The Reason?
The amazing climatic conditions offered by Bengaluru!
For people who haven't lived in hot sweaty coastal areas, you probably don't know what I'm talking about. But after spending my whole life sweating back there in Goa, Bengaluru feels like heaven!
After staying here in Bengaluru the whole year, I'm wondering what's so good about Goan climate that we locals should be proud of?
Goa is well known for the sun,the sand and the sea!
True! But it makes sense when you reap the benefits of such a locale!
It makes sense if you hit the beach everyday, play on the sand,swim in that clear sea water and bask in the sun.
But my whole life, I was hardly able to do it.
1st: Most locals avoid the beach because of the number of tourists on the beach.
All goans inherently hate Outsiders( We prefer the foreigners to Indian tourists for the obvious reasons being :
A: Foreigners Expose! .....And they say a Hello and they smile!
B: They don't dirty our land!
C: They don't act crazy like they're free after serving prisontime!
Actually, we hate crowds and We love exclusivity.......
That's Bullshit!
The truth is most Goans just don't know to enjoy the beach...we'll never think of graduating to bathing in the sea from making sand castles and taking walks on the beach. We will only watch the foreigners in their bikinis and on their bicycles, we will never even dream of doing it ourselves atleast once in our lifetime....The Reason?
A. Most of us do not have the Bikini figures!
B. Some of us who are blessed with the bikini figures are forced to think...." Log kya sochenge? Yeh samaj kya kahega?"
C. We are boring, lazy and uncreative.....We just don't know to have a good time! We rather sit in a shack and drink a Beer!
The conclusion?
Come summer,come winter....Goa is hot!
Season after season, you go through life in the same fashion.......without learning how to swim, without feeling the clear sand all over you,without enjoying the weather and ultimately your life!
Well!
We Indians shy away from exposing but we love to drape ourselves with lots of clothes...so for that reason cold climate is suitable!
Bengaluru right now is cloudy, windy and cold!
Some of the activities I can think of doing in such weather are:
A. Make a cozy bed with lots of pillows and just dive in! If you have someone along, even better!
B. Pick up a favourite novel, make a hot chocolaty drink, sit in the balcony or on the terrace and enjoy the book and the cold weather draped in a warm shawl/sweater!
C. Roam the city...go on foot in local markets and do some shopping!
D. Meditate in one of the many well maintained parks offered by the city. Or take a walk Or play an outdoor game!
E. Put on your favourite music and listen......winters are more related to soft, romantic music...so that should be your pick....in case you are confused!
F. Write!
Well! This is just a list of things I can think of doing alone......if there's company, the list is endless!
Or a simple Sky Gazing Session!
A few days back we spotted a Huge Halo/Ring around the moon created by ice crystals in the atmosphere.
It really felt like a huge spaceship in the sky with the clear full moon in the middle. We called all our friends and asked them to either join us or watch it on their terraces.
For now,
I picked up my laptop and decided to follow option E and write!
Some of the things you want to avoid doing in such lovely weather is sit indoors and study and that's what I'm doomed to do these days....Well! No worries.....Winter's shall continue longer than my exams so I won't miss the fun!
For the very 1st time in my life....... I welcome the real winters with open arms! Of course snow fall would have completed the picture but that would also ruin so many other plans by limiting freedom of moment.....for now, this is pretty good!
How true! The last time I went to a beach was when Ashwin last visited home. And wonder of wonders there were hardly any tourists around...sheer bliss!! BTW ever visited a beach in the afternoon?
ReplyDeleteYes ...I've been on the beach at all times of the day and the night.
ReplyDeleteBad part of being on a beach in the afternoon besides the heat and the hot sand is the presence of indecent people who take any goan girls present on a beach to mean offering themselves. Many of my girl friends have had similar experiences and we find the beaches to be more unsafe in the day than the nights.
Dear, who said covering oneself in hot climate is not a wise thing to do?
ReplyDeleteMost of the 'traditional' clothing systems have been formulated though trial and error methods for centuries by a culture, considering local climate conditions in which people live. Exposing human skin to direct sunlight(UV rays) causes skin cancers.
Look at Arabs, who live in the hottest climates. They cover themselves from head to toe in loose white garment. And they have few cases of skin cancers incidents.On the contrary, Australia has the maximum amount of skin cancer cases mostly among white population, as they have 'bikini culture' as you mention in your blog.
well you may argue that one can wear sun tan lotions and wear bikinis too. My answer would be when you have cheap solution of wearing , loose eco friendly( recyclable cotton) clothing, why go for expensive 'consumer' driven solutions like sun tans.:)
I am sure although you lived in Goa for major part of your life you never bought a sun tan lotion, simply becasue you never wore a bikini and went swimming on a hot sunny day.:))
point I am making is, not all traditional ways are wrong. Sometime when we are re interpreting/questioning culture, we need to think if we are throwing the baby with the water.
Best. Keep writing.
Yes covering oneself in hot sun is a good idea for people in the desert and on coasts too.
ReplyDeleteBut there is fun in bathing in the sea......and its a mess if you try playing with the waves in traditional clothing.
The best way to enjoy a beach according to me would be to wear comfortable,loose short clothing(not minimal clothing if one is not comfortable)...short or less clothes on a beach set you free.
Finally, its not just because of the sun that we don't wear minimal clothes..we all know that. we live in a society that blames the woman for all wrongs!And yes I agree that I have a problem with most of our traditions, because they are unfair!And I don't believe in defending my culture for wrong reasons.
Attitudes of most of 'traditional' societies in the world towards their women are extremely subjugating and subversive. We have Islam, Hinduism and even traditional Jew religions who subvert woman's freedom under the guise of protecting tradition. It all begins with the notion of 'ownership' like land and woman as a property which was a primitive concept but still lingers in modern age. What an irony!!
ReplyDeleteThis is where feminist movements are working to bring the awareness towards woman's causes. Lot has been done and lot needs to be done. It is a process. and very slow one.
But when we blame a culture which is a larger term than we need to understand many customs have been evolved out of years of people's understanding with their environment that they live. Such as clothing, food , shelter etc.,and this needs to be respected.
Your issue here is more of patriarchal attitude towards women and not swimming or clothing per say.
I think swimming as a sport and enjoyable activity was not so popular in ancient times ( not at least swimming in sea. People mostly swam in ponds, lakes or rivers). Sea swimming, sun tanning as a pleasure activity has been gradually accepted through the western exposure. Hence these are foreign concepts for a traditional societies and are taking time to get resolved.
I agree with you as usual it is a woman who is made a target becasue she is the easy one.
Things can be changed only through awareness as we educate 'our men' that women share equal space in all the social spheres.
But then to blame a culture may not be entirely correct because culture is not a static entity. It is always evolving with time. For good as well as bad. And we as women are also part of it.
There are lot of good things in Indian culture that needs to be preserved.. so that's why I said lets not throw baby along with the water.
Just yesterday I was having a discussion with a friend about Indian culture and related issues. My conclusion about the whole issue is I don't want to be a part of a culture that's unfair and unjust! The least I can do is talk about it and not try to cover it up.
ReplyDeleteYou sound right in saying that you cannot blame the entire culture because of a few glitches!
Probably I need to give it more thought...
But then all I care about is how Our culture stands in between my enjoyment day in and day out.
Nice article! Can almost feel the charm of rainy Bangalore. :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as Goan condition is concerned, I dont think it will change unless Goans are proactive in pressurizing the administration to have better policing on the beach side. With a slow and lazy police department, and everybody else least bothered and 'susegad', its no surprise that unsocial elements rule over Goa's beach zone.
But again, the streets of Bangalore are also unsafe for women. From the roads to shopping malls, people shamelessly stare, gape and objectify women. I feel almost entire India has no respect for ladies. Culture is just being used as a weapon to stop the woman from retaliating.
I agree with u.
ReplyDeleteIt's no different in Bengaluru when men look at women as if they were aliens!
And I totally second your last statement!
"Culture is just being used as a weapon to stop the woman from retaliating."
It's a strategy!
Anything done in the name of moral duty and values is being accepted!