The Sea's Wanton Children

If you asked how my day started, I would say it started with me giving Priya and Manikantan wrong directions to pick me and Sreelakshmi up :P So at 9am Priya picked us up and off we zoomed to Mahabalipuram. I have never been to the ancient port city of the Pallavas Dynasty(2nd-9th century CE). Today's agenda involved, in my language, "just dropping into the sea".

So at 10am,there we all were waiting on the coastline all ready to jump onto the boat when John walked in with his swimgear. When I mean swim gear it wasn't just a pair of swimming goggles. Seeing the size of the fins he was carrying around I wouldn't have been surprised if I saw a pectoral fin popping out of his back like one of the dolphins that were playing just off the coastline.

So with grumbling tummies,we tumbled into the rocking boat after donning our bright orange life jackets(One of the few times I felt fat :P ). Once the boat started to slice through the choppy waves, we were drenched in the spray of salt water,it felt like tiny arrows that pierced through my skin. For some reason I was wondering how Bhishma must have felt when he fell in the Mahabharat with a thousand arrows piercing his body.

That moment someone told me to look towards the shore and for a second I was scared that I didn't want to see the receding shore.But isn't that how we all feel like whenever we venture beyond our comfort zones.So looking at the shore that was fading into the distance, comforts, stupid customs and people;that held me to the practical world,broke like gossamer threads. And I felt not the loss of comfort of life but the freedom of life. To breathe the fresh air, to taste the saltiness, to feel the hot sun beating on my back;I was free. I was Happy.

We were first taken to the spot of a temple that was submerged for centuries underwater. According to folklore its the remains of one of the 6 mythical pagodas that was built during the Pallava dynasty before Nature reclaimed it back. Well seeing the turbulent current around the black mass submerged the blue sea, it was like silent screaming of untold stories of brave warriors and creative artists.After that we were anchored 2 to 3 km offshore to get ready for the jump.As they threw a rope into the sea, Manikantan quipped - "everyone has a lifeline in their hands, this time the only life line was the one floating on the sea." I was looking at that slender rope floating harmlessly on the water, how I badly wished to see those dolphins bob up again and take me along for a dive rather than jump into oblivion holding onto that thin strand of hope!!!

I saw John the Dolphin and Rajnikant the (not yet) Superstar jump into the water. Ranjini followed suit and then I summoned all my never heard of courage to go in. As I sat on the brim of the boat my feet dangling 2 inches above the bobbing sea, I heard my petrified inner voice ask me - "Babe do you REALLY want to do this? Won't you regret it!!?" For a fraction of a second I just sat there looking at the blue sea, my resolution wavering. But then I thought- "to hell with you yellow coward!" and just jumped. The sudden crash of water that entered my system was painful, but not as painful as being pulling back immediately out of the water. I was too shocked to resist but if I had my way I would have jumped in again. But before that someone told me that my life jacket was not tied up properly that's why I was pulled out. I just wanted to go back into the water. So as I jumped in again, I just held on to the lifeline and was listening to The Dolphin instructions that sounded so gargly through all the crashing waves.

5 minutes in the sea I was feeling totally weighed down, and tired. So when I was pulled out I was weighing a ton not because I was tired or the ton of salt that was deposited on me(given time I would have been pickled and canned!!), it was cause of all the water that managed to seep into my treacherous life jacket that wanted me to sink into the sea!! Slowly most people too started tumbling into the sea like dominoes.After everyone had their share of dives, drinking salt water and not to forget Jayanth trying to sleep in the center of the boat; we all sat passing along biscuits and water around. Felt like we were "The Fellowship of the Ring" sharing our lembas bread.

Once we hit the shore, we still haven't satiated our love for the sea, we all were playing like children in abandon. Then Dolphin was giving us lessons on body surfing and it was an amazing moment when after tossing and turning on that yellow surf board, I finally managed to ride the waves.But before I could say "YAAAAAAY I did it." like the mischievous boy who always pushed me in school, the sea would topple me and my board :D. Finally when we headed back to the seashore restaurant with Sreelakshmi ordering steaming hot noodles for me, I was so sunburned I felt like a roasted coffee bean ready to be ground into powder! After stuffing ourselves with food and fish, all sat back in the shade to laze around as the sun scorched the beach to bright white. I and Sreelakshmi slowly dozed off in hammocks swaying in the wind and listening to the sea sing us a sweet lullaby.

Around 3pm we all said our goodbyes to new friends, new experiences and the ancient sea and headed back to our normal lives, with the promise to forever be the free souls as we were in the sea.