Goa! No.Bangalore! No.No. Goa! No.Bangalore! And-here-we-go-again.

Life is Strange! Strong first statement. I’ll tell you why. Exactly one year in the past from now if someone would’ve told me that I’d be leaving Bangalore to live elsewhere, I’d have laughed my head off. And if such a brave foresighted person persisted, I’d have shot him dead. Thank heavens no one ventured to tell me my future back then. I was so much in love with the IT city for whatever reasons that I did not for once think I’d move. But I did. To where??? GOA! Hmmmm. Don’t start envying me already. There’s much more to the story. I spent years pitying hardcore Bangaloreans leaving town for reasons I did not understand. People complained. People complained some more. And then some more. Went on about how the city had changed. Was not great anymore. Pub culture sucked. The traffic has gone from bad to worse. City’s exploding. :). I don’t disagree altogether. But it is so difficult not to still love that place. The weather’s still amazing as ever (lesser rains this year though), people are still warm, & the city’s still green. Oh yes it is! When I told people I knew I was leaving Bangalore to live in Goa, I expected “Oh poor you! I cant believe this is happening to you”. But more often than not it was “ What!??! Lucky you!”. Goa brings that reaction I guess. Only few of my closest frens admitted that it wouldn’t be easy. Not easy at all. I moved. With a lot of apprehension. I was moving to a place loads slower than my hometown where I’ve practically spent every day of 20 yrs of my life. I was wondering what it would be like to live in the most sought holiday destination. But my worries were put to rest almost immediately. This State welcomed me with open arms. The ocean was waiting. :-). This place was more beautiful than I’d seen it with the eyes of a tourist. I was a LOCAL now. Now wait a minute. My loyalties din change. I just wasn’t scared anymore. It took me 2-3 months to actually love this place like a Goan does. I live in South Goa which is more peaceful and away from the hullabaloo of the eager tourists (:-P Ha!). But me and my husband travel North everyday to our Work. And I love watching the white of the chapels against blue of the sky or the gray of the river. I love it. And when I admitted it,I was told I’m on my way to be a True Goan. I was thrilled. Almost every weekend is a dinner by the ocean. Walk on the beach isn’t taken for granted as yet. And a glimpse of the monsoon has left me yearning for more. Ah the elusive rain! Probably next week I’ll upload the pics of Goan Monsoon treating us Goans. Oh here we go! I’m a Bangalorean + Goan. Wish I could come up with a fancy title for that. We’ll leave at this now. Verdict: I Love Goa, (God forgive me) a lil more than I love Bangalore. There! I said it. That feels so much better. I still long to go to Bangalore. But I know that once I leave Goa I’ll long more to come back. Today I tell my frens it was more easier than I thought to love this place which is called GOA.