If you are traveling to Goa by road, you’ll probably travel through the thick forests that surround Chorla. At first glance the forests might seem scary; and they are, but if you are lucky, you might stumble upon truly fascinating things here. Although, I can not tell you where to look because even if I were to point you to the exact locations of these things, you shall never find them; everything in the jungle is constantly shifting. Every journey is unique here and only if you choose to observe, it might be even more interesting than your destination. One unusually cold summer morning I took this journey with my two best friends. I packed sandwiches and told my parents a lie and we headed to Goa. The plan was simple, we were to take the Chorla Ghats and head to a quiet beach in North Goa and take the Amboli Ghats back and stop there for Vada Pavs and chai. Goa held a special appeal to us, the legal drinking age there was lower than in Karnataka and the food somehow tastes better in a shack by the beach with Feni on the side. The deeper we got into the ghats we came across cold spots and heard howls and cries of many animals. It is generally understood that one is not supposed to park the car anywhere outside designated areas on the side of the roads. These are just an extension of a clearing where people have been stopping for many years. That time we had to park twice in places where there was no designated clearing. Not only is it extremely dangerous to do so because of the large and steady flow of giant cargo trucks, but also because these forests are home to tigers, leopards and even elephants. We personally had spotted chital many times; crossing roads and hiding in trees. But that time we stopped nearby the road because my friend wanted to take a picture of a few monkeys sitting in the trees and I already had a bad feeling in my gut. The minute we got down and started taking pictures, my friend saw something large move with the corner of his eyes. When we followed his gaze, we could see a large bison on the other side of the road. Quietly we sat back into the car and it was a while before we could utter even a single word. In around an hour and half we crossed the Karnataka border and entered Goa. How after a terrifying incident like the bison one did we have guts to stop by the road again I cannot tell, but we did. My friend saw a glimpse of something in the woods, like a bamboo structure of sorts and we decided to get down and explore it. We followed a desire path a little deep into the woods and a sweet smell of rot almost suffocated us. We saw a small man dumping cashew apples into a large container. It was an illegal Feni operation. He did not look terrified to see us at all. He offered Feni bottles for us to take with and gently asked us to get out of there. We did not think it would be safe to refuse. If you were to travel this same path, I do not promise you free, fresh, illegal Feni or chitals or even wild buffalos. What I do promise is magic. It is a sensory experience, roll down the windows and take it all in but absolutely do not stop where you are not supposed to. But if you do end up stopping in one of these places for reasons beyond your control, maybe you will have a terrifingly great time.
20 Apr 2022
Poorvi Ammanagi
