Teachings from the sea

Lately I had an opportunity to visit Ladghar in Konkan district of Maharastra. It is one of the not so famous beaches in the state, where man is yet to fight against the natural beauty by commercializing it. Ever since my childhood, like many others who’ve spent their childhood far off the huge waters, I’ve had this strange attraction for beaches. The vastness of the sea and the soothing sound of the waves has always fascinated me and made me want to get amalgamated in that mystic beauty. This was the first time I had a chance to stay overnight by the beach.  I had only imagined how the beautiful sea looked like during the dawn!

My wish list also had a point saying “Go for a morning jog by the sea” on it. This was my chance to have it marked it checked.  And that was done. Not only was an item marked “done” in my life, but also a metamorphosis seemed to take place!

Mystical the sea is. Sometimes thought provoking, sometimes perplexing, but always consistent. Never does it fail to get you absorbed in its unfathomable beauty. Never does it fail to get you to learn something new and pacify the cacophonous emotions. This experience too, was a cathartic one.

The waves never stop coming on you. Sometimes they are big and sometimes small. They are like problems in our life, some mundane and the others challenging. They hit you hard; they push you back and keep doing so incessantly. They add vigor to the otherwise still life. The congenital inclination of human kind is to explore the unexplored and do what is challenging. Likewise, we all seek to fight those waves and seek tranquility amidst the calm and deep waters, far away from the noisy waves.

The numerous small and big chunks of froth, which form by the shore in the receding waves, are like the varied experiences in our life. They exist there for a short while, before being pulled back into oblivion. But impressions are surely left on the sand underneath.  Lessons are learnt, idiosyncrasies developed, prejudices formed and minds made more seasoned.

The impressions and patterns on the sand are like the ever-learning mind, which keeps becoming wiser with every wave of experience shaping it. It is up to us to realize that those patterns are destined to be ephemeral too. The waves of experience shall not stop. Delta status quo would never ever be zero in life. So even if it’s an abjectly sad time in your life, the next dawn is yet to come. The next pattern is yet to be drawn. You never know how the canvas would look like beneath tomorrow’s sunshine.

The shells on the beach are like the good memories in life, you feel good remembering them. They are colorful and bring smiles on your face, and give you every reason to enjoy life. They whisper about the good old times when you listen to them and mix up with those small and big stones around, to give life a vibrant color it has.

These thoughts just kept coming to my mind during a fine morning spent by the sea, soaking my feet in the cool waters of the Arabian Sea. As I said, it truly was a catharsis!