“Goa? In rains?? Why? I hope you know that it will rain and there won’t be many people around”.
That’s why.
Why avoid Goa in peak seasons?
The thought of many people queuing up, waiting at the restaurants and shacks, crowded beaches and noise that takes away any space to breathe or think is a deal breaker for me. I love holidays where I can feel that I own the place. Don’t get me wrong but being a farmer’s granddaughter, empty grasslands spell home to me. I like freshness of the breeze as it comes to say hi. The sky, the moon and the stars that promise to take me back to Tagore’s tales. I like the pink and the yellow that the sun spreads across the blue and the grey of the sea. I like to watch the sea dance to the hills tune. And like a small unreasonable child, I need to know its mine. All mine. Only mine. I have to watch this movie undisturbed. Goa in peak seasons is that beautiful movie played with commercial breaks. Avoid it if you can.
Goa in July: An august presence
Goa in July/ August brings that uninterrupted beautiful movie alive. The washed sand seems soft and fresh, leaves smiling as rain drops embrace them, the hills green and alive, the roads inviting with all the grey. You are being served with smiles, people have the luxury of time to have a conversation and you get to taste the non-touristy local life.
Just sit by the empty beach, get soaked in the waves, take a walk to the end, play and run with the happy healthy streeties, notice that fisherman fishing, that lady who perhaps has come for her evening walk, that little kid that has been busy making a castle and the happy silence of the sea. It is so quiet at this time of the year that although we stayed 5 minutes away from the sea, we could still hear it and wake up to the sound of waves in the morning.
The dance of the rain
I love rain. It feels like a dream come true when I have my feet in the waves and it starts pouring. It is an experience that takes over ones sense of being. It lets out a hidden child who runs along the beach, and breathes in the rain and the sea. If world promised a perfect experience, this would be it for me.
Empty Roads
The lonely inviting roads make space for you to see beautifully done wall arts. You can really connect with the artist that comes alive with the free spirit of Goa. Even the smallest of small cafes have been done up so beautifully and tastefully. You get to share a smile with old, once alive houses that secretly spill the story of the ones that once lived in them. Locked doors, ruins, and the sound of the friendly cricket that follows you everywhere you go. That’s the Goa in its green for me.
Goa isn’t just cheap booze or club or the night life for me, it is a land that promises celebration. While it makes space for the full of energy, tapping your feet, dancing to the songs kind of people, it also makes space for this quiet celebration where it’s just you, the green and the sea. That’s the Goa I want you to meet.