It was a Friday late noon. Anwar and three of his friends decided to go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at the Camella beach side. The sea, for some reason seemed to be extremely hushed, with barely any waves. The blue water was enchanting, Anwar and his friends were excited about plunging into the blue vastness of the water on this pleasant day. Anwar always loved swimming, having learnt to swim when he was five. He was born and brought up in a temple town in Kerala with lakes and rivers, and swimming was like a walk in the park for him.
Anwar and his friends set out to swim in the slightly warm water that evening. The sun was beginning to take leave of the day and the sky was a splash of blue and orange hues. The gentle sea breeze complemented the mood. “What a lovely evening!” they all thought. Anwar’s friends were also good swimmers like him and they were moving far away from the shore.
They were talking about their work in the steel plant. They were expats. They talked about the work schedules, their bosses, and their coffee breaks. It is great fun to be floating in the middle of the sea with an orange blue sky above you and the bluest of blue water around you. A welcome break from routine indeed! Anwar was lost in his thoughts and had lost track of his friends and surroundings too.
Anwar was curious and wanted to feel the depth of the sea. He descended into the abyss. He was very good at underwater swimming, having played hide and seek many times in the large temple tank back home. He dived downwards but could not touch the bottom and could only see the reflections of the orange and now red sky above. Then he remembered his own lines.
"How fathomable it could be, wondered the onlooker
Sitting at the shores of the mighty ocean
Like the human mind,
Who can fathom its depth?”
With these strange thoughts, he decided to swim back to the surface and meet his friends so that they could stroke back together to the shore. He could do that easily while holding his breath, as he had done that many times while swimming in the river in his village even during the peak monsoon. He remembered crossing the river and reaching the other shore, braving the copious flow with very little deviation. He had emerged winner among many revellers those days at this daunting task.
“Where are my friends?” He looked around after inhaling a lungful of air, when he reached the surface of the water. To his shock, he could not see them. They probably may have started swimming back to the shore. He also decided to swim back. But in which direction is the shore? He tried to figure it out. He tried to recollect the map of the small town and its seashore, but then he realised how bad he was with directions. And anyways, how good can one be with directions while trying to gather wits together in the middle of a deep sea? He knew well that swimming towards the wrong direction will be a disaster. The sun was slowly setting and it was getting darker.
Fear and panic was beginning to grip him completely. He was able to hear his own heartbeats – loud and clear. In the middle of the sea – alone and lost?
He looked around to see if there were any signs of life, like ships, boats, or anything. He could see nothing other than the bluish black water and the crimson orange sky. He floated on his back, as he knew well that the back stroke is the least tiring of all the styles of swimming. The sky was slowly turning from a beautiful blue to a forbidding darkness. Anwar started seeing the early shining planets and stars in the sky. Yes, he was seeing the stars in his mind, literally with the fear of being lost and having nowhere to go! Even though he was in the water, his face and head started sweating. They say that swimming is one of the best aerobic exercises because your entire body will maintain the same temperature. But that is during normal times, not when you are lost in the middle of the sea like he was!
Anwar started praying to all the Gods he knew. He was born and brought up in a community where people of different faiths lived together, respecting each other’s beliefs and customs. Many of his friends were of different faiths, and it never made any difference to them as they participated in each other’s religious festivals and functions. He remembered the many temple and church festivals he attended and the many occasions he invited his friends to attend the mosque activities and iftar parties. Anwar rather believed in only one religion, the religion of humanity. A myriad of thoughts scrambled into his mind at once. They were about the people he loved the most, like his siblings, parents, and close friends. In real distress, one remembers the value of the good times one has spent with near and dear ones.
As the sky was slipping into darkness with the sun drowning into the deep sea, Anwar realised that the same darkness was engulfing his life too! When one is in misery, fear is the worst emotion. His thoughts went back to the NCC (National Cadet Corps) days at college. Captain Muthu, who was his maths professor, was also a man of character. He always told the young cadets “Never lose hope, fight it out till the end," one of the mantras of the military men and women of the world. But to his utter dismay, no signs of hope were forthcoming, and he was slowly losing the energy to fight. Was he staring at death?
Anwar was desperately looking at the almost dark sky, hopeless. Then suddenly, he saw, like a splash of light, some dark spots moving in the sky. Was he hallucinating? No, the black dots were many. There might have been a couple dozen of them moving fast in one direction. He strained his salty, wet eyes carefully and focused on them. Alas, they were a flock of birds flying in unison in one direction. They are lucky because they can fly and reach their destination. Then suddenly, it occurred to him that the birds must be flying at this twilight time, obviously towards the shore! He looked at them again, gathered all his energy, and started swimming in the same direction as the birds. The birds were much faster than him and vanished from his vision quickly, most likely directing him to the shore.
After a hectic swim, he could feel his feet were touching the sands and ocean bed. Ah! What a relief! He has reached home and is safe. He took a deep breath and thanked God for sending those winged angels to save him. Anwar prostrated to nature for its wonderful manifestations, which for him were the winged angels.
By KS Rajan