Goa, Paradise in India

Delhi welcomed the monsoons a day early this year instead of its historically predictable yearly arrival of June 29th. The markedly cooler temperatures in the mid-30s replaced the sizzling mid-40s of the previous week. Delhi once again turned a deep green with her Jamun, Neem, and Peepal trees washed clean, rid of the blanket of grey dust the dry summer heat brings upon it. India is vast and diverse where culture and cuisine, fashion and faces change with its geography. So too, the Indian wet monsoon. Strong often-violent winds changing direction with the season, the monsoons blow from the land toward the sea in winter and from the sea toward land in the summer.

Rachel and I boarded a Sahara plane for a two-hour flight to Goa to meet David for a birthday holiday. Where Delhi is a parched desert even immediately after monsoon rains, Goa is a lush verdant jungle. A monsoon holiday in Goa is like spending the days and nights in a dreamland cocooned in her luxuriant foliage. Goa has the lushest and most exuberant landscape in all India!

Goa merits another visit when the sun is out, the beaches are calm and the skies are blue. However, our monsoon holiday was not without its charm. Goans welcome the monsoon rains so that it delights rather than disrupts their summer days. After a day or so, we learned to do the same, to go with the flow, to stay cozy inside while the winds and rains came through then to walk out to the glorious green outdoors when the weather permitted.

The Portuguese influence in Goa is seen is her many churches not only in the capital city Panaji but also in every corner of every town. In Velha Goa, we visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus (built 1560) where the body of St. Francis Xavier is enshrined, the Se Catherdral (begun in 1562, it took almost a century to complete), the Church and Convent of St. Monica (completed in 1627), Chapel of St Catherine (1510), Church of St. Francis of Assisi (1661). There were also innumerable little churches along the way. How awesome it is to see these beautiful 400-year-old structures!

Having often enjoyed Portuguese cuisine in Macau, I was looking forward to sampling Goan fare. For most Goans, the three basic necessities of life are fish, curry and rice. But Goan cuisine, like the land itself, has many flavours and tastes. The long period of Portuguese rule, besides that of the Muslim and Hindu kingdoms, has left an indelible influence on the original style of Goan cooking and has led to an exotic mix of very tasty and spicy cuisine.

Coming from Delhi where roofs are mostly flat, it was delightful to see pitched red-tiled roofs. Houses and buildings were in Mediterranean colors of mustards, pinks, oranges, periwinkles....

Rachel and I spent an afternoon at the resort's famous spa. Gentle soothing hands and hushed voices blessed us with two hours of relaxation while the monsoon rains and winds roared outdoors. Ah yes, it is true, Goa IS paradise!