At the beach, I sat atop a moss-covered rock and watched the crab walk past by while the sun shone over my head. My water-soaked feet I lay bare to dry. The silica was all shine and shimmer and the waves washed themselves ashore incessantly..foaming and frothing at the edges.
It was early morning and the fishermen readied their boat and fishing-net. To set out on another journey of a lifetime of toil and sweat. My curiosity notwithstanding, I asked him a questions few. Do you think you will have a good enough catch? What if a storm blows? What if the tides are high? A nonchalant look and a equally composed response - "Worry not. I'll have enough to buy my daily bread while you sit and wait."
As he valiantly waded into the water, knowing fully well that this may very well be a one-way trip, he makes no bones about it and tells me in a matter-of-fact way - "This is what I do for my survival. What if.....? Well, this is life and life will go on. We have to take some risks to get what we want and sometimes it could be at the cost of our own life. There resides an oppurtunity out there which I must explore and until I set out, I'll never know. So set out I must, come rain or snow."
Truer words were never spoken. As he set sail rowing his oar, I watched in silence till the silhoutte vanished over the horizon. A flurry of thoughts swept through my otherwise unhurried mind of a saga of survival, a battle fought and won.
The day grew long and I grew restless. Plentitude of men and women now were all around me. Came one, came all. In sea-shells, pearls and consumerism, the shore was abound. After a brief pause to whet my appetite I returned to my much-held ground hoping to see the man I had spoken to earlier, return. And then there appeared many a dotted objects on the water, far away from the shore. Someone shouted, "They are here."
Quickly, I saw them row...the muscles in their arms twitching as they did so. I jumped down from my rocky seat and stood waiting for them to row ashore. As they did and emptied their catch into the baskets laid out by their waiting brethren, I saw Silver Pomfret, Seer fish, Prawns, Crabs, Tilapia, Catfish and a host of other species unknown to me. They shouted all kinds of names and rates. I clicked a few of them with my point-n-shoot and gave way to the sea of people around me, flocking to begin their fishy business.
Having had my fill of pictures taken and glad to have seen the other side of life that lay beyond, I returned back to my room satisfied and long after they were said, the words of the fisherman reverberated in my ears - "Out there lies an oppurtunity which I must explore and until I set out, I'll never know. So set out I must, come rain or snow....."
