“You are going to Goa??? Wow.”

“???”

“Hey, Goa is all about rave parties, bikinis, testosterone laden men, unbridled booze, sex, beaches, the sussegado way of life… Lucky you!”

Yup, lucky me. 🙂 It is said that you see what you want to see. I saw swaying palm trees snugly holding in its folds a rich Indo-Portuguese history, happy families taking pictures of each other, groups of college kids creating ‘dil chahta hai’ memories, and innocence.

My base in Goa for this weekend break is Colva – a small, predominantly catholic village in the south by the coast, dappled with forests, marshes and palm trees, candy colored villas, women zipping through the lanes in their scooties. And on Sundays, everyone in their Sunday best is at the local church, spilling into the main street, whispering hymns in deep reverence. Only a couple of restaurants serve breakfast in Colva. The whole village closes for siesta. Idyllic.

A getaway for the aristocracy of Margao during colonial days, the town is lined with 25 kilometers of fine powdered pearly grey sand along its beaches. Yes, pearly grey, not white. The ‘white’washed Our Lady of Mercy church in the village square meanwhile goes back to 1630, its Menino Jesus (Child Jesus) statue the focus of the annual religious feast Fama of Menino Jesuse celebrated on the third Monday of October since the 17th Century.

There are midnight moonlit silent walks to the beach, a barnlike cemetery that opens into rows of graves adorned meticulously with pressed flowers, and a police station with stacks of solved (or was it unsolved) cases piled high outside its walls.

Souza, the most happening coffee shop serves chicken patties for Rs. 15 each. When I told the owner, Mr. Souza, that he should hike his prices by at least 200 percent and make his business more profitable, he looked at me like I’d lost my senses. “But why should I?” was his stunned response 🙂

Colva beach – fishing boats, cows and life guards

Sunday mass at Our Lady of Mercy church in the village square …

… And angels at the cemetery across the road

Some local kids

Fancy breakfasts at Bambooze

A coffee at the Maria Cafe

I agree, lucky me 🙂