Ocean Receding Day

It was a lovely Sunday morning and as usual there was general laziness all over the house.

There was no hurry for anything as is normal for a holiday. Children were also relaxed as they were not having college. We all got up around 9 a.m. and I lazily settled down with my cup of coffee and “The Hindu” on my lap. The Hindu carried an interesting news on Ocean Receding Day. It was to happen on that night at 3 a.m.
I had been reading about Economic Recession for almost one year and this was the first time I got to read something on the great Ocean receding.

As a resident of Chennai I always admired the Bay of Bengal. A walk along the seashore is an experience one would relish everyday day after day for ever.
I told my wife and children about the Ocean Receding Day an that we should be there at the Beach that night to watch the “never before seen” great event at 3 a.m. I had office next day and my children had to catch their college bus at 7.15 in the morning. Still, there cannot be anything more important than watching that great event on the seashore.

We all went out for lunch and as usual we went for a long drive along the East Coast Road up to Mamallapuram.

It was very pleasant drive all along the sea coast. We came back home around 5 p.m. in the evening.

All through this time, I kept on thinking about the Ocean Receding Day. After dinner we went to sleep after setting the alarm to ring at 2 a.m. so that we would have ample time to reach the beach to watch the spectacle.
I could not sleep in the night as I was wondering about the Ocean Receding. It appeared mysterious to me especially since it was unheard of before. I could not wait till 3 a.m. to unravel the mystery.

I was restless and somehow managed to get some sleep around 11 p.m. Even before the alarm sounded I woke up at 2 a.m. and felt very fresh though I had slept only for 3 hours. I took a nice cool shower and then woke up my family members.
We all set out at 2.30 a.m. and reached the Marina Beach at 2.45 a.m.
It was a startling sight as the beach was full of men, women and children.
I had never seen such a huge crowd even during Pongal holidays in the last four decades. Everybody was watching the sea.

I stood there with my wife and children and it was very soothing and pleasant to look at the sea. When I looked at my watch it was 2.55 a.m. and I suddenly felt that the waves were becoming slow. Within the next couple of minutes the waves stopped and I felt as though I was standing in front of a lake and not Bay of Bengal.

I saw the water receding rapidly and within couple of minutes the water had gone back by a couple of miles – far away. There was pin drop silence in the Marina Beach with so many children, men and women standing absolutely dazed at the sight of the beach receding by a few miles. In that beautiful moonlight i saw a nice lovely Blue Castle which was glittering in the moonlight.

I felt that blue marble structure should have been built several centuries ago and would have got submerged in the sea. But why nothing had been written about this structure by historians all these years? I was amazed by the sight of such a huge Castle just few meters away from the Marina beach in Chennai.

I looked at my wife and children and they were also standing there with their eyes wide open not able to comprehend the whole scene. We were standing at Marina Beach and instead of the usual sight of the never ending waves on the sea we were witnessing a large stretch of land, almost like a valley, and in the middle right in front of our eyes was the magnificent Blue Castle. Where from did they get that blue marble? Or did it get the blue color because of all those years under the blue sea?

I kept looking at the blue marble Castle – what a spectacle it was. Huge Castle in the middle of the sea and now clearly visible under the moonlight because of the Ocean Receding.

Suddenly the thought of “what goes would come back” came to my mind. I felt the chillness all over my body at the very thought of the Sea coming back to its old position.

The sea will come back and it would come back with a huge force. I also dreaded the thought of the Castle again getting covered by the Sea. That would be a great disappointment. But, sea coming back with a hugeforce sent shivers down my spine. We had to run from the place rapidly. Thoughts of Tsunami came to my mind.

The mixed feelings of fear and disappointment ran in my mind.

I had to do something immediately. My mind started working out possibilities.
And I got up with a jolt to find myself in my bedroom in Dubai and it was exactly 3 a.m. in the morning.

….. T P Anand, Dubai
30th June 2009