The rain never stops, in the Goa monsoons
If you like the rain, it's great to go to Goa in the Monsoons. There is no dramatic warning in advance, with lightning and thunder. The rain just comes down like some-one opened the sluice gates of heaven and the only umbrellas I have seen give some sort of shelter, is the golf umbrella! It's huge, it's strong and you have to hang onto it with both hands!
Light clothes are the best which will dry on you, with your body heat. And rubber slippers work the best, no squelchy plastic shoes, just bare your feet to a good wash in the rain. Your bag should preferably be of water proof rexine so that your papers and cash can be kept dry. And carry a torch cause the rain might just put out the lights and walking down a dark pathway could introduce you to some creepy crawlies, which might slither out of the undergrowth.
Everything grows well in the rain, so if you are a gardener Goa is amazing. in the monsoons, as the plants seem to spring up by the inch everyday. The garden is lush and the plants seem to grow much taller overnight. Tiny little rose apples and leechee saplings brought from Bangalore by us, took one year to grow one foot, in rich compost in Bangalore, seem to suddenly grow over three feet from the last time we planted them, in Goa.
The caretaker has slunk in some cuttings from another garden, of a host of old fashioned crotons. They are all doing well with their multi-coloured leaves brightening up the garden. And we have left a host of wild flowering plants which butterflies love, as their red tubular flowers hold nectar. Tiny sunbirds, no bigger than the butterflies too, come and sip from the flowers, their tiny wings whirring at great speeds keeping them aloft.
The walls are covered with beautiful, yet wild maiden hair fern. The old walls are made of mud and look beautiful in the rain festooned with the fern and weeds and I can't get myself to clean them. Puddles of brown rain water stand everywhere in the garden, so there is no need to put out old saucepans, with water, for the birds.
But with the rain comes unexpected growth and we find the fish tailed palm is like the proverbial camel in the tent. In four years it has grown so enormous that it is pushing the garden wall outwards and it seems like it will topple. Calling in men to cut it down, we are told it is very 'harrrd' and they will need electric saws to bring it down. Rs 2000 madam to cut it, and I scuttle away thinking there is so much more to be done in the house than cut down the palm.
We take out the saw and start trying our hands at it. Like my husband says -- at that rate we will take a month to cut it down. Oh well, the pipes in the house need attention as they are old and blocked with mud and the roof in the hall is on its last legs, a bit came crashing down last night making me imagine a civet cat of my childhood had come back. But it was just rotten wood, in the cold light of the morning. Maybe next time. But for now the dratted palm grows and flourishes in Goa's rains.
Light clothes are the best which will dry on you, with your body heat. And rubber slippers work the best, no squelchy plastic shoes, just bare your feet to a good wash in the rain. Your bag should preferably be of water proof rexine so that your papers and cash can be kept dry. And carry a torch cause the rain might just put out the lights and walking down a dark pathway could introduce you to some creepy crawlies, which might slither out of the undergrowth.
Everything grows well in the rain, so if you are a gardener Goa is amazing. in the monsoons, as the plants seem to spring up by the inch everyday. The garden is lush and the plants seem to grow much taller overnight. Tiny little rose apples and leechee saplings brought from Bangalore by us, took one year to grow one foot, in rich compost in Bangalore, seem to suddenly grow over three feet from the last time we planted them, in Goa.
The caretaker has slunk in some cuttings from another garden, of a host of old fashioned crotons. They are all doing well with their multi-coloured leaves brightening up the garden. And we have left a host of wild flowering plants which butterflies love, as their red tubular flowers hold nectar. Tiny sunbirds, no bigger than the butterflies too, come and sip from the flowers, their tiny wings whirring at great speeds keeping them aloft.
The walls are covered with beautiful, yet wild maiden hair fern. The old walls are made of mud and look beautiful in the rain festooned with the fern and weeds and I can't get myself to clean them. Puddles of brown rain water stand everywhere in the garden, so there is no need to put out old saucepans, with water, for the birds.
But with the rain comes unexpected growth and we find the fish tailed palm is like the proverbial camel in the tent. In four years it has grown so enormous that it is pushing the garden wall outwards and it seems like it will topple. Calling in men to cut it down, we are told it is very 'harrrd' and they will need electric saws to bring it down. Rs 2000 madam to cut it, and I scuttle away thinking there is so much more to be done in the house than cut down the palm.
We take out the saw and start trying our hands at it. Like my husband says -- at that rate we will take a month to cut it down. Oh well, the pipes in the house need attention as they are old and blocked with mud and the roof in the hall is on its last legs, a bit came crashing down last night making me imagine a civet cat of my childhood had come back. But it was just rotten wood, in the cold light of the morning. Maybe next time. But for now the dratted palm grows and flourishes in Goa's rains.
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