the growing up of a boy

In the six years since grad school, I have taken many holidays with friends & my wife. But this story is one of my favorites. I did a degree in mechanical engineering from Goa, India. For the uninitiated, Goa is the ultimate beach & party destination of India. Laid back beaches, endless palm trees. Now, it sounds like the ultimate place to spend 4 years of college. But we never really had enough money to go partying. Also, the thing about a mechanical engg is that not too many girls are interested to be one & hence, there were no girls in my class. Hanging out with girls was normally during some event on campus & girlfriends were a rarity.
Once, the class decided to go to a far-off beach down in the south of Goa, cut off from the main touristy circuit. The main beach was cut-off from the road with lagoons & was accessible through narrow wooden bridges. The beach was beautiful but deserted & we could only see a few people in a shack down the beach. Perfect. We set up a cricket pitch. I was the baller. The ball hit the wickets on the very first ball & our hands went up in celebration. While we were celebrating, I noticed the batsman, my classmate did not walk back dejectedly, but was standing there staring ahead. So was the wicketkeeper. We all turned to look: A couple walked towards us, very conspicuous in the absence of any clothes. My first time seeing a woman in all her glory.
We set exploring the beach later. We walked towards one end & were surprised to find another beach beyond the rocks which had seemed the end. To our surprise, the other beach was occupied. Girls were sunbathing, lounging in various states of undress! Indescribable!
We setup a game of volleyball in the water. A classmate hit the ball hard & it went behind me. Fetching the ball, as I started walking back, a woman emerged from the water some distance from me. A scene straight out of Dr No, except that there was no white bikini or anything else. I was so engrossed in the sight that I tripped over some underwater rocks. She was beautiful! Sharp features, perfect skin, golden long hair, beautiful eyes. You must be thinking “he didn’t notice all that”. But I did and ofcourse, she was perfect everywhere. She looked at me and I gave her a shy smile. No more details, they are only for my memory. When I reached the group, the guy next to me pointed out that the water around my legs was red. I had badly bruised my legs on the rocks but didn’t notice!
I carry those Bruises with me till today..