The Beach- A short story

He was sitting on the beach looking at the waves crashing on the shores and returning, never missing a beat. He looked around and saw children playing on the shores, peddlers trying to sell their wares and people eating stuff. It was the same everytime.
Yes, everytime. He had been coming here for 25 years. He could remember the first time he had come with his parents. He was afraid of the water and his father had told him, "I am here do not fear". He was amazed at how the water came and went back. How it had amused him that the waves which were so threatening became so harmless when they reached him.
Over the years he had come many times here. This place had many memories. Coming with parents and enjoying the snacks and playing, then with friends as he grew up and he and his friends spent a time dreaming about their future. He also spent much time with a special one here.
He let a sigh when he thought of her. She was a special person to him. They had a lot of things in common. He remembered how they both walked hand in hand on the shores or simply sat there watching the setting sun. How they sat there and had bhel How they laughed and talked about their dreams. Yes, not his or her but their dreams. How they professed their love for each other. Life was beautiful those days.
And then he remembered the quarrel. It was all silly in retrospect. Hindsight is always 20/20, someone had told him and it was true in their case. What started of as a silly argument soon grew into a battle. A battle of egos. He was determined to win it at all costs. He did not concede even a single inch, though she gave some ground thinking it was her weakness and that he was right. She would soon see to it and come back to him with an apology.
So confident he was that he did not expect her to deliver the stunning blow. Ironically, it was at the same beach that she announced she was breaking the relationship. He thought she would soon realize her mistake and come back. Soon he heard that she was engaged and she married someone else.
He was heartbroken. He realized that he, in his moment of vanity had lost the most beautiful thing that had happened to him. His love. True love. Which would never come back. He had won the battle but lost the war.
Now sitting here, he realized the lessons that the beach was always telling him but he had never learnt. The sea comes to the shore and threatens to take the land, but then goes back. So both the sea and land are in a harmony. There may be some transgressions but nothing serious. And both need each other. Without the sea, the beach is nothing. Without the beach, the sea has no significance. This is similar to our relations. We have keep it in a balance. We need people as much as people need us. And also that the tides do not wait for anybody. They carry on irrespective of anything. Life also goes on. It never waits for anyone. If we want to do anything, we have to do it now.
Otherwise, things that we cherish will be lost.
Thus he was lost in his memories when a kid came and asked him "Sir, will you have a snack. Please take something". He thought for a few moments and said "bhel". The beach had taught him another important lesson. No matter what, the waves come to the shore. So no matter what you have to fight and live the life.

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-VP

Going down.... down... down

So India suffered another defeat in the One day format. This time to South Africa. Though I had no illusions about our chances given that we have won only 3 matches against SA in SA, the margin of defeat was not expected. The way the most famous batting line-up in the world collapsed like a pack of cards does not inspire much confidence for the World Cup in 2007.
Of course, the coach Greg Chappell will come out with excuses like new conditions, not enough preparations etc etc. But the fact is that the Indian team has been screwed up big time. No Iam not asking to bring Ganguly back. But you should handle well what you have, anyway. Too many changes in the side, too many experiments in the batting order has hit the team hard.
The same team which blew away opposition last year and created a record, now is not confident of chasing a moderate total. Who is responsible for this? The coach and the captain of course. So let them, along with the selectors handle it. They have to make sure that the team selected performs well.
Click here for a picture depiction of India's misery in the 2nd one dayer.

-VP