The memory and joy of watching the sea from the shore for the first time had left an indelible impression on my mind. My age then was 20 years.
I was born in a coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, one of the states of peninsular India. The Bay of Bengal is hardly 150 km from the village where I spent the first seven years of my life. However, my family being not one of those that toured or traveled much, I could not go near the sea during those years. And then our family left for Hyderabad when I was 7. Hyderabad is situated on the Deccan Plateau. Now, the distance from the sea to the place where I lived increased to 350 km. The geography of the city narrowed my chances of watching the relentless march of waves on to the shore.
I did not miss the sea all those years. It was when I started reading novels on sea faring men like Moby Dick that I began to long to go on the sea. Reading the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, the 19th century Scottish writer, I grew up admiring daring sea pirates and even wicked characters like Long John Silver, and their escapades. However, the tale of Robinson Crusoe who was marooned on a lonely island and who had to fight savage cannibals to survive did not fail to fill me with a sense of fear and awe of the oceans.
The sea held a lot of romance and mystic for me those times. I read with great interest Thor Hayerdal's account of the Kon-Tiki expedition. He led a motely group of a handful of men on a sailing expedition on a raft made of balsa, the lightest wood. They started from the shores of Peru and sailed through the rough Caribbean waters to reach the Polynesian archipelago. Ever since reading Thor’s recounting of the expedition, I dreamed of sailing on a self-made raft on the Caribbean waters, surviving solely on rain water and the marine life.
I have always been awed by the extent of intrigue the sea held. The sea voyage is a metaphor for life. Shipwreck is a sign that the inherent power of the sea cannot ever be mastered by mere mortals.
I became a huge fan of the movie series “Pirates of the Caribbean.” I knew, by heart, all the dialogues of Captain Jack Sparrow. I knew Jack’s little secret – of how he successfully got out of a marooned island. It was simple – wade into the shallows and strap sea ............ I was no longer afraid of the sea!
I became a huge fan of the movie series “Pirates of the Caribbean.” I knew, by heart, all the dialogues of Captain Jack Sparrow. I knew Jack’s little secret – of how he successfully got out of a marooned island. It was simple – wade into the shallows and strap sea ............ I was no longer afraid of the sea!
When I was 20, my uncle’s family moved to a coastal village of Andhra Pradesh. Finally, my chances of watching the sea grew manifold. My dream of feeling the sea, hearing the drone, letting the waves touch my feet, swimming on the shallows, walking on the sands on the shore was soon going to become real.
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