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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Letter from India: pod fast | Letter from India: pod fast |
| (6 days later) | |
| What's your name?" I asked the figure straining with effort in the dark. "Elvis," he replied. | What's your name?" I asked the figure straining with effort in the dark. "Elvis," he replied. |
| Four of us are pushing a hodi, a traditional Goan fishing skiff, on rollers down the beach to the water's edge. We stop for Elvis to brush some more oil on to the rollers. Out at sea, the fading pinpricks of stars meet the firmer lights of the fishing fleet from Panjim. | Four of us are pushing a hodi, a traditional Goan fishing skiff, on rollers down the beach to the water's edge. We stop for Elvis to brush some more oil on to the rollers. Out at sea, the fading pinpricks of stars meet the firmer lights of the fishing fleet from Panjim. |
| As we load my family into the boat, I hear the church bells at Mandrem ring for matins. Then Elvis's brother, Salvio, starts the outboard motor and we are off to look for dolphins. Captain Elvis stands on look out in the prow. | As we load my family into the boat, I hear the church bells at Mandrem ring for matins. Then Elvis's brother, Salvio, starts the outboard motor and we are off to look for dolphins. Captain Elvis stands on look out in the prow. |
| To the north a headland holds the hippie purples and yellows of Arambol. Its hippies have mostly moved on and the Russians have moved in. | To the north a headland holds the hippie purples and yellows of Arambol. Its hippies have mostly moved on and the Russians have moved in. |
| We had also watched a wedding on the beach. The bride was Italian, the groom from Mumbai. The guests arrived in suits to be welcomed with small plastic cups of tea. | We had also watched a wedding on the beach. The bride was Italian, the groom from Mumbai. The guests arrived in suits to be welcomed with small plastic cups of tea. |
| My young children watched mesmerised as bride and groom walked three times round the sacred fire in front of a crowd of spectators in Speedos and bikinis. The Italian mother-in-law sat regally on a plastic chair to one side, resplendent in a white sari. | My young children watched mesmerised as bride and groom walked three times round the sacred fire in front of a crowd of spectators in Speedos and bikinis. The Italian mother-in-law sat regally on a plastic chair to one side, resplendent in a white sari. |
| We pass the front of the fishing fleet, the wooden trawlers painted faded blues and pinks. Behind us the sun rises in a dusky orb above the golden beaches and coconut trees of the coast. A single dolphin rockets up into the air and falls back tail-first into the sea. "Dolphin, dolphin!" I shout. "Where, where?" the children demand, holding the side of the boat. | We pass the front of the fishing fleet, the wooden trawlers painted faded blues and pinks. Behind us the sun rises in a dusky orb above the golden beaches and coconut trees of the coast. A single dolphin rockets up into the air and falls back tail-first into the sea. "Dolphin, dolphin!" I shout. "Where, where?" the children demand, holding the side of the boat. |
| Elvis spots the shark-like dorsal fins of a pod of dolphins. Salvio cuts the outboard and we drift slowly towards them. They are plumbeous dolphins (Sotatia plumbea) with long, beak-like jaws. As they loop playfully out of the water we can hear the sharp expulsions of breath coming from their blowholes. | Elvis spots the shark-like dorsal fins of a pod of dolphins. Salvio cuts the outboard and we drift slowly towards them. They are plumbeous dolphins (Sotatia plumbea) with long, beak-like jaws. As they loop playfully out of the water we can hear the sharp expulsions of breath coming from their blowholes. |
| In the evening I read in my Book of Indian Animals that dolphins can swim at speeds of up to 30km an hour. This does not surprise me. When we had finished our dolphin watching, Salvio gunned the outboard engine and steered towards the pod. | In the evening I read in my Book of Indian Animals that dolphins can swim at speeds of up to 30km an hour. This does not surprise me. When we had finished our dolphin watching, Salvio gunned the outboard engine and steered towards the pod. |
| As we passed them, they were swimming far faster than us in the opposite direction, out to sea. | As we passed them, they were swimming far faster than us in the opposite direction, out to sea. |
| • Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk | • Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk |
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