Majali Beach Resort at Karwar

Shortly before Rabindranath Tagore got married, at the age of 22, he visited Karwar. He has left behind his memoirs of Karwar- where he talks about the beaches and the boat-ride... up the Kali River. Rabindranath and other illustrious sons of Bengal feature prominently in Karwar- there is a Rabindranath Tagore beach, a Vivekanand school and even a bust of Netaji on one of the roundabouts in the town. And yes, the river which joins the Arabian Sea at Karwar is  aptly named "Kali".

An autorickshaw-ride from the bus-depot took us to the Majali Beach Resort. On the way, we spotted the War-ship Museum, with exactly one warship in the premises. We crossed the Kali River, Devbag island and Sadashivgadh (which houses the Shantadurga temple built by Shivaji).

The Majali Beach Resort-- the first impression was far from impressive. The beach was outside the resort premises which meant that it would not have the privacy or the clean setting which made our stay at the Sai Vishram Center at Baindur.... the previous year...simply memorable.

The cottages were ordinary. The rooms lacked basic amenities like flowing hot-water! There was no mirror for the washbasin in the rest room. To shave, I had to use the mirror in the hall- which made it clumsy. The shaving foam would trickle down the chin and threaten to plop onto the floor and required an immediate dash to the wash basin! At the wash-basin, everything was fine, but you ran the risk of shaving your eyebrows off if you weren't attentive!!

The mirror in the hall had a different problem altogether- whether weathered by time or by sea, we didn't know, but you just couldn't see anything with clarity. At best, you could barely discern the contours of your self. We were all sun-tanned all right, but not on the first day or to the extent that each person should be visible only as a silhouette!
Definitely not the kind of mirror or the right individual to ask- "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all!?"

The staff was courteous, but laid back and a tad uninterested, which meant that they didn't exactly bond with us.
The food had a home-cooked feel to it but served in bowls so shallow that with one serving, you hit the bottom, requiring more orders, more refills and more wait.

And then, the mystery of the green gate which we never quite cracked! You entered the resort premises through this gate, manned by a guard who elaborately secured it with a padlock. Except that the gate stood as an entity in itself with no railings or walls or even barbed wires for support. Rodents, animals, human beings... and why.. even robbers could always enter the premises through the sides of the gate! The gate stood tall and imposing like the contraption manning railway stations to catch your proverbial terrorist when entire humanity has enough room to wriggle through the sides!
Yes, the vacation appeared all set to be a damp squib, but, thankfully, sorted itself out.

The beach was clean and pretty and made up for everything else. A rocky island, pyramidal in shape, with boulders thrown in a haphazard manner.... and with a lonely flag on top, greeted us... a few hundred yards from the water-front. Just the kind of lonely island to prick your friend's sense of bravado- "I would give a 1000 rupees if you can spend an entire night on that island, all by yourself! I bet you can't! "

From the sands, as you look to the right, you can spot the hills in the distance, neatly arrayed in layers and fringed by coconut trees. Pointing to the nearest one, someone commented- "That's Goa!" To the left, in the distance is Devbag- another well known island and resort.

The ocean-front is not straight; it curls elegantly, much like the Om beach in Gokarna. Like each day on this trip, the weather was perfect- sunny and warm. Just the right setting to don your beach-wear, strap on the life-jacket and simply lie down spread-eagled on the water, staring at the blue sky- and allow yourself to be bobbed up and down by the waves.

I even convinced my daughter that it was the perfect posture to recite the sacred- Aditya Hridayam mantra!! At that age, you don't question... and we got through quite a few verses till a wave got big on us.... and we ended up choking and coughing with salt water in our mouth and nose!! Whew!