sea and me


These waves, they have seen everything. Man crawling on his knees. And wars and bloodshed. Even Asoka and Akbar. And dissolved the ashes of the dead, who chose to be cremated beside the sea. They have been beating these sands for an unknown number of centuries. God knows how many. Zillions of windy evenings like this one. Creamy tides follow one another. Waves, each wave, coming closer to me than the previous, violent and virile. And distant lights, of trawlers, light up the horizon. And I try to feel the fear, of the fisherman, at deep sea, playing life and death with these dark waters. And the agony of the wife waiting, at home. The full moon, which was looking like some white ball floating in mid sea, rises, higher and higher. And there is this different kind of a pleasure that I derive by letting the wind play with my hair, and entangle it as much as it can.

I am staring into the dark, deeper and deeper onto myself. Gradually I forget, where I am, the purpose, the grudges I have about life… there are no lights and the entire beach is dark. Thanks to the municipality that has not paid up the bills of the electricity department.

And then I look at this couple. Yeah, they look like one. The girl, is in a all new red sari, with golden zari work on it.(Imagine! Tucking that entire garment up to your knees and kicking around in the water) And she is all drenched in gold. (lemme show all I have to the sea…) and they are holding hands and talking. Or may be just looking at each other.

And then there are these vendors, selling everything you would like to commemorate your trip with. God knows how much they earn. Many of them know English too. But then there are kids amongst them also. (Street urchins being my specialty).

And I can’t imagine, staying here, for more than a day. Wonder why my parents want to live here, when they are old. The air has more salt than I can bear, and the heat! The sweat! The breeze that blows 24*7 doesn’t suffice.

Staring and staring, my mind moves on to the more complex things in life…




2 comments:

Amrita Sabat said...

gr8 wrk again. sea is all-encompassing. it's life & it's death too.

ur wrk speaks of deep thought till d couple part & then suddenly comes sumhow 2 d mundane.

its gud. keep it up.

wildflower said...

thanx :)
the sea feels like an old friend...sittin quietly at its feet, and dissolving all my sorrow in it...a liberating experience altogether