Magical Goa moment with dolphins, joy and the wonder of life

My curiosity piqued, I enquire of the honeymooners who have entered the shack and are sitting on my left.
Magical Goa moment with dolphins, joy and the wonder of life
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2 min read

The boat is orange. Not the orange of blood oranges but with a kind of turmeric undertone. Like the orange of the sindoor worn by the married women in Bihar which is unlike the usual red vermillion sindoor. Bihari women wear orange as homage to the beloved monkey god Hanuman, who ironically was celibate.

I am in Goa. Through my sea breeze lulled senses, I watch the people alight from a small boat. From the paunchy man with a neon green Beyoncé tee shirt, and his wife who waddles behind him in rolled up salwar and a purple crushed kameez to the young, honeymooning couple holding hands, the Russian tourist with filler-filled lips and a young man with a heavy moustache and a heavier backpack.

What manages to catch my attention, which is also quite wrapped up in the excited anticipation of a plate of garlic butter calamari, is that each of the six has a beatific smile stuck on their faces. What could they possibly have experienced in that boat ride!

My curiosity piqued, I enquire of the honeymooners who have entered the shack and are sitting on my left. Slightly startled, they wedge themselves out of their oxytocin trance to tell me that they saw not one or two but a whole pod of dolphins. And then, with hands still tightly interlaced, a woman bursts into the dolphin tale.

“They were swimming together, rubbing against each other, very playful… even nipping each other. They saw us and jumped up … it was all so beautiful. It made us very happy to see.” I ask about their colour. “A rich brown with grey white faces. The faces had smiles.” By now I’m also very happy. My butter garlic calamari has arrived. There is a rapturous Goan Konkani song being belted out from some corner of the shack. And there is this dolphin story. And the lovey dovey couple.

Every day is filled with so much wonder. And all of God’s creatures, big and small are a part of godliness. When we resist this, we are alienated and are unable to be fully happy. When we accept and appreciate ourselves and the magical world around us, our own magic bubbles up in mysterious ways and sprinkles some fairy dust to our perspective. The waiter hip swaying with the happy music, drops an oyster shell near my foot. I pick it up. It shines back at me with a rainbow of colours trapped in its mother of pearl shine. Don’t go back to sleep please. You will miss the magic show!

Anupamaa Dayal

This fashion designer is about happy clothes and happy homes for happy women

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