A Walk by the Sea!


If I walk down my street, say about fifty steps and look left, I can see the majestic Bay of Bengal, always blue, always breezy! So I walk another fifty steps and I am there, amidst Nature’s most bountiful and beautiful creation! Thus I begin my solitary sojourn by the sea, with quickening step and  curious glance about me.

There are hundreds of people at the sea shore. Like me, they have converged here, to walk, to take in the fresh air, to meet friends, to spend another hour, before heading home and preparing for another routine day!.

I watch them all...people, of different sizes in different attires, with different features, at different paces! So different they are all from one another, yet so similar, all in a bond which binds them and breaks them.

At the corner, I hear an angry young man, speaking loud into the mobile, unconcerned, for he has so many concerns! Till another young man drives down, gets out and looks into the mirror combing his hair! Waiting for his love! And there she comes, with a contagious smile! There are other couples, walking hand-in-hand, chatting animatedly, munching and blushing in the throes of love! They are in their own world; neither the sea nor the sand bothers them!

The elderly are all there...some have no care in the world, for the others, all the cares rest on their shoulders! The young parents are a happy lot, they joyously watch their child take those unsure steps. They hold them, lead them, guide them, cheer them! For the parents it is a labor of patience and pleasure –remarkable and recurring! But who knows what happens, when years fly by, for time and tide wait for no one!

The waves come in constantly, spreading against the dry sands. They sometimes take the children by surprise and their sudden squeals alerts you to the rushing waves. The walkers and the joggers go about their job swiftly! And I share my thoughts with myself; till I see a young smart girl walking in gay abandon!  What if she were to be my friend! What would we talk about! And I follow her, down 33rd Avenue, across the 5th Main Road  and left through the bus station, only to lose her in the crowd! But I have found a long shady  route all for my self. So with promises to the sea, to return the next morning, I seek  my path home!



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