Inspired by a Bollywood movie “Josh” in the year 2000 AD, a group of three friends, Raju, Rustam, and Sumit wished to chill in Goa for a vacation. The wish soon turned to a wish-list and then a plan after watching the movie “Dil Chahata Hai” in 2001 AD. When they initially planned, I was in my intermediate. We became best buddies by the end of 2003.
We lived lots of memories together from pranks to movies and trips, study, crushes, heartbreaks and more. With the growing friendship, the eagerness of the trip also grew. We did a few planning, bookings and cancellations due to different circumstances. Our wish list soon turned into our bucket list, and we became busy with career and responsibilities. Though, we never stopped dreaming and planning for the trip.
Finally, after 19 years of bookings, cancellations and planning, we made it happen in 2019 AD.
After 18 years, in the year 2018
On a fine morning of October 25, 2018, I got a call from Sumit, who asked me to mark my calendar for ‘Goa Trip’ in October 2019. Firstly, I thought it was our normal planning, which had been cancelled so many times. Deep down in my heart, I marked October 2019 to DnD mode.
We initially planned to gather at Birtamode and start the journey to Mumbai via train. I was planning to reach Birtamode by 7th October, but Raju called me to join on the 6th and have a small party at his residence. Rustam had already booked the ticket for the 6th. I got a booking at the last moment, and fortunately, we were on the same flight.
Oct 6, 2019
I was pre-occupied with lots of thoughts. Doing something from a pending list with old buddies during Dashain vacation was a big thing indeed. I picked up Rustam from Satdobato at 1:15 PM and left for the airport. We reached early, took our boarding passes and waited. After more than three hours, we heard the boarding announcement at 5:15 PM. We finally landed at 7:15 PM, and our buddies were already waiting. We shortened the party because of the delay and went to the movie “War”. Later we headed to Raju’s place for the night and talked until around 2:00 AM.
Oct 7, 2019
We enjoyed delicious food prepared by Pushpanjali Bhauju, visited Raju’s Fish Farm and had tea at Kishan’s place. I handed over my luggage to my brother Khagen at Charali and went to Bahundangi to surprise an old +2 mate, Pritam, on his birthday. We had tea, food and old memories before returning to Birtamode.
Oct 8, 2019
It was Vijaya Dashami. After tika and blessings, I left for Birtamode. Five of us left for Kakarbhitta to join Rustam. We took a taxi to NJP and boarded the LTT Express to Mumbai. It was my first train journey. We bought SIM cards, had a terrible dinner and even worse coffee, then boarded the train around midnight.
Oct 9, 2019
We spent the day on the train playing cards, eating snacks and drinking tea. The Matka tea was mesmerizing. We also had a little companion in our compartment, a cute little boy with his mom, and shared food with them. It was an awesome day on the train.
Oct 10, 2019
We started with Idli and Sambar at Itarsi station. After a long day on the train we arrived at LTT Mumbai around 8:30 PM without a plan for the night. A cab driver tried to steer us toward hotels where he earned commissions, creating a frustrating search before we finally checked in.
Oct 11, 2019
Rustam and I started early with street-side tea. We visited Siddhivinayak temple, explored Mumbai with our cab driver Pradeep and saw Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Haji Ali and other places. In the evening we started the 600 KM road journey from Mumbai to Goa, inspired by “Dil Chahata Hai”.
Oct 12, 2019
After a night drive we reached Goa. Our hotel booking in Panjim was uncertain, but we found a place near Calangute beach. That afternoon we experienced the sea for the first time and walked around Calangute. We also booked the return tickets and learned about the watersports options.
Oct 13, 2019
We went to Malvan for watersports and scuba diving. The day included parasailing, jetski, banana ride, speed boat and bumper ride. We also tried deep diving. That night we celebrated Pawan’s birthday at Baga beach before returning to Calangute.
Oct 14, 2019
We hired three scooters and explored Goa, including Candolim beach, Chapora Fort and Panjim. We accidentally crossed the Mandovi bridge where two-wheelers were not allowed and received a fine. Google Maps also had its own adventure. We ended the day at Panjim beach, enjoying the view, street food and digital payments.
Oct 15, 2019
We discovered that some sweets we had purchased were expired and went back to exchange them. We later explored South Goa, saw dolphins near Chapora and enjoyed Bogmalo beach before heading to the airport.
Oct 16, 2019
We finally flew from Goa through Bangalore and Bagdogra. We travelled by taxi and bus back to Birtamode, met old friends over lunch, flew from Bhadrapur and reached Kathmandu around 7:00 PM.
And that’s the completion of our wish list we’d made 19 years back i.e. ‘Goa Trip’.