“This evening is brilliant. Isn't it?” the old man said to her wife, who was sitting next to him on the beach sand. They both had come to Juhu beach, not for an evening walk but to take shelter tonight. They didn’t have any idea where they were going to stay tomorrow.
“Yes Krish, I have never heard the soothing sound of waves. It’s like gentle whispers. See how beautifully it is raising and falling down. It’s wonderful, I feel like watching it forever,” the old woman said. She wore a brown cotton sari with a black border. Her wrinkled face was still sharp and shining. Her ears were somewhat long and broader, but she didn’t wear any golden ornaments. Her hands were looked empty without bangles, but she had one silver ring in her right hand. It was her engagement ring, she was happy that she had not lost it in the storm of life.
“Yeah, that’s really good,” the old man shook his head, watching the waves, which ran towards their feet and took blessings from them as if the waves knew how to respect elders. But the old lady didn’t pull her legs in, instead, she let it go, as the water washed her feet and was drawn back. You could see the yellowish beach sand was soaked with water and it was looked like a golden carpet laid before them.
The old lady suddenly cried. She didn’t have kerchief but used her edge of the sari to cover her mouth as if to hide her face from others seeing her. Few couples had passed them holding their hands on their waist, but they thought the old fellows were enjoying this pleasant evening. Maybe they are reliving their old memories, they thought. But God alone knew what was the pain buried deep in their hearts.
“Hey Gowri, relax. I know why you are crying. But we can’t do anything about it,” the old man said, as lowered his head to see his wife. Yes, their son Jitinder and daughter-in-law had tossed them out of their house as if they were expired food items. He wasn’t shocked that they had pushed them out, but his heart was crushed like a lemon when his son had told him that they had become patients and that they spread diseases to their children. You could have killed us, instead of speaking like this, the old man thought.
Everything had been going well before his coughing fit started, about five days ago. The doctor had said that it had happened due to season change and suggested him to take hot water instead of cold water and had written down few medicines for him. They had a separate bedroom inside the house, so the old man lied on his bed and took rest. But his grandson Nishodh had come inside the bedroom and asked him to tell stories. The old man had a habit of telling stories to him, but he was tired today. He asked his grandson to bring him tumbler full of hot water. Nishodh went to the kitchen and said to his mother that grandpa had requested hot water. That’s it. She put down the vessels on the floor and shouted, ‘I am not their servant or cook to serve them whenever they want. If they want it, let them prepare it themselves,’ she said in a blaring voice. The old man could hear it. The old lady, who had heard all this in the bathroom, had cried for half an hour before she came out with her puffed eyes. The next day before having breakfast, his son had placed two lakh rupees on the dining table, and slowly pushed it to her father, who sat opposite to him in the wooden chair, he was waiting for the breakfast to come but it didn’t come. He was surprised to see the money instead of the bread rolls. He asked what the meaning of all that. His son stroked his chin slowly and said, ‘You both can become free birds. I think you understand what I meant?’ The old lady’s lips started trembling when she heard that and she came down to beat his son with her fisted hands. But when her hands were raised, it didn’t move at all. Her daughter-in-law seized her hand and pushed her on the floor. She fell on it and was hurt very badly. On seeing this, the old man didn’t rush to help his wife but stayed in his seat.
‘What are you talking about? Have you lost all your senses?’ the old man said, as his eyes grew big like saucers. ‘This house is not for patients. You can go and stay in a hospital permanently,’ his daughter-in-law said sarcastically. ‘You…' the old man said, but his wife interrupted him. ‘Krish, don’t you see their eyes? They would burn you. Let's get out of this hell immediately,’ she screamed in pain.
Now at the beach, the old woman tossed her head high, “You know why I am crying. Don’t you? I had never thought our son would do something like this. I thought he would support us, even though his wife was against us. What wrong did we do to them? We had sacrificed our life for him. Was that wrong?” she said as tears ran down her cheeks.
“I don’t want to talk about it. The more I talk, the more it pains my heart. No, I am not going to talk about it,” the old man shook his head thoughtfully, his head was hung low.
A small boy came down that way with a small rectangular box full of ice creams. He raised his voice to draw the customers to buy it. When he met the elders, he had smiled at them and asked to buy some ice creams.
“Krish, would you buy this for me?” the old woman asked him.
The old man eagerly wanted to fulfill her desire, because she hadn’t asked him anything for the last ten years. Even if she had asked him to buy something it was definitely for Nishodh, their grandson. Though he had no more control over his bank account, his son would give him petty amount as his pocket money as if he was a kid. But Krish had never opposed him, he was happy to give anything he had (including the property, jewels, and everything) to his son with a smiling face. After all, he was his father. He had used this petty amount to buy toys for his grandson and small granddaughter Nikita.
He ran his fingers in his shirt pocket but he found only eight rupees, one five rupee coin and three one rupee coins. He looked at the small boy and said, “How much is the ice cream?”
“It is fifteen rupees,” the boy said.
The old woman realized that there wasn't enough money and said to the boy, “You can go. We will eat ice cream later sometime.”
“What happened? Don’t you have change? Don’t worry I will give you the change even if you give me two thousand rupee note,” the boy said and grinned.
A strong black horse was crossing them with a teenage girl on its saddle. She was smiling as her hair was tossed from left to right as sea wind blew. The horse was jogging on the wet beach sand as she had clenched her hands tightly on its reins. Her lover was taking pictures while running behind her.
The old man didn’t speak and he hesitated to tell the truth. His wife said, “No, I don’t feel like eating it. I forgot he had a cold,” she tried to end the matter.
But the boy didn’t want to lose the chance of selling it either, “Then you can eat, no?” the boy said.
This time the old lady felt like slapping him. But she didn’t, “You get out of here,’ she said harshly.
The small boy heaved up his chest and threw an ugly look and walked away from there. He didn’t wear any sandals on his feet. The imprints of his feet could be clearly seen on the wet sandy beach.
The old woman wrung her hands around her husband’s left arm and leaned on his shoulder. She didn’t cry this time and tried to soothe him. She knew how it hurt him, not having a few rupees to buy a single ice cream. A moment ago she thought they would have got two lakh rupees offered by their son before they had left the house. But she detested this thought more than anything. No, I will die of starvation rather than use that money, she thought and pushed her face against her husband’s chest.
The red glow of the sun was slowly swallowed by the sea. The blue sky was slowly getting darker now. Few stars appeared on the sky and lit brightly, but not enough to arrest the darkness which was unfolding before their eyes.
The people who had come for an evening walk and the elders who had breathed fresh air and lovers who came to share love talks and the children who were swinging bats to play cricket, all were going back to their houses in groups. The old woman almost closed her eyes and slept for half an hour without even she knew that she was sleeping. Her head was lying on the old man’s lap. The old man didn’t know where to go now. He wanted to eat. The hunger was biting his stomach. They didn’t eat lunch at noon, though they were lucky to have breakfast in the Amma hotel down the beach road.
The smell of fried spicy fish was wafting in the air and induced hunger in him. His mouth was almost watering as he saw some people taking a bite of it. The fluorescent lamps were turned on inside the shops along the beachside. A lot of people had brought cool drinks like Pepsi, Coke, and Bovonto. The old man thought of his grandson Nishodh, as the old memories rushed past his mind. He almost became homesick and felt like killing himself here. If he had a knife he would have stabbed himself and died there. Fortunately, he didn’t have one. He grabbed the wet sand in his hands and tossed it at the waves as if he was cursing it. He prayed to God to give him a quick death. He muttered this prayer as clenched his teeth and looked above the sky. His eyes were fiery and threatening now. But his wife didn’t know anything about it. She was still sleeping on his lap like a child in the crib.
Within next few minutes, people had started hollering and scurrying across the beach in a frenzy. But the old man was happy. He was still sitting down there. Yes, the waves had risen almost to the sky. The people had never seen such gigantic waves in their lives. They knew it was coming to swallow them up like thousands of crocodiles, opening their big mouths with long and sharp teeth. The people who had swarmed around the food stalls and shopping stalls were rushing to save their lives now. Some ladies grabbed their children and put them on their waists and sped away to avoid this imminent danger. The children were squealing about not getting their snacks but they didn’t know anything about the soaring waves which was coming to ruin them. The vendors had pulled their cash drawers and grabbed whatever amount they could take in their hands because they knew how much they had toiled to earn such pennies. The waves were crashing forward furiously. But the old man hadn’t risen up. He sat there like a mountain, unshakable. But he was shocked when his wife didn’t stir at all amidst this clamor. He slowly tried to shake her; his fingers were quivering as he clasped her shoulders and shook her gently. But there was no motion from her. His lap was weighing heavily as if he had a big boulder on it. He shook hard about her shoulders. This time her head slid off from his lap and fell on the sandy mud. Her eyes were blue and glistened like the dead goat’s. The sandy mud was sticking on her hair. He thought she was going to brush aside the sand in her hair, but she didn’t it. A shuddering terror tread down his soul, he couldn’t still believe she was dead. The tsunami waves, screaming and yelping with tremendous force while splashing the water like thunder had stuck now. The old man had craned his neck to see the waves. He had stood up now. He had nothing to lose in the world, he ran down and took the plunge to death. The waves were groaning and spinning in sinuous forms as came down in a lightning speed. He closed his eyes before it. He knew he was going to die. But he wasn’t afraid of it. He thought the waves were going to swallow him, but the gigantic waves had stopped before him as if God had given command over it.
Five seconds…..nothing happened….the old man eyes’ were still shut…..
Ten seconds……nothing happened….the old man eyes’ slowly opened to see why he wasn’t yet dead.
He was stunned to see the waves standing before him, but it was jerking to and fro like an eagle was in the air with its wings spread over.
“Come, kill me. Why are you waiting for?” the old man said in an angry voice.
“No I won’t kill you,” it responded in a thick but droning voice.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t see any reason why you should die. Did you ever see people are standing here to confront me?” the waves asked in a clam but raspy voice.
The old man turned left and right and then back, he didn’t see anyone there. Not even a pug.
“No, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t kill me?” the old man said, his cheeks were drawn tighter.
“Wait. It won’t take me a second to swallow you. But tell me why you wanted to die?”
The old man gave a pungent look, he didn’t want to be questioned, “I have lost everything. Everything. You understand what I mean?”
“You want to die because your son had pushed you out of the house?”
The old man shrugged his shoulders.
“Who is that lady?” the waves said, as it had pointed its finger which was formed out of the gigantic waves.
“She is my wife. She is dead. She is dead,” the old man started shedding tears, his torso was shaking badly. The grievance had stung his heart, as he ran down furiously to fall himself on the Tsunami waves and die. But these gigantic waves drew back and a hand came from it and pushed him back.
“Stay there. Don’t come near me. I am not going to kill you,” the waves said.
The old man was furious this time, “Who are you to save my life?”
The waves nodded and said in a calm but assuring voice, “I am the God of the sea.”
“What?” the old man said, unbelieving what he had heard. “No, you must be joking,” he sniggered.
“You fool. Listen to me carefully. I gave a life to you. And I know when you should leave this earth. But trying to kill yourself is only shows your cowardliness. Life can throw thousands of problems at your face, but you should have to show a mental strength and unflinching determination to solve these problems. That’s the way you have to live your life. But you…" The waves said.
The old man’s anger was softened and his eyes were slightly quivered to look at the waves, “I don’t have any choice after my son had asked me to leave the house. Now my wife is also dead. Oh God, don’t give me these crummy philosophies now. Take me. I am not willing to live here anymore. This world is full of crocodiles. I have lost the battle. Take me with you.”
The waves moved to and fro with a swishing noise, “No, I don’t. See life is a battle. You have to show your strength to overcome it successfully, but you shouldn’t cower like a coward.”
“I am a coward. Take my life,” the old said in a high voice.
The waves rose high and slapped on his face, “You can’t. First, you should destroy that thought from your memory. Show this world you can do anything even at your age. You can do anything until your last breath. Go and show your son and daughter-in-law, that you are living peacefully without them. Don’t think your world is limited to your son and your grandchildren. Ever read Khalil Gibran books? Know this truth. Your children had come through you, but they do not belong to you. It is just nature’s way of sustaining things. Don’t you know Shakespeare told this world is nothing but drama? So, don’t take things seriously to your heart. I don’t think you have ever read Bhagavad Gita. At least when you had big problems, you should have read it. But you didn’t. Did you?”
The old man ducked his head.
“There is an opportunity in every adversity. Realize this truth, you never regret anymore,” the waves said, the hands of waves almost came close to pat on the old man’s shoulder.
“But what this old fellow can do in this age?” he asked in a beseeching voice.
“When one door is closed, another door is opened for you. Look within yourself carefully and you knew what should be done. I know you have served as a banker, am I right?”
The old man shook his head reservedly.
“Who said the life of a man is over when he retires from work? Who said you have to stop working after your retirement? The age limit is only for the person who is lazy. You can work until your soul fades away from your body. Why can’t you go and work as a cashier in some restaurant? Why can’t you go and work as a gardener in some rich houses? Why can’t you work as a social reformer to do some good for this society? Why can’t you join with homeless elders and build a new company? You see, your contribution to this country hasn’t stopped yet,” The waves said.
The old man’s mind reeled with so many positive thoughts now. It was like new blood was flowing into his body. He felt relaxed after a long time, more importantly, some confidence had returned to him. He was happy to receive such positive energy at this age. He believed he could move ahead in his life. He was ready to face any kind of situation which life might hurl at him. His eyes glowed like a campfire.
“Thanks. You have made me realize the face of truth. I am indebted to you for this glorious talk. I am not going to die. Yes, I am not going to die like a coward. I respect this life. Even though I had lost my wife, I am inclined to live and do some good for this society. I am not going to worry about my son either. Nobody is going to hurt me without my permission, as Mahatma Gandhi said. Oh, I have realized the golden words now. Thank you,” the old man bent low and folded his hands before the tsunami waves. When he opened his eyes and straightened his body, the gigantic waves were no more in the sea. It had become normal. In fact, the waves again rose and fell normally. And the waves slowly tread down and crashed on his feet leaving foam around his ankles. The small bubbles cracked. Yes, the old man was already started enjoying his new life.