I Caught a Fleeting Glimpse out of the Corner of my Eye

Wednesday 3 December 2008
Palolem Beach, Goa

So I start the day with a full English and I read in the papers about the latest in incompetent, corrupt politicians and police. This country is a mess. And then I start a new book, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (who I find out also won this year's Man Booker Prize for a different novel) which is about the poverty and corruption within India, which is fortuitous.

I'm not a big fan of novels. I often find them hard to read if they're not believable enough or too detached from reality. I forced my way through 100 Years of Solitude and Midnight's Children once. Those are hours that I'll never get back. I could bear it if the surreal realities they describe had some kind of point to it (and Midnight's Children goes some way to achieve that), but they feel like art for art's sake. That may be some people's cup of tea but it's not mine.

I prefer factual books or novels that are relevant in some way or have enough emotional resonance to keep me interested. Catch 22 fell into the latter camp, and of course it's denouement makes it all the more powerful. 1984 gripped me with it's relevance to the politics of power and the human condition. The White Tiger gripped me as it described all the bits of India that you don't get in the guidebooks or the history programmes, and much that I've experienced personally already on this trip. In a large sense this is the poverty and the corruption and how India's democracy works against it. But also there's a car crash, descriptions of the pollution in Delhi, examinations of the lives of the very poor and the lives of drivers albeit for rich Indians rather than tourists. I've been there, worn the badge and given away the t-shirt.

The narrative is written from the perspective of a poor Indian from a village in Gaya who makes a success of himself though I won't spoil how. It's a gripping read and I read it in one day.
That's partly because we're getting very relaxed and inactive in this beautiful setting. In the afternoon there's some light cloud so we go kayaking around the island that forms from the headland to the north of the beach at high tide. Going round the point of the headland the wind is on the nose and it gets a bit choppy, but we fight through it. I was hoping there would be a beach on the other side but it's just a rocky coast. We drift back to our beach and admire the view of the palm trees and the hills covered in jungle behind them. As we approach the shore the breakers surf us in, ending it easily. The exercise had worked my shoulders nicely.

The afternoon is spent reading, swimming (I love swimming in salt water, it's so much more enjoyable than in a pool), sunbathing and realxing. In the evening we head out to see what's happening on the beach. There's a guy doing an acoustic session, and Evan helpfully nominates me to sing a couple of songs while the main guy takes a break. I haven't played in a month or sung for a good while but I give it a shot anyway.

I roll out Green Eyes and The One I Love and play them passably. The last one gets a nice round of applause given as it's famous and has a strong finish. I gratefully return to my beer afterwards.

Once we had dinner we try to find the Alpha Bar to see what's happening tonight, but it seems to be closed. We find the one bar that seems to be full tonight (it seems to be a different venue each night) and although there's an actual bar there isn't much mingling. We have a couple of beers and call it a night. From all the kayaking, swimming, food and beer I fall fast asleep and immediately begin snoring. Evan has to shake me hard to wake me up, but after that I turn on my side and stop.