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Get Set Goa....

Ever since the advent of 2007 Infosys has had a magnanimous approach towards it gargantuan employee base. I am not trying to elucidate about a salary hike or increasing onsite opportunities. I am indeed referring to the large number of long weekends provided at a stretch. Planning to venture for some adventurous activity over the long weekends would ultimately end up being a fiasco. But finally on the 16th of March we were able to cling to the opportunity of exploring the ever-exciting landscapes of Goa.

For people working in a software organization like ours, these little moments of joy come along sporadically. And eventually we wanted to grab the opportunity and make out the most of it. Moreover, the excitement to get nasty along the sandy beaches of Goa mired me to anxiety. We were a bunch of 7 Finaclites from the 10th October, 2005 batch. After allocation of projects we were deported to different locations where Finacle had spread its wings. It was time for a reunion which we all chums eagerly awaited. And we couldn’t have thought of a better destination than Goa – an unparalleled tourist paradise.

We had already started dreaming about the things to do upfront on reaching the western coast. The paraphernalia for the excitement – the frisbees, the volleyballs, the cargos, the boxers, the accessories, the hats and a lot of other unmentioned were gathered by the travelers. I was particularly excited for bestowment of another opportunity to portray my photographic skills. I got ready with my binocular, camera, lenses and tripod to collect the facets of the vacation and preserve for my lifetime. I just couldn’t prolong the anxiety to adjust my lens and capture the striking sceneries. The euphoria surrounding the enthralling holiday had occupied all of our minds and it was partially reflected at work as well!

Finally after an incessant wait the day arrived and we kicked off for the journey from Yeshwantpur till Panji. We reached the station before time to avoid last moment setbacks. Three of us had to start from Bangalore and supposedly meet the rest at the destination. There were a lot of familiar Infoscions seen at the platform. Indeed an opportunity not worth squandering realized in unison. We wanted to have a steady sleep that evening aware of the itinerary commencing next afternoon. But a two legged monster with a protruding belly had the prodigy to snore loud enough and keep the entire compartment up all night. Even the pillows covering our ears proved to be a dud in stopping the sound waves to penetrate through. A remarkable feat achieved by the fatso.

The next morning gave a glimpse of the good things ahead. The train passed through the mountains carving its way through the tunnels. The vibrant crowd left no opportunity to display their exuberance through the creaks and whistles that made us all behave like little kids. It resurrected back the memories of our cheerful and playful boyhood days. The train curled through the mountains and we were privy to a number of waterfalls and picturesque valleys. That’s when we planned to capture glimpses of our joyous journey-ride and use it to tease the other comrades – set off form Hyderabad. Eventually it turned out successful and we collected higher points for fun and frolic. We had to break our journey at a couple of points in order to reach Baga beach – the most vaunted destination for foreign tourists. And Goa without foreigners would be like Punjabi food without spice in it! So we were drooling over to visit our most precious landmark as soon as possible.

After an exhausted journey of almost 17 hours, we reached our prized destination – the Baga beach. The very first sight of the shining beach beneath a golden sun satiated our desires and the grumpy weather conditions and excessive humidity left no significance for us. Our foremost and only spontaneous reaction was to get soaked in the waves to wither off the heat. And my goodness what mitigating relief! Then we decided to get funky and bought some more accessories, sunglasses and sandos. We wanted to look more Goan and leave behind any trace of software engineers that might have reflected through our attires. The openness surrounding the place was remarkably awesome. The second brigade from Hyderabad hadn’t yet arrived. But we were lost in our own little world freaking around that we realized their absence a little late. They reached Baga later in the night and had missed a major portion of excitement. But better late than never! We exchanged each other’s stories about our journey and were so happy to get together after such a long time. We had candle-light dinner on a beach restaurant. The enigmatic sound emanated by the waves hitting the shore added charisma to the charming dining-experience. We hit the sack at 3 and planned to get up early to capture the sun-rising episode.

We decided to get up early next day so that we can experience the sun rising over the sea and eradicating the cloud of darkness that had taken authority since the previous evening. To wake up the sleeping demons was definitely going to be a daunting task. Took us some extra effort but eventually we succeeded. To watch the sun rise over the horizon was a motionless feeling. It brings courageous and lively thoughts to your mind in abundance. We again soiled ourselves in the muddy water and brought our sporting skills to a good use. We followed it by frisbee and beach volleyball with a banana ride and water scootering. We had slowly and steadily augmented courage within ourselves to para-sail above the mighty waterbody but that proved too meager at the prescribed occasion. We got ready to incorporate our next agenda – exploring Goa. We hired bikes and took off for Fort Aguada, Anjuna Beach, Arambol Beach and a few passing by churches. The colorful scenes didn’t cease to exist and so did my camerawork. Discovering the vivid beauties of Goa and capturing every moment turned out a little strenuous. We got back home and once again drenched into the muddy waters of Baga. Truly refreshing! Goa without Club Cabana would be like a mosaic deprived of its most essential part. The vibrancy at the club amidst the swirling bimbos and intoxicating ambience is beyond description.

Arriving Monday and the nostalgia made the separation harder. The day had eventually arrived when we had to pack our baggage and get back to the chaotic city life and the rudiments of coding. Had to start another difficult journey from the rejuvenating beaches to the traffic-jammed electronics city. The distance was still the same but the innate feelings were massively contrasting. The joy and bliss that seemed utopian had to come to an end. But rather than lamenting about the fact we were happy to take along everlasting memories. Come another opportunity and I am sure everybody would be on their toes to get going for another delightful journey to some distant land and continue to live the excitement from where we had left in the spectacular heartland of Goa.

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