Azad Housing Society family members visited ‘Sahakari Spice Farm’on Sunday, April 21, 2013

Summer months; children in the Society have annual vacation. Some of us thought why not organize a brief day-long ‘outing’ to an interesting place where all can go and spend time together for a while. We felt that such an outing will be very relaxing, fun, educative and curious to all of us. Accordingly, we decided to pay a visit to ‘Sahakari Spice Farm’ in Ponda, Goa, a popular tourist site, on Sunday, April 21, 2013. Two of our Society members, Dr Uday Kakodkar and Dr I.K. Pai coordinated the programme.

The 'Sahakari Spice Farm' is located on the Panaji-Bengaluru National Highway in Ponda, Goa and 35 km from Panaji. It is an extensive areca farm, intermixed with coconut, banana, cocoa, and various spices such as black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, clove and all-spices. Being well-irrigated and well-organsied, the farm is a lush green site, in spite of mid-summer.

 

In all, 44 members, young and old, of the Society joined in this trip. A hired, special bus sailed us to the Farm at 10:30 am in the morning. We were welcomed in a traditional way with garlands and tilak to the Farm. A serene ambience under the dense canopy of areca trees, to begin with we were offered organically prepared health drinks, kokum juice and/or lemon-grass tea, which instantly quenched our thirst . Next, a well-trained guide took us around and nicely explained the various plantations and spices grown in the farm. It took about 1½ hours to go around and see the various herbs, spices, nuts, fruits and learn the details. We enjoyed watching the live demonstration of areca tree-climbing by skilled personnel. Some of us enthusiastically experimented the tree-climbing. It was a great fun! We were brought back to an airy, spacious, and canteen-attached all-weather shed of traditional roof and tiles. It was a wonderful place to settle, relax and eat. First, we were served with cashew fenny as an appetizer, followed by a sumptuous lunch in traditional Goan style. Indeed, it was a luxurious lunch with a number of items to eat, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Leisurely we ate and enjoyed the food, time and place at will. A traditional dance troupe performed Goan dances as we eat our lunch. After lunch, children ran around, jumped and played a lot. We returned back to our home by 5:00 pm.

Truly, the 'outing' was very nice and we will remember this always!

 

 

 

D. Jayarama Bhat