Raison d'être.

Why bother with a subject like ‘living in Goa’? There exist countless blogs, travelogues and tourist reviews about Goa on the net. One can find a wide variety of reviews and queries about the best beaches, hotels, resorts, transportation, restaurants etc. splattered all over the net for almost all tourist destinations all over the world. In light of the above, ‘Living in Goa’ is clearly not intended to be an extended travelogue. The objective here is to do two things. First, to talk about the tasks that one must undertake in order to ‘live’ in one’s second home, especially in India. These are tasks that an average traveller does not have to undertake when he is a just a visitor. I wish to share and learn from others how does one accomplish this task without going insane.

I have another reason for this blog, which is to dwell upon the issue of what ‘living’ really means. ‘Living in Goa’ is thus also an exercise in trying to discover myself, how do I want to ‘live’. What does it really mean to live? Of course different people would have different definitions of this concept. I want to understand mine better. The issue of identity, consciousness, space, time, goals all would enter the equation and herein lies the challenge.

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Saturday, July 10, 2010

Let the Fun Begin


The idea here is to share my experiences and learn from the experiences of others about what is it like to live in a city intermittently! To live in a city which is not your own, but at the same time, not an unfamiliar one either. I have been visiting Goa and the city of Panaji (also spelled as Panjim - the spellings being a remnant of the more than 450 years of Portuguese rule in Goa) of and on, and again and again, for the last ten years. I have lived there many a times for short periods, as little as three days and had longer stays of months at a stretch during the last ten years. But I have always been a visitor there. This is about to change I plan to stay there on a more 'permanent' basis. The 'permanence' is going to be an intermittent one. What has changed is that I have been able to get myself a small apartment in Goa. It is situated in an area called Caranzalem which, at least for now, I would describe as a suburb of Panaji.
I am excited about the whole idea but am also quite nervous about it. What will it be like to live in a city like a visiting resident? No more booking hotels, no more hunting for lodges, no more shunting luggage from one place to another to save a few paisas but at the same time how does one set up a house and run it when one is still a visitor! In a series of posts that I hope to write on this issue and some others that I would explain soon. I wish to explore the joys and sorrows of this adventure of mine. I suppose it would be quite similar to what many others have experienced all over the globe but then each experience is bound to be unique, and that is where the fun lies. So let it begin!

6 comments:

  1. Hi KK,

    This is such an excellent journey you've started...of sharing your experiences of a city you're beginning to know somewhat. I plan to regularly visit this blog to add to my own learning of Goa so hope that you'd update it frequently.

    regards, Jyoti

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  2. I was wondering how much your apartment was a month, we are always on the look out for reasonably priced apartments to rent for 1 to 6 months.

    Here's some living costs for Goa

    http://www.educatorstrustindia.org/Volunteer-Living-Costs.htm

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  3. This is a pretty interesting blog. I am a student of law, in the fourth year, and I was planning on making a shift from Delhi to Goa to practice. The primary reason being, that I wish to live in an open and beautiful city. One that is free from pollution, has cheap alcohol,great food, etc. Do I have a distorted image of Goa? Or would you recommend the shift?

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  4. Inside Goa: Before you visit Goa, visit TripAdvisor for the latest info and advice, written for travellers by travellers.
    Welcome to InsideGoa. Goa is one of the most beautiful coastal states in India. This website is intended to share information about Goa and Goan

    insidegoa

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