26th February-1st March, 2010.

You know you've been to Goa when:

(1). You're back home, the weather is as hot as it is in Goa and you unabashedly think 'What's with all the clothes?!'

(2). You wonder why you're hungry at odd times, when you were completely okay with two meals a day, twelve hours apart.

(3). You see a dark skinny guy in a bright shirt and you expect him to come up to you and say "Water-sports…water-sports! Speed-boat, para-sailing, banana ride!"

(4). You have atleast a dozen pictures of your tattoo, even if it was a temporary hand-painted one that'll probably wash off within the week.

(5). More than one of you has had an accident…of some sort!

Things I wish I knew before Goa happened:

(1). If you're a girl and your shoe size is six or more, there's no point in going footwear-shopping.

(2). The cockroaches were still going to haunt me, so what if I was 310km away from the last time we had an encounter?

(3). There is a chance that even though you've taken over eight-hundred pictures, you don't manage to get a single group picture.

(4). There is really no point of sun-screens, sun-blocks SPF whatever. If you are destined to tan, you will. The severity of the tan is left to the heavens.

(5). The days and nights begin at 1 PM and 2 AM respectively.

Random Unbelievable Things(RUTs) are going to keep coming:

#11: How, even though you've now crossed the legal age for a lot of things, phrases like "nose-picking" coming from a teacher in the middle of a serious lecture still don't fail to make you smirk.

#12: For all those who consider themselves not photogenic- The next time a camera is shoved in your face and you're hesitant: smile. If you're genuinely smiling, there's a very VERY good chance that you won't cringe when you see the picture that's just been clicked!

#13: Why nobody considers the patients in the ENT(Ear, Nose and Throat) wards worthy of the National Bravery Awards.

Would YOU allow the insides of your nose to be looked at in thorough detail for as long as you stay, and more than once a day? Was that a nonchalant yes? Then let me remind you of the nasal speculum.

Spec.u.lum

noun

Medicine: a metal or plastic instrument that is used to dilate an orifice or canal in the body to allow inspection.

If that definition isn't disturbing enough, consider what you might have to hear while you're patiently sitting with the speculum inside your nostril:

"Oooh…look at that!!!"

"Damn. How do you hold this speculum?"

"It's clearly a left side deviated nasal septum with hypertrophy of the right inferior turbinate and discharge from the right middle meatus."

"What's that big reddish thing??"

"Hey! Move your head/hair out of the way, I can't see the patient…let alone his nose!"

#14: And just when you thought you wanted to describe ENT examination as an invasion of privacy (I'm sorry, I think what happens inside one's nose is strictly one's own business!), along comes Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

#15: There are so many everyday-words that come across as funny, if only you give them a second thought:

Juice: Not funny? Try saying it at different speeds and look at yourself in the mirror while you're doing it.

Dungarees: Really? DUNGarees?

Gugulipid: I swear the only reason I ever read the classification of hypolipidaemic drugs was so I could stop and laugh at gugulipid!

Mushroom: How do the words 'mush' and 'room' just happen to come together like that?

Pumpkin: Now, I can't explain everything can I?

Shampoo: By far the most obvious! Shampoo. SHAMpoo. ShamPOO. SHAMPOO! I'm completely to be blamed if you're thinking of this the next time you wash your hair.

The list of funny words is endless. Thought of any? Let me know!