The Sea face

I would give my right hand to stay by the sea. I say so, because I have had the good fortune to have lived by the sea face some years ago.

It was at Worli, that I set up home. It was a  spacious two bed room flat, right on top of Worli Hill, less than fifty meters from the Arabian Sea. On the third floor, we had an unobstructed view of the vast expanse of water.  Each moment that I stayed in the house, I marvelled at the idea in the mind of the person who designed the house.

Every window in the house, that of the kitchen, bedrooms and even the bathrooms, faced the sea. And then there was a huge balcony.

In the evenings, I would take my wife and my toddler son right up to the sea face, to go through an experience.

As far one could stretch one’s vision, there seemed to be an endless expanse of water under a huge open sky. The gentle churning of the water, with only periodic gains and lows in the intensity, would provide a soothing sound, and a certain kind of calmness and serenity would prevail for as far as one could see.

The setting sun would contribute its own bit to this experience, leaving its last fading light to reflect on the surface of the sea which would then appear to be covered with silver.

Far away a few ships would be anchored. One could make out the form because of the innumerable small but bright lights on them. These would set sail from the Mumbai port, veer around the Cuffe Parade, and turn right to begin their voyage in a Northerly direction. But just before proceeding full steam ahead, they would stop and anchor once again briefly. As if, for the crew to set sight on the distant Mumbai coastline, and keep that vision  marked in their minds for the long, lonely and arduous journey ahead.

As darkness fell, you could also see small dim lights bobbing up and down on the water surface. And you could guess that fishermen had begun their day’s work, when the rest of the World had returned home.

What couldn't be seen but only felt was the cool, pure sea breeze blowing steadily into the mainland. Nature’s most unique and noble deed for mankind. Inviting all the dirt and pollution unto its fold, in a most forgiving manner, day after day, and replacing it with cool, pure air for all. And  thereby granting human beings a big favour.

A spectacle that I would experience any number of times at any time of the day or evening, and never tire of it.