Miracles happen. Not any other word would do as much justice to the incidents and if I were to tell you the story, you’d definitely agree with me.
Prologue
Once upon a time in a faraway land (all those who call Panvel a ‘Gaon’, go ahead and gloat) there lived a family of four,
They’d tour, travel and trek to experience and explore,
Three Patils and an oddly transformed ex-Iyer,
Together this ‘Daring’ team could write a book with tales to inspire!
A regular on the ‘Final Boarding Call’ list like Ambani on the ‘Forbes’,
‘Better late than never’ they believed to their very cores!
Not the ones to stress, not the ones to cry (except for the ex-Iyer that was neither here nor there!)
“What is next!?” they’d plan on the fly!
Late as Simran and lucky as Raj in DDLJ
Their drama could knock out Bollywood anyday!
There was no place for ‘normal’ in the lives of those four,
Status of trains and planes would suddenly change to ‘DELAY’, mysterious therefore!
In 2021 a little boy with adventure & adrenaline running through him was to arrive,
Thus making Junior Patil the perfect addition to this ‘Fun’tastic Five!
Chapter 1: Go. Goa. Going. Gone!!
PP and a friend had been in discussion about a second vacation to somewhere for quite sometime after our successful road trip to Guhagar earlier this year.
Come the first week of May, six of us would be off to Goa! Honestly it beats me why boys waste time on planning & analysis when the outcome in 9/10 times is GOA! A night before the bookings were done, this friend backed out.
Filter kaapi, I tell you, is not only the best system kickstarter but also an instant solution provider. Seated at the coffee table on the morning of 21st April, impulse tempted us to undertake this trip anyway and in quarter of an hour everything from tatkal train tickets to hotel rooms were booked and confirmed, full Patil style!!
On Friday, 22nd April, The Funtastic Five after two days of hurried shopping and packing were ready, well nearly! Let me tell you how a train-travel routine works for us. Since the station is located in close proximity to our home, packing happens at the eleventh hour after which leaving home – reaching platform – boarding train is a blurry flashback to relieve when the train pulls off the station WITH us!
By the way, Junior Patil is no stranger to this hustle and bustle, having experienced a dry run when he was in mummy’s tummy!
Chapter 2: Not so North
Our first halt at Goa was the weekend at PP’s Mama’s place in Mērces, Panaji. A quaint laid-back village, this place exudes calm and peaceful vibes unlike the rest of North Goa that’s defined by crowd, casinos and chaos.
Saturday was spent in lazing around, treating ourselves to yummy fish from Mami’s kitchen and an evening walk on the empty shores of Miramar beach.
While the day was hot as hell (not unlike Mumbai*), the night played host to some toofani thunderstorm and rains that made Sunday morning in Mērces feel like Mother Earth had pressed the RESET button!
After a long walk, Mama took us to a local joint to enjoy a simple but decent Goan special breakfast consisting of pav, baaji, fried mirchi bhajji and vadas!
If you think that was a lot for breakfast, it’s a good thing I did NOT click any photos of the lunch buffet at JW Marriott later that day. I seriously don’t remember seeing such a wonderful spread in my entire life and had I stuffed in one more item out of craving/ greed/ desperation/ foodlust, I would have certainly made it to heaven! To not miss out on that lunch, we squeezed in only fifteen minutes of pool time and one among us wasn’t happy at all, after all the buffet to him was like cheese to a lactose intolerant! 😀
Chapter 3: South bound
On Monday morning the five of us headed to South Goa in a self driven rented car. Having stayed at Palolem and Benaulim on earlier trips, we settled on Varca Beach after we discovered ‘Majestic Beach Resorts’, a lovely property for nature-lovers like us with wood-cabins, outdoor pool and easy access to beach!
There was so much green around with plenty flowers and pretty butterflies, much to the delight of this phony photographer! 😀 Whoever said you can’t capture a fluttering butterfly on phone clearly needs a session with me and that includes my husband!
FYI: Where there’s green, there’s mosquito BUT there was provision for GoodKnight and I saw no bites on my son, so I’ll say it worked well for us! Oh, one more thing to look out for is the frogs, tiny baby ones! So dear girls don’t try to kiss one in the hope of finding a prince!
Chapter 4: Patil the Sailor Boy!
What do you do when two days of pool and beach aren’t enough to satisfy your love for water? You decide to go sailing and not just on any normal boat but on Antara, a beautiful yacht with none other than India’s first solo circumnavigator Capt. Dilip Donde and ‘First Mate’ Sucheta Jadhav.
Four hours on blue waters with this delightful duo and occasional sighting of dolphins is one of the best ways to spend an evening in Goa! I’ll admit I nearly got sea-sick and couldn’t enjoy as much as I would’ve loved to but my son was the star of the evening! Also I must proudly say that my in-laws are always game for anything, so much so that my MIL encouraged me to get down to the back of the yacht and dip my feet in the water! Our photos may not make it to IG but they’re framed in our hearts forever. Awwww!!
P.S. IG handle: sail_on_antara
Chapter 5: The First Miracle!
On Thursday morning, after one last dip in the ocean (Yes LAST dip because we had tanned the little boy a little too much!), we checked out and left straight for Karmali station for our 14.30 train to Chiplun. We decided on stopping for lunch nearer to the station, that way we’d make it on time. By 1.30 pm we were almost there but none of the GMaps suggestions appealed to us. Just when we were considering a direct Swiggy to the station, a restaurant hoarding caught our attention and we decided to give it a try. PP placed the order at a record breaking speed which had more to do with a ‘Pure Veg’ order than the impending train to Chiplun! More time was spent in making a choice between ‘Dine-In OR Take Away?’ than preparation of the order! Can you believe it, the risk-taker Patils actually decided to play safe and reached the station with thirty minutes to spare to find their train waiting to greet them! Thus happened the first miracle.
To celebrate this joyous moment, we had our lunch in the stationary train in what was the most relaxed mode we’d ever been! 🙂
Part two to follow.. SOON.
C.A.: Confused Aquarian 