Sigghh...!

An innocent remark by a friend recovering from a shockingly awesome trip to Goa propelled me into writing this post..After a rather longish detailed description of the trip, he quipped, "You have NO IDEA how rocking beaches are..We totally ought to have one in Delhi.." To him and to all those souls whose single Goa trip gets them talking about beaches, here goes the post...

Well, I do have some idea of beaches, having spent many a summer vacation at my grandparents'  house on the beachside in the tranquil city of Vishakhapatnam..To give you a slightly better picture of how our itinerary revolved around beaches, here's a sneak peak:

   05: 00 am:  The house starts buzzing with activity, the harmony of the Suprabhatam falling on all ears..Just to re-emphasise, I am talking about the ungodly hour of 05:00 am in the morning..(Friends who know me and my infamous associations with alarm clocks well would appreciate the importance of this statement! ) Once you are up and about in this house, there is no time to laze around..Every moment lost in the confines of the house is a moment away from the beach..! So consumed by the greed of living in the moment, all the cousins would start walkin towards the beach, with our Grandpa in the tow..

 05: 15 am: A few apprehensive moments are spent on the sand..Everyone is lost in some complex philosophical thoughts, sharing which would be a danger to the existence of this blog..That moment of reluctance passes away as soon as the first impatient person breaks the facade and takes the plunge into the water..Need I describe the next few moments? Its just bliss and water..We stand in the water, fall into its depths at high waves, pull others along with us, play like there's no tomorrow..

06:15 am: When the sun really starts getting angry, and Grandpa has finished his long walk along the Beach Road, it is time to become human again..:) So, we gather our slippers, convince ourselves that this isn't the end, and slowly trudge back towards the house, stopping occasionally to gather a shell or a rounded stone..Once home, we head straight for our baths..

08:00 am: Delicately selected breakfast is served..But there's no time to enjoy it..After a hurried tiffin, it is a race to the terrace..And there we would sit staring at the mighty expanse of water, once in a while chiding Grandma for not letting us go to the beach in the sun..(Had it not been for her, most people who know me today as Preeti would not have recognized me, any amount of sunscreen applied..;) ) 

10.00 am: Somehow, a couple of us would manage to gain the ticket to go shopping along with Grandpa and while we would assist in carrying bags through the muddy alleys of an extremely complicated Poorna Market (the local subzi mandi), we would be treated to many many drinks of nice fresh Cocunut water..My Grandpa did a great job bargaining, so we usually ended up victorious with Cocunuts at 3 bucks a piece (My carpool friends might gape..:D )..Giggles at local dialects were always hard to suppress, but we learnt to do that in time..! :D 

01:00 pm: A heavy lunch followed by nap for elders, and with a lot of convincing, movie for us..Or maybe a trip to the hills of Kailashgiri to see the view of the sea from the top..

04:00 pm: Frenzied activity in the house..Its time for the beach again! N back in the water, splashing, diving, pushing, falling, water, more water, more water....Its getting dark..But most people around don't care..So we keep splashing, diving, pushing, falling, water, more water, more water..! 

08:00 pm: When my Grandma gives the final warning, we would rush back home, and after quick baths and dinner, we are back on the terrace..Cool breeze from the sea ruffling the hair, teasing the mind, joining in arbitrary discussions on politics..Discussions never got heated..There was always the cool wind to calm things down! And when finally the youngest member's soft snore would be heard, its an unwilling wrap to the day..We pull out the mattresses and lie down strategically deciding the positions, in order to lie right in front of the window and get the most of the breeze..

And into the night, we would chat away discussing the itinerary for the next day..How best to convince the elders to let us sit at the beach the whole day, or at least a few hours more..With the zephyr in the ears, the sounds of the sea rocking us to sleep, the smells of moist coconut mush wafting past the nose, slowly, we would fall asleep..

A single day in the beach would have been worth the vacation..But we enjoyed this luxury every single day of the summer for many many years...

A memory, they say, is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen. If that is true, I am glad that this did not unhappen..Because when I need a moment to myself, this is where I get it..in these sweet beautiful memories....!

PS: The pic has been taken from the top of the Kailashgiri Hills..N that's the view of the city of Vizag..