My true calling is the mountains. But that does not mean I don’t like the beach life. I do love beaches too, but in short doses. Having grown up in Mumbai the ocean was very much a part of our lives. It means that we do take it for granted a lot. Every day from my large living room window I feel like I can almost touch the water. The tide rolls in ever to gently and fades away without warning. But like clockwork it never misses its time. Local fishing boats bobbing ever so gently in high tide and settling so comfortably on the rocks as the water recedes. The comings and goings telling their own stories. Of hardships and jubilant moments.
From our previous house the beach was barely twenty steps away. More often, than not, we would be out on the beach in the wee hours of the morning getting in that much needed exercise. And when the world went quiet at night, we could hear the lapping of the waves on the sand. On most nights it would gently lull us into the most comforting slumber.
Despite having grown up with the ocean in our backyard, we take oceanside breaks very often. Goa being one of our favorite and most frequented beach destinations. Most of the beaches in Goa are pristine and inviting.
I remember spending a week in Goa on Mandrem beach. We were staying in a tiny cottage right on the beach. This was our most special beach experience. It was January. The weather was perfect. Most amazingly on our stretch of this wonderful beaches there was no commercial activity. No beach shacks. No beach shops. Nobody offering you massages on the beach. And no beach beds. Yet it wasn’t deserted. There was life on the beach but no chaos.
We quickly developed our daily routine. Early morning walks on the beach. This was when we saw all the people out for their exercise. The runners. The martial art groups. The yoga practitioners. All out on this beautiful expanse of sand.
A little after breakfast we went in for the first dip in the sea. My wife loves “breaking the waves”, as she calls it. She loves floating on the big ones or facing up to the ones that break into the largest possible sprays. She can be in the ocean for hours. I can barely float. Swimming is a far cry. My son did teach me the process of taking a deep breath and then being able to float. The rules of buoyancy he called it. Sounding his cleverest best. With some practice I am now able to float, and even swim a little on my back. And I must admit that floating on those giant waves is a good feeling.
Between the morning dip and lunch, we would sit for hours on our shorter side verandah looking out at the ocean. Very comfortable lounge chairs with extended arms, so that we could sit back with our feet up on the arms. Some reading. Some words. Some silence. The silence shattered only by the crashing waves. No drinks. Just a complete switch off.
After lunch a little slumber in the bed on our front verandah, protected from any creepies with a crisp white net. And early evenings it was back for a dip in the ocean. Followed by sinking in our armchairs to become observers again. A little music. An evening shower. Dinner. And then back on the armchairs listening to the ocean at night and soaking in the night sky before a night of well-deserved sleep. This went on like this every day for the most blissful week ever for us.
I love the feeling of sand beneath my feet. But am also wary of the creatures below the generally calm surface of the sea. The sea to me seems full of beauty and danger. Not being able to see makes it scary for me. And I have a love hate relationship with the salty sea air. There are times I love it and times I find it too sticky and yucky. And on some beaches the sand flies can pretty much ruin your holiday.
Radhanagar is the most mesmerising beach that we have ever been to. On Havelock Island, it is pristine beyond words. It so happened that we were also here in late January. And there were hardly ever any people around. The water is crystal clear, and the waves are tall and majestic. A dense wall of trees lines the edge of the beach and you have to walk through some woods to be able reach the beach. My favorite activity here was swimming on my back on this most calm sea and looking at the clouds and the trees. The four days we had here too followed a somewhat similar routine to our time in Goa. That is what beach life is for us.
So, although I can handle beaches for a few days I could never ever live on one. It is the mountains for me. They beckon. And I am now more than ever ready to move to one.
Written By Mohit Gupta
Week 20, May ’20
