The Sunrise

The Sunrise

Roaming around the lonely beach on beautiful sunsets is everyone’s dream. And people do take advantages of such moments. However there’re very few who roam around a beach on early sunrises. I don’t know if the reason. Is it because most people don’t want to disturb their sleep? Or is it something else? Anyways, I don’t have such moments so often since I live in a town which is hundreds of miles far from the closest seashore. But yes, sometimes I do go on trips to enjoy the blissful beauty of nature.

Few years ago, I was on one of such trips along with my family. And Family Trips often end up around religious places. As a devout learner of history and culture, I never had any objection in pilgrimages. Fortunately, in Gujarat, most religious places have soulful nature. Some of them are situated at hills while some of them are situated on beautiful seashores. Anyways, we were travelling towards the western coast of Gujarat which is the shoreline of Arabian Sea. When people travel around that part of Gujarat, they make several stops like Somnath, Dwarka, Porbandar, Jam Nagar, etc. We had decided to go on round trip so that we could visit at least all of these places once. As soon as we crossed Junagarh, I made up my mind to wake up early the next morning and enjoy the beautiful sunrise at the seashore. Since we were heading toward Somnath, I thought it was a great idea. Being such an enthusiast and admirer of nature, art and music, I never miss such moments. I was in college in those days. However, it was Diwali Vacation when we were travelling. And I was in the first year of college. Few months ago, I had been through some terrible days when my result of HSC was declared and it was completely unexpected. Contrary to my expectations. Horrible, if I could just name it in one word. And I was in despair, in depression for few days until I got admission in Engineering. Although, I couldn’t reserve my seat in the branch I had always aspired. Yet getting an admission was a good news that cheered me up a little. However, that sadness of not achieving my first dream would stay forever with me. Honestly, that was the first trip I had gone after my result. Otherwise I didn’t actually go outside except for home to college and college to home. That had become my life. But this trip... I thought of making it an oblivion for those dolorous memories and overwriting some refreshing ones on their place.

Another thing that affected my nature was that I’m an introvert. I have always been an introvert. You might say the worst kind of introvert, who doesn’t like any people, who spends most of his life in one room without even chatting either with real people or on social media and even without interacting with his own family. Girls! Well, I'm the shyest person in the entire world. Perhaps I always will be. So that didn’t happen anyway. With such mind-set even if you decide to let yourself enjoy a moment or two, you’d look for lonely moments where you could breathe the bliss of serenity. And that’s what I did. I planned to roam on a beach alone in an early morning.

I had woken up at 4 AM in the morning. We were staying at a hotel and I didn’t want to disturb anyone. Although, I kept my mobile with me in case people would panic after not seeing me there. So, I sneaked out of the hotel while the guard was still sleeping at the door. But another guard caught me.

“Where are you going, sir?” he asked politely.

“On the beach,” I replied bluntly. It was dark in the hotel as all the lights were off. And the guard flashed his torch directly on my face. I closed my eyes as it was unbearable to look at such vividness just after a slumber. 

“It’s too early to go there,” he said, glancing at his wrist watch. “I doubt if they’d allow you to roam around.”

“Who?” I frowned.

“The police, sir,” he said. “They guard the shore. You see, these tourists often behave stupidly and lose their lives. That’s why the shore must be guarded.”

“Don’t worry! I won’t be harmful,” I assured. "I'm not suicidal either."

He stared at me suspiciously. Perhaps my last comment had made an opposite influence on his mind.

“I’m not going to dive into the sea,” I said. “I just want to see the sunrise.”

“Well, we don’t have a better sunrise point. So, alright. But if you don’t come before 7, I’ll have to inform your family,” he instructed.

“I’m not planning to stay there till the place becomes a fish market,” I reassured.

I left the hotel and went to the beach. Fortunately, we were staying in one of the closest hotels, so it wasn’t a long walk. I could see the beach while I was walking down the road. The water was dark, probably reflecting the dark blue sky which was towering above us/me. When I gazed up, the sky was clear. Though I could see a bit glow that indicated that sunrise was near. I noted the streets completely empty. Although, I saw some people rushing towards the famous temple of Somnath. They had woken up early to see the first Aarti of Mahadeva. I also wanted to see that first Aarti. But I knew that during the days of vacations, there are always a huge rush at temples. And I didn't want to just have a glimpse of it and be kicked out. So I headed in the opposite direction. After few minutes, I was on the beach where I saw an officer speeding towards me. I was waiting for him to come and finish his lecture.

“You can’t go closer, sir. It’s not safe at this time,” he said. 

I saw a cup of tea in his hand and smoke swirling out of it. He had hung his gun on his left shoulder. His thick moustache was gloriously fluttering in heavy wind. I could feel the coldness of upcoming winter in the air. It was the first week of November and the freezing winds of the Himalayas were probably travelling towards us.

“I’m just here to see the sunrise,” I said.

He looked around to see if anyone was behind me. “And I’m alone,” I said.

“Well, no one comes this early to see the sunrise,” he said, sipping his tea. “It’s too early.”

I glanced at my wrist watch; it was 4:40 by then. I realized that I took enough time in refreshing myself at the hotel. And that guard took five minutes.

“It’s almost half an hour till we could see the first glimpse of the sun,” he said.

“I know,” I nodded. “But the real beauty is to see the sun rising. And that begins now. The sky will soon lose its dusk as the faint light would invade it.”

He smiled. “This is the western coast. It wouldn’t be a sunrise as you’ve been seeing in the movies,” he said.

“I know that. I don’t expect it to be dramatic,” I chuckled. “When the sun would rise at certain height, its rays would directly fall on the water. Now, imagine the waves and the water gleaming like a molten gold at that moment,” I said enthusiastically.

“I don’t have to imagine. I see it every day,” he said proudly with a gentle smile on his brave face.

“Then what’s the problem if I wanted to see it?” I argued.

“Because you’re a tourist. We can’t risk to let you in,” he replied.

“Oh, please! No one is here. No one will come until 6:30. Let me go,” I requested.

“I can’t let you go,” he shook his head. “But you can come with me. We sit there,” he pointed at their tent. “You can see whatever you want to as long as you don’t disappear from my sight.”

That was my only chance to view that amazing moment. I couldn’t deny this opportunity. Besides, their tent was almost close to the shore. Although, they had cautiously made it to keep it safe from the tide. I agreed and followed him towards his tent.

I saw another officer lying on a desi bed there. He was still deep in sleep. The officer who was with me signalled me to pick up a stool and follow him quietly while he did the same. We both went a bit closer to the shore and we put our stools there. He had carried his plastic cup along with a grey kettle.

“Want some tea?” he offered.

“No. Thank you,” I shook my head while yawning.

“It will absorb your slumber and freshen you up,” he said remarking my yawning.

So, I nodded. He pulled out his plastic cup and there was another cup beneath it. He poured some tea and gave it to me. I took a sip and started gazing into the horizon. The weather was becoming warmer and the darkness was fading slowly. Yet there was no sign of the sun, but its pale orange glow had started marching across the sky.

“You have pretty amazing job, huh!” I muttered.

“It’s the most exhausting job in the entire world,” he snorted. “You meet plenty of stupid people all day and you can’t even talk to them in loud voice. They come here and do some useless stuff.”

“Well, people are awkward,” I agreed.

“They’re not awkward. Most of them are just stupid,” he said. I looked at him for some explanation. “People arrive here and rush to bath in this salted water. Moreover they take their little kids inside the water. And sometimes while their parents are busy, the kids roam around freely. How careless are those parents! Can’t they see that their kids could drown in this deep water? This is ocean, not a bloody swimming pool!”

Well, he was right. People do such kind of things and eventually these guards are accused for their carelessness. But most of the times the truth is rather opposite.

“Moreover, those balloon-mans and vendors encourage tourists to take some risks,” he said. “Why the hell you want to be adventurous at the ocean? Can’t you see its enormous waves racing towards you? Sometimes one wave is enough to drag you off the shore.”

“Hmm. Yes, they’re stupid,” I admitted.

We talked for half an hour there and he told me about his previous jobs and postings and I told him my little story of youth which was not as intriguing as his previous postings. He told me that he had been posted at Dwarka too for several months where he saw the same stupidity of people. He had been posted at borders of Kutch as well, which was fascinating to hear. He told me about the life there. He also told me about his family as I had inquired. He had a wife and a small daughter who were living in a village from where he came. His both parents had passed away and his younger brother was working in a textile factory. I asked him how often he visited his village and he replied that he went to visit them every four months.

While we were talking, we realized that the sun was rising behind our backs. As I had expected, the sun-rays fell directly on the waves of the ocean and the ocean gleamed in a surface of molten gold. The birds started singing and chirping and the air became warm. After watching the impact of sunrise on the ocean, I turned around to look at the sunrise. Though the high structures of hotels were penetrating the skyline, the sun was gleaming behind them gloriously. It was pale yet, but it had made the edges of those building gleaming like sharp golden blades. It rose slowly and I looked at the ocean again. The atmosphere had become brighter and the darkness had faded away completely.

“Here is your view,” the officer murmured.

I saw those four golden waves racing behind each other to reach the shore. I thought of my dreams racing like those waves to reach their destination. But as soon as the first wave collided the shore, the following waves collided into each other and shattered just like my dreams. But one thing I learnt from that race was that those waves would restart their race and some other wave would lead this time and make its way towards the shore first. Perhaps we should also reshape our dreams just like those waves reshape themselves. Perhaps we should start that race again because the life is not over yet. Those waves wouldn’t stop their race until the ocean dries up. And we must not lose hope until our life ends. Perhaps that is life.

One more thing that I understood that day was that the nature inspires our soul to be pure, to be honest, to be peaceful and to be continuous. Because the nature always has answers to all of our questions. It has the most positive motivation for life. Perhaps because it (nature) is life. We take birth in the womb of nature and we live our lives by the laws of nature in order to fulfill our destinies and eventually to fulfill the nature’s destiny. Even if we lose hope in our lives, we have to live for our destiny. For the nature’s destiny. Because it’s all connected. And they all together make life.