Vistadome, Shiroda, Goa etc

After working all the time continuously, without even Sundays, for almost 3 to 4 months a shot of fresh air was a must. My son too was at the end of his tenure at Chennai so it was a nice time and occasion for family time. His father in law suggested rather than going to oft-visited mundane places, read Goa, we will head to something similar but completely untouched by commercialism, his native place Shiroda. And Shiroda it was.

Unfortunately for the fast travellers, it's a bit way out. Neither Konkan railway nor any airport is nearby. The nearest railway station is Sawantwadi but fast trains don't normally take a halt there and Dabolim, Goa airport is well 3 to 4 hrs drive at peak hours. Railways recently [we were first to book for Dasara.] introduced a new concept at least for Indian railways, Vista-dome. The Jan Shatabdi express going to Madgaon has this chair car at the end of the train, even after guard's cabin, known as Vista-dome. 

The rear wall of the cabin is all open, as it is made of glass. It's really mind-boggling to see the rails running just behind you in a jiffy. Entering the tunnel might not be that watchable but when it is leaving the tunnel, the experience is just awesome. The outer walls too are covered with glass practically up to the ceiling , to give expanded panoramic views of the mother nature accompanying you all along.

The seats are extremely comfortable even for a long haul and can be rotated in 360 degrees to allow you to enjoy the beauties and bounties of mother nature from every angle or you can just chat away with near and dear ones facing each other.
The journey from Kudal, where we alighted, to Shiroda, was a longish one taking 90 minutes or so but was invigorating. Small villages passing by were spic and span clean and were laden with a lush green cover, not leaving even a small patch in barren brown. My Vyahi Nitin's [ my son's father in law] ancestral home in Shiroda was not the old dilapidated crumbling house but was newly built, practically a bungalow, with all the modern amenities especially commodes! [ I was too happy to hear the news ! ]  
Shiroda beach from his home was at a walk-able distance but not that near. It was perfect as Nitin had described. Goa-ish but sans the Goa's lusty crowds.

 
Miles and miles of beach without a single tourist. Hey, we were not tourists, we were the sons of the soil visiting the native place !! The entire beach was to our disposal, a feat might have been unheard on Goa beaches. The ones seen in the photograph are local fishermen out for the catch, I mean returning from the fishing. And what a catch! It was sheer excitement on seeing so many different types of fishes in one go. There were plenty, really plenty. Right from usual Mac-reals to Sword fishes, Eels, Smaller varieties of shark, very big pron, crabs, shrimp, pomphrets and so many other we never had seen before, say cuttlefish, the one seen below. It belongs to squid family and is normally found in Mediterranean and North Baltic seas, some times around South Africa. Konkan coast is a rare habitat for them.

Saket and Neha participated in the auction for their sale and won it against the local fisher-woman. We got really a bargain. We paid only Rs 400 for 8 medium-sized pomphrets, each of that size easily costs more than Rs 200 in Mumbai!

Another prize catch, not money wise but for us, was the stingray, the famous 'Sting Ray' which can kill you by its piercing sting. Notable casualty all croc lovers know was Late Mr Steve Irwin.
The fisherman who caught them was adept, of course, and within no time he removed sharp stings from all of them. Contrary to my understanding the sting is at the base of its tail and not at the end. Except very few of the catch I was was told that all of them were edible! The small ones with green colour were wasted because they eat other fish, that was the explanation given for not eating them, Respect?

If we don't do anything foolish, we are not Benurwars. Many sea snakes were caught in the net inadvertently while fishing. We could not watch them struggling for life in that deadly net. As such nobody eats them, because they are poisonous, so we requested the main fisherman who was handling the show to release them.

And after the lesson, how to throw them back in the sea, was learnt, Shubha and myself ventured to throw them back in the seawater. It could have been deadly, really deadly. God knows why I did it, but I did it and got a reprimand from everybody including the fisher-folk!
As we were staying at home it was a treat almost every day. Though I am not a vouched fish lover, the spread used to be so varied that I could never resist.
Lately, Konkan coast, especially on the southern side, is becoming popular for Dolphin watching. We too did go. But though we could see them from far it was not as expected. The reason being, these dolphins are in their natural habitats, not like pet ones, and do not like to venture near humanity so run away from loud sounds. The motors of the speed boats definitely make much noise and we had to contend with their distant view.
Goa I saw this time was different from we normally see, but about that in the next blog.