Now if there are a few places that are mandatory to visit in the rains its kerala, ooty and all those famous places that people will advise you to go. In fact, you will hardly ever meet anybody who will advise you to visit Goa in the monsoons. But the fact of the matter is this; I have no choice in the timing of my visit... I come and go as the navy pleases and so here I am at the behest of the Indian navy trying to get some training in naval provost and policing duties...
However, this time around the trip has been more of a revelation anything else. I have spent three years in this state without actually knowing much. And although I had promised myself that I would never visit this corner of the earth again (got to do with my bad memories of academy and stuff!), this time around I am actually feeling good that I came. the proverbial circle has been completed over the course of the last year. At one point of time, around June last year, I was so fed up with life in general and navy in particular that I had committed the greatest mistake of my life. In addition, I had also put up my papers for premature discharge from the naval service. quite expectedly, the authorities that be, sat comfortably on those papers until I decided (which was in no mean terms influenced by the sight of the sorry plight of the other officers who had put up their papers) that there was no point in being stupid and taking on the system, for it was far to huge and organised to be taken down by a powerless mortal like me. So, I decided that I had to work two pronged, build connections and work the way the system does, and find my way around the obstacles ahead. Fate had dealt me a fair hand in posting me to INS angre. As any experienced naval officer will tell you, posting in any depot ship is next only to posting in any headquarters as far as education in the service goes. These postings help in removing the blinds from your eyes and setting your priorities right as far as working in the navy is concerned. I was fortunate that I had been posted so early in my career in a ship as huge as angre and, though I had no notion of it at the time, it was the ideal platform for me to prove myself. The fact that I was so much younger to everybody else in the unit only helped my case as everybody tended to forgive my mistakes as those committed due to inexperience while my every good work was praised beyond normal grading. I had some excellent mentors in the unit the form of commanders and lt commanders who played a full hand in educating me in the nuances of the service, showing me the correct path to take in every circumstance, as well using their contacts to my advantage whenever required. at the cost of this article starting to sound too much of a thank you note, I would like to mention the valuable assistance of cdr ghosh, lt cdr preetika, lt cdr vatsala, and cdr gm singh. These men and women really made me regain my lost faith in the service. What I had always needed was work that would require all my grey cells to work full time. And this was what happened in angre. I was given a free rein to work as the works officer, which meant that although I was taking decisions about crores of rupees nobody ever questioned my judgment. This also meant I had to doubly responsible and prove worthy of the faith reposed on me by my commanding officer. As works officer I was justifiably proud of my work and pride in what you do goes a long way in building interest in your work. So, it was with the help of all these circumstances coming together tat I had my honeymoon phase in the service, something that I hadn't thought was possible.
So, when I finally decided to heed to better judgment and stop fighting the system and start manipulating it, I realised the efficacy of this suggestion. Cmde ramesh kumar, my commanding officer, was instrumental in helping forward my case at the naval headquarters and at a very early stage of my career (all the other officers in my batch have had to wait for a minimum of four years!) I was sent for the provost course. However, like I have already mentioned, the proverbial circle had come a full revolution and the prodigal son had returned. That I would ever feel nostalgic to visit this place, that I would ever call it my Alma mater was beyond my imagination. Yet, such is time that it not only heals all wounds, it creates new bonds. I actually feel sorry that the academy has shifted from this place and the whole place wears the deserted look a puja mandap looks after the immersion of the deity. The grass has grown wild, the vegetation has become greener, the buildings, shabby, broken and leaking, the parks in dire need of maintenance. It looks like a ballerina in the last stages of her glorious career. Yet, there is romance in the air and expectations of the future in the firmament of every building. It is as if every one is waiting with bated for the conjurer to remove the cloth and transform the frog into prince charming. The rains in this place are heavy and abrupt. The clouds roll in all of a sudden, covering up the sky with ominous darkness, and before you have time to realize what the next part of the programme is going to be, the deluge drenches you to the bones. The rains here aren’t soft and soothing as in Mumbai, they don’t come sashaying in like a coy bride. They come with the thundering velocity of a prizefighter, and the abruptness of a prima Donna. The nights are mysterious with the calls of a million insects sending shivers down your spine. Even as I look out of my glass windows at night, the moon shines brighter than I have ever seen it in Mumbai, through the dark branches of some or the other tree. The sea roars incessantly at the foot of the mountain, in a way beckoning me closer. Sometimes if I hear intently, I can hear the sound of a soft rattle, underlining the danger that lurks just outside the safe confines of my cabin.
I went visiting some of the beaches today and though its off-season, the place is still teeming with tourists. The fair skin is always a lure to the Indian eyes, male or female, and the shameless gaping at the foreign tourists is what makes for a bitter taste in the mouth. But then, Goa is supposed to be as far as you can go to get your full of carnal desires within this country. So, I guess all who come here come with a lot of expectations and I need not mention the limits that the suppressed Indian male libido can scale when given a free rein. Loved the beaches in the rain though. Went to Miramar. Dona Paula, calangute, baga, anjuna, vagator and coco beaches. In addition, had my full of the agauda fort. Had breakfast in calangute and lunch in aguada. One thing begs mention though, the change in the general attitude of the people. I have no idea whether it is just me or it’s the general case (though I have been assured by quite a few that this is the general case) but the people seem to have become very aggressive. It is no longer the laid back Goa I have seen during my cadet days but the Goa that demands its pound of flesh vehemently. Well, all things considered this is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy this beautiful state!
