At the beginning, there was darkness. Engulfed by pitch black nothingness, we inched our way towards the sound of the waves. The gentle gushing of water, almost a murmur seems to be part of the darkness, lending a dimension to what is otherwise unfathomable. The only other sound was that of the soles of our feet, thudding upon the gravel path, till suddenly we stumbled upon the sand. The wind was wet and musty and it was strange how the saltiness could be smelt. We treaded gradually towards the mounting hillocks of sand, our hair streaming in all directions at once. It was not easy to make our way ahead, and we had to focus to keep our gait steady and straight. A little bit more, we told ourselves, shivering slightly at the discrete goosebumps in our arms.
With no warning at all, the hillock is scaled, and we are confronted by a vast expanse of ocean at some distance. The darkness is still engulfing, and all we can make out are the edges of white of the waves yapping at the shore. The rest of it is black, as dark as the sky above, and yet, there is a vigour and rythmn which doesn’t for a moment let us believe that there is stillness ahead. The might of the ocean does not require any adage, light or sound, to make its presence felt; the moment one is near, the quaint sense of foreboding overcomes.
We look above for some sign of the moon, as if even moonlight would be helpful in reducing the might of the ocean ahead, making it more picturesque and less real. Alas, though there was a moon in the distant sky, there didn’t seem to be any moonlight to come to our aid. Instead, there was a magestic spread of stars against the sky, reinforcing the darkness around through their insignificance.
We gathered courage and began our descent downwards. The sand beneath our feet was no longer loose and formless, but had been settled by the night tide and seemed irresolute. As we inched ahead, the rumbling got louder and yet familiar, almost beckoning. We were afraid that we would stumble across a branch, or some sea animal which hads been washed ashore and fall, but there weren’t any unpleasant surprises. Soon, we were at the edge of the sea, keeping an arms length at the playful waves snapping at our feet.
Standing so close to this gigantic mass of water, we looked at each other. For some unfathomable reason, the ocean did not seem intimidating any more. It was still dark, and we were closer to being swallowed by nature than ever, and yet, we could actually feel the gentleness of the waves. It was still night and there was no impatience or angst around as the world rested.
It wasn’t so last evening. The waves were loud, crashing against the shore with a vengeance as if deeply angered. It changed direction without warning and soon the drenched onlookers had understood that it was but safe to keep a distance from the ocean tonight. We had been sitting by the beach talking of those inconspicuous things, which one could never remember later, though it was completely engrossing then. We had drifted off into talks of the past and the present, of all our little hopes and dreams. At times, we would look ahead at the sea, thundering ahead, but we were at a distance, safe and would return to our chatter.
Without even us noticing, we started talking of each other, of all we needed and wanted, of all we had and wanted to have. The rumbling did recede to the background as the sentences grew convoluted, but we never noticed. Every word we spoke was like treading on egg shells and soon we came to a point where there was no return. The usual tale of agitation and accusations followed, one acquiesced while another seethed in supposed righteousness. Indeed there was some hurt and anger was transferred, but like the vastness of the ocean, can a few crashing waves ever divert the water to the land?
As these thoughts flashed in our heads, dawn had begun to creep in. There was a slender curve of dim pink light at the horizon, slowly but surely expanding. We began our walk by the shore, side by side, though not hand in hand and watched the water light up. At the beginning, it was merely a splattering of grey amidst blackness, but that splattering grew and transformed into a rainbow of colours. Slowly, yet surely the entire sky was a pale pinkish grey with streaks of orange. The sea too complemented the sky by reflecting the same colours, even though the edges of the horizon still looked dark.
Almost like clockwork, the birds had awakened from their slumber and many could be spotted stretching their wings in the sky or hopping on the beach for some early worms. The sand beneath were dotted with a treasury of spectacular shells the sea had washed up, in myriad colours, textures, sizes and shapes. Of course they been there in the darkness too, but the world does seem a much more beautiful place when our attentions are aware of its beauty.
Slowly the beach started filling with citizens beginning their day. Many people, though more elderly than the youth had come down for their morning walks and exercise. Sporadically men and women were engrossed in yoga asanas, or simply breathing deeply to experience the fresh morning breeze. At some distance, the neighbourhood children also started their cricket practice even as their mothers slowly stirred up the kitchen fire. The sun seemed irrelevant to their daily rites, the morning light seemed to kindle enough hope to begin living.
We slowly turned our heads back towards the sea. There was a speckle of golden light crawling up the horizon. We stole a glance at each other together, lest the other miss such a beautiful event for looking away even for a moment, but caught each other looking towards ourselves instead. The sunrise was beckoning and we returned to gaze at the sun having slipped up the horizon completely. It was tiny, and feeble, hardly akin to the ferocious beast above all day, and but nevertheless, there it was. It moved with certainty, staining the sky around with a pallete of yellow and orange making its way through the pinkish grey. As it ascended our fingers twined against each others’, taking in the beauty of this exquisite painting in front of us. It seemed incredibly fast for such a tiny sphere, while one could never really catch it moving even without taking our eyes off it for even a second. Suddenly without warning, a patch of grey sky refused to be tainted by orange and the sun disappeared, hidden under the cloud. Startled in astonishment, we looked at each other and as our gaze lingered, we stared speechless at each other, realizing how wonderful the other person was, how lucky we were to have each other, how stupid we had been and how much we loved each other. Our faces broke into a smile and through the corner of our eyes, we could see the sun had clambered out, and was shining brightly in the sky.
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