-Brian Mendonça
Quando eu morrer, voltarei para
buscar
Os instantes que não vivi, junto do mar.
[When
I die, I will return, to search for
those moments that I could not live, beside
the sea.]
-‘Inscrição’
by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen*
Since we like to try out new places to eat out, we
set out in search of a place called Seashells.
It seemed the perfect pursuit on a rainy day. Lunch was a good idea since
the daylight would help driving over the pot-holed roads.
The CHOGM road from Saligao (after Florentine) to Calangute is devoid of
lights. The stretch is very dark – almost ominous – after nightfall, with a
narrow strip of road between fields.
Only the prospect of Calangute church, which looms in the distance, can
encourage the intrepid traveller - and of course, the sea.
We did have some respite though, since thankfully
taxis were off the road. The roads were clean and fresh with the winding lanes
boasting hues of green. Entrenched restaurants hearkening back to the
Portuguese era with names like Sua Casa, jostled for attention with fly-by-night
Punjabi shacks advertising Punjabi, Gujarati, North Indian, and diverse foods.
Looking for seashells seemed like looking for a
needle in a haystack. All we had was the location on Google and a number of
positive reviews on Zomato. We did go for dinner to Leda Seashells tucked away in Siridao months back. It was time to
try something new. There were several suites, villas and resorts in the beach
belt in North Goa which went by the name ‘Seashell’ or a variation of the word.
Each seashell is formed by a unique action of the
ocean. Little children bend down to fill their tiny hands with them as they walk
along the seashore. If you place a seashell near your ear, it is said, you will
hear the sound of the sea. Seashells were used widely as currency in the past.
Goa is famous for its shell windows. Seashells are also sold online at seashellco.com.
After about twenty minutes of driving our GPS
mounted on the car proclaimed with a flourish, ‘Your destination is on your
right.’
But there was no destination on our right!
Inquiries revealed that Seashells was a restaurant in the area, but it was shut for
renovation during the rains - all this, while the restaurant was showing up on
the internet as open. Several photographs assured the viewer that this was an
experience to be savoured. When I rechecked I saw all the reviews were two
years old and done on dates from September through December, i.e. in season.
We were led a wild goose chase on what turned out to
be a digital hoax.
In off-season, establishments
should put signs like ‘CLOSED FOR THE MONSOON,’ on websites hosting them. tripadvisor.in
did that for Casa Seashell, Candolim.
A takeaway in Porvorim
was honest enough when they displayed a sign which read, ‘CLOSED FOR LENT.’
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