Sight of excess and want
juxtaposed, is just one of the myriad contradictions that India breathes
naturally.In the case of this resort,by virtue of its secluded
location,it appears private though it is the livelihood to a few of the local fishermen.The tourist season had not quite begun,it was only the
1st week of October.The absence of a buzzing crowd and verandahs with
many a wet beach towels added to the sense of exclusiveness. The sea was
rough for the children and the fishermen gave us words of caution
several times.Notwithstanding the inconvenience of drenching in the salt
water in normal clothes,we went into the sea, morning and evening.The
evenings were especially beautiful.
That evening,something resembling the balloon puppies made at kiddie parties by 'yours truly'-,the hired birthday clown, came wobbling towards us. Dear co-sister let out a shrill shriek."It touched me", she was gasping and jumped forward.Wow,it was a perfect lab specimen of a stomach and the intestines bobbing with the rise and crash of the waves.Perfect specimen.No tear,no wear.No trace of hunger,flesh or blood.The sea has washed it immaculately,stretched it with just the right amount of air it could hold.It was difficult to believe that it exists inside us.It must be a fisherman's.It made us uneasy..isn't it a handy word to describe feelings we don't find words for? It made us very uneasy.Now,after a year,thinking on that feeling,it was fear.Not only fear of death,it was a primeval fear,fear in its purest abstract. Unsettling the very core.The sea was quite in love with it,not a rupture.The immediate course of action was to call a fisherman in sight and ask him to move it to somewhere we couldn't see.In retrospect,we did good not to have acted on it.While my brother in law was telling us of the legal complications that could arise,should we touch it,I saw it touch a rock and swim back and forth in tune with the waves, majestically buoyant.The known earliest consciousness awakened, it was difficult to act normal.But,act we did.We moved away from it,the thing sumptuously fed with dutiful meals, and carried on with the discussions on the lives of fishermen.We didn't see it vanishing,we were occupied with acting normal.
That evening,something resembling the balloon puppies made at kiddie parties by 'yours truly'-,the hired birthday clown, came wobbling towards us. Dear co-sister let out a shrill shriek."It touched me", she was gasping and jumped forward.Wow,it was a perfect lab specimen of a stomach and the intestines bobbing with the rise and crash of the waves.Perfect specimen.No tear,no wear.No trace of hunger,flesh or blood.The sea has washed it immaculately,stretched it with just the right amount of air it could hold.It was difficult to believe that it exists inside us.It must be a fisherman's.It made us uneasy..isn't it a handy word to describe feelings we don't find words for? It made us very uneasy.Now,after a year,thinking on that feeling,it was fear.Not only fear of death,it was a primeval fear,fear in its purest abstract. Unsettling the very core.The sea was quite in love with it,not a rupture.The immediate course of action was to call a fisherman in sight and ask him to move it to somewhere we couldn't see.In retrospect,we did good not to have acted on it.While my brother in law was telling us of the legal complications that could arise,should we touch it,I saw it touch a rock and swim back and forth in tune with the waves, majestically buoyant.The known earliest consciousness awakened, it was difficult to act normal.But,act we did.We moved away from it,the thing sumptuously fed with dutiful meals, and carried on with the discussions on the lives of fishermen.We didn't see it vanishing,we were occupied with acting normal.
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