Goa Trip Takeaways

For most people, Goa is only about beaches and beer. So it was for me too, until I went alone to a less explored part of Goa last week and had wonderful 3 days amidst nature and myself. I also met some great people, can call them my friends now, with whom I had many interesting conversations on a wide range of topics. The place was Devaaya at Divar Island in Goa. It calls itself an Ayurveda & Nature Cure Center. But I would call it more of a place for relaxation and being with oneself away from the noisy world, in quiet with only the sounds of nature. On the whole, it was an intellectual journey. I felt rejuvenated by the Yoga sessions they had every morning, the delicious food they offered, reading and introspecting for hours sitting at the banks of Mandovi River and sleeping in my beautiful room on my comfortable bed. They did have guided meditation sessions - sitting and listening to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's audio and following his instructions - but they failed to have any impact on me - possibly because I find that guy's voice, style and personality very irritating and fraudulent - although this is just a feeling without knowing much about him - but an opinion formed is formed and am not interested in getting it right about this guy by looking for more information.

The best part of my journey and stay at Goa was talking to unknown people. The only Indians in the resort at that time were me and a Punjabi family. The rest were all foreigners - about 40 from various countries in Europe. So it did indeed feel a little weird initially. But I soon got used to it, although I always felt like I was in a foreign country coz, besides the foreigners, the place has a homely touch to the way it is built and maintained, and also has the cleanliness and etiquette of a western country. But I realized that in spite of the different ways we build and decorate our surroundings, we are all inherently the same. Life is complex, but the complexity is strikingly similar the world over. I realize this every time I speak to a stranger. I start over with a basic and implicit set of assumptions about the person, although not consciously - I guess the overall personality is drawn in my subconscious mind based on my past experiences with people who look and behave in the manner I can make out from the first glances at the stranger - and this picture of the person adjusts itself as I talk and acquire more information. I am not sure of the degree of precision of the picture our mind draws of the stranger's personality before we initiate conversation - it may be very high because it involves our learnings from the past - it may be very low as it must be needlessly biased and affected by past experiences - it may be very high coz it involves our gut feel which is supposed to give us right advice, but who knows. However, I don't find it difficult now in finding things to talk about. People the world over have similar issues and problems with the world and life. For example - relationships, politics, money, power, cheating, values, emotions, and a million other things - are so strikingly similar and relevant to all our lives that you can relate to any one in the world, if you are really interested to. But not every person would be easy and nice to talk to as personalities vary and compatibility between individuals is a real thing. That explains why I started talking to many, but with only one I talked many many times with increasing comfort.

This is the first time I went to a new place alone as a tourist. I am very encouraged by the experience and will definitely do it again. Next time - When? Where? Let's see!