-Brian Mendonça
As I peered at my cocktail I felt life could not be
better. The heady mix of honey bee gin, mint leaves, home-made iced tea, and
sweet and sour flavours made it a class apart. We were not far wrong as ‘Lazy
Baga’ – for that was what it was called – was a signature cocktail of this
beach shack.
We were at Brittos,
Baga at the day’s end. The cocktail was on impulse but it crowned the occasion
with a sprig of pineapple. Actually it fell to the sand, on the precarious
journey from the rickety table to the lips.
It had been an eventful evening. We had been invited
for a remembrance for a friend who had passed on weeks ago. The venue was Pine Tree beach shack, Gauravaddo,
Calangute. Each of us was asked to bring
something that reminded us of the person who was an artist. The high point of the evening was the
sunset. As the sun dipped ever so gradually into the sea, it was like our
friend’s leave-taking.
Gathered around the sand, silent hands lit candles and
placed them in burrows in the sand. As the darkness enveloped us the candles
shone more brightly. One of the well-wishers had brought a huge painting which
he displayed for all to see. The painting depicted several elements which were
dear to the deceased person. Each one struggled to come to terms with his/her
own grief.
In the stillness, when night reigned supreme, the
myriad stars shone in the firmament in obeisance to the departed soul. The
crystal clear chant of the sea, piercing the silence seemed to echo the
elements reclaiming one of their own.
The band of friends paused - a baby cried - and melted into
the blackness along the beach for another rendezvous.
Taking their gossamer veils and loose beach apparel these creatures of the
night seemed enveloped in the abyss.
[Cut to Brittos.]
Jostling for a seat at over-crowded Brittos, further North of Goa's beach belt , I could scarcely
believe that we were part of the same stretch of beach where we had witnessed
the solemn remembrance. That was death, I thought and this is life. But like
the river and the sea, are not death and life one?
I looked skywards, but not a star could be seen.
Because of the searing lights and beach activity everything was a haze. Laxmi, the shack adjacent to Brittos, was belting out Punjabi hits while a group of
guys sucked on a hookah.
The retreat house at Baga perched on the promontory was
distinguished by a blue cross. Everyone was determined to have a good time. Tables were set
on the sands itself after the regular areas were full. By 10 p.m. however, the
waiters began advising the clients not to occupy them as the tide was coming
in. But the crowds kept pouring in.
As we sped home, we were thinking how the immensity of
nature overwhelms us.
Sunset is the death of a day. One tries to cloak it in
frivolity but the end is never far away.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Pix of candles in burrows in the sand in front of Pine Tree beach shack, Calangute-Candolim, on 28th October 2019. Courtesy Brian Mendonca. Published in Gomantak Times, Weekender, Goa on Sunday, 10th November, 2019.
Comments