19th May,2007

The morning sun revealed the beauty of the Konkan landscape. Trees dot the entire road. The hilly terrain looks stunning. At 8.15 a.m. we reached Kankavali. With one last lingering glance at the gorgeous firangs whom I didn’t hit on, I got off the bus.Hope I see them in Goa!

At the beautiful home with a hyper-excited grandma in tow we reached and were accorded a warm welcome. There they laid out a sumptuous meal of fish curry rice and fried fish. Mouth watering stuff prepared deliciously. After the heavy meal I slept off!

At about 5 p.m. we decided to surrender ourselves to the beauty of the village. There is river that flows away gently through the place in summer and with the vicious force of an attacking snake in the monsoon. We decided to check it out. In summer it looks a poor shadow of its full gushing glorious self. It kind of reminded me of myself! Nevertheless it’s a beautiful place to be at, especially when its dusk and the night is about to set in. there I spotted a wonderful bird, looking regally over the water surface and casting a kingly glance over the landscape.

Getting back home was the fun part. We didn’t have torches. Home is about 5 kms away. All we have is the moonlight and the stars and of course a few vehicle headlights that vroom away to their destinies on the SH117. Now it can get a bit tricky on the road. The Konkan region has some of the deadliest reptiles found on earth. The Russell’s viper, the king cobra and many other deadly and poisonous snakes are found here. And generally they hunt at night for their prey. One accidental footstep on a coiled snake and you would be breathing your last.