A Madrasman in Goa

After this, I felt it would be good to come up with a ‘Madrasman in Goa’ post. Especially since Madrasman is feeling a bit left out and isn’t able to do Madrasy things.

A Madrasman is puzzled by the lack of public transport in Goa. While it is only second nature for Madrasman to hop onto a 29C to visit Nungambakkam, in Goa, he has to first locate a bus-stand which is likely to be in a radius of 5 miles from wherever he is. Once a the bus-stand, he has to make sense out of the cryptic logic on the bus boards which surprisingly are the same whether they are going to or returning from a destination. And the fact that the bus-stand is halfway from starting point & terminus doesn’t help things either. Madrasman was dumbfounded when he saw bike taxis which are called ‘pilots’. Madrasman wants to travel in a Share Auto again.

Goa is the land of cheap booze, which is why most Madrasmen come here, but this particular Madrasman came to study. However, he finds that booze is available in every other petti-kadai. There is no hustle in front of a grille, no thrusting of money in the vendor’s face and no thirsty chap opening the bottle just outside the wine shop. Also, wine shops in Goa have an average of 20,000 bottles in all shapes and sizes. Madrasman cannot get over looking at rows and rows of MGM Vodka in TASMAC shops.

Goa wakes up at 10 AM. Madrasman cannot find a shop open before this hour. But that is alright since Madrasman also wakes up around this time. But by the time he reaches a shop, they’ve closed for lunch followed by a break for a siesta. Madrasman has to make purchases in the narrow window from 4PM – 6PM. Madrasman can only think about vegetable shops opening at 6AM in Madras. Not that he bought many vegetables.

While Madrasman gorged on Thalapakattu biryani on a daily basis in Madras, here, he has to hunt for ages to find a decent biryani. Goans apparently like their biryani sweet. In fact, he has found only one decent biryani so far in Goa – in Palolem. The fact that Palolem is 80 Km from where he is, doesn’t make him very happy. Thalapakattu was just within bicycle range from Madrasman’s house in Madras. Royal Biryani too.

Beaches are Goa’s greatest attraction for tourists. However, Madrasman has been seeing beaches all his life and they don’t appeal to him all that much, especially when they are 30 Km away. Madrasman misses the beach near Thiruvanmayur RTO which was within bicycle range too. While beaches in Goa have fun things like jet-skis and para-gliding, Madrasman doesn’t like shelling out Rs.500 each time he goes to a beach. He would rather shell out Rs.10 for the tastiest buttermilk available in Madras.

Madrasman misses his bicycle too. Unlike Madrasman in Banglore, he is stuck here for two years. However, since Madrasman has found time to blog after such a long time, he’d rather use that time for something else.

Cheers!

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