BASTORA CIRCUIT

December 16, 2022

BASTORA CIRCUIT

Evening look on the strip towards my building taken on 16 Dec 2022

The move to Bastora has been intentional. Three years ago, I started getting severe muscular pain in my calves. I had been getting swelling of my ankles from 2016 coinciding with a dysfunctional uterus.

In 2020, after my maiden flight to Australia, I started bleeding again and my gynecologist advised me to do a hysterectomy. There were two large fibroids causing mischief in my uterus.

I went under the knife on March 11 and had barely time to recover when Covid hit the world. March 22, 2020. Who can ever forget that date? Modi called for lockdown and I was so thankful to have done my operation before that happened.

Fast forward to 2021 and the muscular pain continued. So I went to a renowned doctor who checked my pressure and we discovered that I also had high BP. Oh, great!

He started me on Temsan 80 and I was on it for a while till I switched to another doctor who decided my pressure was not that high and reduced the meds first to 40 and then to 20. My cholesterol levels were also borderline so he put me on Liponorm 10.

Today, I am overweight (78 kg for a 5 foot dame) and need to walk, walk, walk to get rid of the EXCESS FAT. That's why the move to Bastora became imperative.

Bastora has the advantage of level ground with lots of walking spaces, whichever direction you go. But, the area best loved by people from the village and even some Mhapsekars is the BASTORA CIRCUIT.

The Bastora circuit runs from the underpass towards the first left going towards my building Ganesh Apartments. But at the T junction , you take the left again to reach the panchayat. Walking further, you'll see the cemetery and then there's a long stretch before you reach the tinto, (where you'll get a haircut as you sip tea). There you need to take the left again towards the underpass.

Taken from the T junction near my building. You can see the building from this spot.

Chapel near the road leading to the T junction

Taken by a friend from his car. This is the last leg of the circuit. It leads from the tinto to the underpass. We sit sometimes on that wall.

I meet many of my former neighbours from Duler, Mapusa when we do the Bastora circuit. The other day, I was pleasantly surprised to see Mr Desai from block D of my former society building. I often meet Franky and his wife from Sebastian Vaddo too. Ashok rides his geared bike around the whole village, something I long to do but right now cannot. Once, I even met Oscar of Oscar Visions, that famous wedding photography suite. He had come to wash his car at the car wash close to the underpass.

It's always an adventure going on these walks. The village folk are very friendly. They even greet strangers with a nod and sometimes even a Hello or Good Day. Rarely, we get to see wedding entourages descend on the coconut grove section for romantic clicks.

If you can, do come once to do the Bastora circuit. Its a good half an hour walk for a plump girl like me but for joggers and brisk walkers, I bet they complete many laps.

Me, I just stroll with my youngest son as we enjoy the scenery and people, sometimes stopping to sit on the pavement wall and just watch cars and bikes go by. I don't really know if I have lost any weight yet but boy, have I gained perspective.