We arrived in Margao quite late and somehow got ourselves to Colva. We met up with Suriya and her family in the house where Bobby, Ravi, Gautami and Dhanush were now living. Ravi's job (he was a horticulturalist in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu) had evaporated and he and Bobby had moved to Colva to be near Suriya. Raj and Margaret Mary were living nearby.
Ajeesh soon realised that Raju was an alcoholic: he said to me 'this man can't help...he's crazy.' Of Margaret Mary he said 'this woman is very scared.' I can't help feeling for her: married to a big-spending, low-wage alcoholic and living in a place where no-one but her immediate family spoke her language.
My diary tells me I apologised to Ajeesh and that I agreed to meet Raju for breakfast the next day at 10am. I was afraid of what he might want. He asked about my photos and videos from the wedding and I reminded him that I'd said I'd send him copies once I'd got back to the UK and sorted them. (This is one of my impetuses for completing this travelogue: it forces me to order the photos. My plans for sending prints will have to wait until I am employed and can afford the ink and paper.) Raju then said 'never mind - the ceremony was videoed anyway - want to watch?' I politely declined.
I got a very bad vibe when Priya and Suriya spoke sharply to Raju - apparently to get him to change topic. My head was already spinning when Raju then asked for a cigarette. I offered him one of my Indian factory-made cigarettes. He declined this, saying 'I want another cigarette'. I can only assume he wanted cannabis and there was no chance of me supplying that!
© (except the blatantly ripped-off bits) Random Bozo 2006