a dream in blue

The first thing I recall of hearing as an infant is the sound of splashing waves-Hypnotic and persistent. It was strange as we did not live on the seaside. I was born in a small town in the middle of nowhere and though we had enough to eat and clothe ourselves we could not afford to take trips to the seaside.

I was jealous of all people who had ever seen the sea. I couldn’t believe their casual attitude. I convinced myself that it was the allure of the forbidden fruit. For a person who lives along the sea side, the sea becomes just a part of the scenery...like you never notice the tree in the backyard. But for a person who has never experienced the vision of the sea…the sea is more than just water…It’s a dream in blue.

I would lie on my back and look at the blue clear sky…and imagine it to be the sea. I could almost see the waves; I wore blue most of the times; I fell for gals who had blue eyes.

I read about the open seas…watched it on the neighbor’s B/W TV. I knew every single detail regarding the seas. I wanted to be a sea-faring nomad…sailing from the blue-green Pacific to the steel blue of the Atlantic to the ink blue Mediterranean Sea.

I believed that we all came from the oceans…and we are still a part of it. That is why…when our hearts are broken we shed tears-a part of the ocean we carry in our hearts.

And it was not all fantasy. I was aware of all the logical facts too. I found it fascinating to know that the reason for the blueness of the seas was not that blue was God’s fav color or that He had great aesthetics but because the red photons of the incoming light were absorbed by the water molecules. Or the fact that Atlantic Ocean is S-shaped and the saltiest of all oceans. Almost all the ancient civilizations (except Mayan and Incas) saw their day in glory around the Indian Ocean. When people were falling in love with women, success and power I was romancing terms like Permafrost, Coriolis Effect and monsoons!

In my teens I first took a trip to the seaside. My imagination had not done justice. When the first wave washed over my feet, I was hooked. I majored in oceanography…moved to the sea side when I was 28.I have seen all the oceans and the seas. I proposed to my three wives on the beach and left them because they didn’t understand my love for the sea and learnt all my life lessons while learning how to ride the wave. I also became a professional surfer winning three medals…and now I fight against marine pollution. And the view of the ocean, still takes my breath away. One day hopefully, I get to take my last breath…in front of my one and only true love-the ocean…

I was wrong when I was young. When one truly loves something...the object of your desire never becomes a part of the scenery.