Too close for comfort

After Panjim, we headed for the coast. The beaches are Goa's main attraction...Tim and I figured we needed to factor a 'honeymoon' destination into our travels. It was on the crowded local bus, enroute to Arambol, that I first caught a quick glimpse of a newspaper headline. Then grabbing a snack at a restaurant, we saw another headline. The first opportunity we had, we borrowed the paper to figure out what was happening. It was so disheartening and surreal to read all the locations targeted. Precise images flashed through my head of places we had visited and/or marveled at merely a few days before. Such news is always alarming, and yet I was overcome by a mix of relief and disgust all at the same time. I pictured all the homeless families that we saw sleeping in the train station because they had nowhere else to go. I pictured the friendly staff at the Taj Mahal hotel that greeted us as we went in to check out the lobby (and use the bathrooms). I pictured the friendly Indian guys that bought us shots at Leopold's, the bar frequented by western travelers. I was thankful that we were no longer in Mumbai and caught up in all the chaos, but overwhelmed by the thought of all the people that were not so fortunate to have moved on to another place. And yet a voice in the back of my head keeps telling me that we can't let 'them' be victorious and chase off the tourists from this amazing place. We can't let them dictate the rules. We had an amazing glimpse at life in Mumbai and are so glad that we made it there when we did.