyou” so well, and have improvised so much on it that it almost sounds like an insult. “The talkies” - In Bangalore, you can always get to “Sanjeev Talkies” pronounced as “takiz” by the auto rickshaw drivers and not a Cinema Hall. The “Town Hall” and the Koshys are one of the better things that stayed behind, so much so I bet a lot of people would leave with the Koshys if it left!
In countries like India, where nothing is a forbidden topic – like your most distantly related aunt asking how much you earn in the most public forum she had been to – the polite English come across as rude. (But yes, aunts of course, are universally formidable creatures.) “I don't think so” “Not quite” “If you wish to” have been suitably contorted to mean mean things in India, where not wanting to reply to a question is considered rather rude. (Of late, what I plan to do with my life is the aunt-discussion topic)
Its impossible to throw out a colonial rule of a century from our country. Its idiosyncrasies have led to my grandfather knowing the Julius Caesar by heart, my grandmother knowing the Wren and Martin and me gaping in astonishment, while struggling to explain what the “past participle” is. (Seriously, what the heck is it?). Due to weird circumstances, I stand wearing a pair of socks when at home, using the apron while cooking and going “splendid!” when the culinary experiment turns out all right.
Its a “rather sunny day” and the weather is “just the day for fishing”, we can sail in the “Catamaran”. Its a “Mulligatawny” soup for “supp-her” and its always time for “high-tea”. The political rally had the politician acting as a “juggernaut” and Sachin Tendulkar is a “Mogul” of cricket. We have taken the cricket and made it our own, turned the game of hockey around – given them the polo.
The Bland English has so finely been blended into spicy Indian curry, that the cuisine comes served with a smile. And I have great reason to believe that one of the finest things that we got from the Brits, is “Carry on, Jeeves” and “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”. But if you're asking me how much of Charles Dickens I have read, I'll have to say “I beg your pah-don!”

Wink - The Fortnightly Update!

Welcome to the wink again. We're nearing the Second Update of the Wink. Just thought we'll keep you informed. In our second complete update, we will leave you with our Funny Side Up column - which has gotten a little Brit, Our Wanderlust Column - with a trip to Baga, Goa. There's the Wine, Dine and Dance section - leaving you with something to eat. But we're going to add a little to this and introduce a "guest column" - with a "Guest" writing for us.
Keep a watch on this space. You never know with our writers, they brew up the strangest of things. Last I heard from one, the write-up was on how to keep leather fresh. We'll try our best to spare you that!