When one is in Goa, a visit to a cigarette shop is a must. Goa has many such shops, all selling rolling tobacco, papers, glass hookahs, lighters, and whatnot. I just did that and was amazed at everything the store had to offer.
Most of the grocery shopping we did was from local stores like Farm Fresh and Café Farm Fresh, which were well-stocked. I have really enjoyed grocery shopping, not to mention the coconut water I have consumed in this city.
Sometimes, to break the monotony, I would also dine at the local McDonald’s for a change. The city of Goa is vibrant, with its cafés, bars, gymkhanas, old churches, and many beaches. The leisurely shacks and the Goan beer keep me occupied, not to mention my daily swims in the pool. The swim and the walk on the beach are especially invigorating.
Cigarette and Hookah Shops
The locals are helpful, and the place is teeming with foreigners. The casino business is booming here, and property prices have gone up. There is a lot of new construction of flats and villas as more and more families move to this holiday destination.
When not grocery shopping, Ani and I enjoy night drives, which often remind me of our MBA days when we would drive all around Delhi, losing our bearings from time to time but always finding our way in the end. I guess that is what life is—one keeps losing one’s way from time to time, but eventually, we always reach our destination and finally get what we want from our lives.
This visit to Goa has been a nostalgic one for me, but I have managed to get a glimpse of who I once was and the life I once lived.
The only drawback of this beach town is that it gets very hot in the afternoon, and the tropical weather hardly changes throughout the year. Even in winter, the sun is out, so getting a tan here is easy. It took me ten days to get fully tanned in Goa.
