The Thought Merchants

On the third day, we had a coastal ride and an ayurvedic massage scheduled. I was in the second batch of the ride and the last one for the massage. That meant a lazy morning with nothing to do. For me that means only one thing: A long walk and what is more, a walk along the shore letting the sea caress my feet with its temptingly chill and silky fingers.

Source: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/06/27

Now an idiosyncrasy I share with many Tamils born during the 80s and the 70s is to walk with my hands in my pockets (why do we do that? It is never cold in Chennai. One answer: Style) and the boombox in my head playing "Kadalin Deepam Ondru". Despite being a Kamal Fan, this Rajini number is my default walk song.  Ilaiyaraaja's music is extra-ordinary and Rajini's cool, casual and yet thoroughly love-stricken stroll in the woods is a visual thoroughly imprinted in our minds.

Though Shankar and ARR tried to replace the above song with  Kadhal Anukkal, it is the TR variant that captured my mind and those visuals are unshakeable.Shudder!

Utopia!

So there I was walking along the fuzzy line between the blue sea and the brown sands ,with my mind, inspired by the coconut trees growing a few meters from the shore, swaying in a fuzzier line of reality and fantasy, when I observed a very unique game of cat and mouse between the sea and  a group of small black and white birds which were running at the edge of the sea eating the molluscs and other small animals that the sea was feeding them with. At the same time they were wary of the waves dragging them off into the undercurrent and hence they would hop back when the wave receded only to run back in when a fresh wave arrived. Any ornithologists reading this, kindly leave a comment of your best guess for what this bird could be.

I had reached the edge of the resort and was crossing into the village. As if to mark the location, a black dog was standing there snarling at Bozo who was keeping me company till now. The mild mannered saint who cared not for any more fights in his life, quietly turned and walked back to give company to the other more clear headed members of our group.

Coral deposits uncovered by the magic waves!

As I continued my walk, I found large coral deposits with the waves covering and uncovering it like a magician waving his cloth. I moved on and reached the coconut grove only to find that one of the trees was actually uprooted by the storm. As I was taking a snap of the uprooted tree a couple of dogs which were standing near the tree walked towards me and gave me a nudge before walking away. I normally dont read the minds of Dogs but somehow this time I felt him saying, "Dude! That tree was standing long before you were even an idea. How dare you saunter here and go about taking pictures? Have some respect, mate!"

The return walk!

Admonished by those sage thoughts which I projected into their heads, I started my return walk towards the resort with my over-active mind relishing self righteous musings about the nobility of appreciating without the need to possess and how even photography is a burden to the renunciant. Even as I was shallowly admiring my own apparently deep thoughts, the still sane part of my mind stormed out with Advaitic exasperation the most important question of all, "Who Cares?" (link leads to an awesome story) and with that my mind could finally be at peace. Thank God for that. Else, I would have had to join TA.( Do go through the TA link. Gives one a lot to not think about![;)])

Time for the coastal ride. The concept of this is to take us to deep sea where we may be able to see dolphins in the early morning and also we could do some deep sea swimming. However the recent storm meant that we could not get to the sea till the sun was pretty much up in the sky. However, the mid-sea swim was still on. Though I could not swim and the other two in my group could, I too insisted on getting down to the water and wading through it while frantically flapping my hands and legs, scaring away any dolphin which might have still been hanging around.

On the return ride to the shore, they stopped the boat about 200m away from the shore and said that we may swim back if we like. My swimmer friends jumped out and were on the way back when I insisted that I will also join them. A unique feature of my swimming is no matter how much I flap my hands and legs, the motions somehow manage to cancel out each other keeping me at the exact same spot I started and if trying to be too smart I decide to move only my hands or legs, I actually move backwards. I know. A masterpiece of God!

The final goodbyes.

So after exhausting all my energy, I just lay back with my face to the sun as the most considerate Sai Vishram life guards pulled me along to the shore. That is when I realised that I did get to meet the dolphins. Aren't they the creatures who help men stay afloat in the sea. That is exactly what these guards were doing. They were my very own dolphins. [:D]

With a heavy heart and a tongue reluctant to leave, we finished our lunch in the resort and headed to Mangalore to catch our bus to Bangalore. On the way we went to the famous Udupi temple for the Darshan of Lord Krishna in his childhood form holding a churning rod in one hand and a rope in an another and churn our hearts He did with His breathtaking beauty. I don't remember seeing any other idol of Krishna which captivated me as much as this Udupi Avatar. Due to the devotional yearing of Sri Kanakadasa, who due to his caste could not enter the temple from the front, Krishna has turned 180 deg to give him Darshan through the window. The window has 9 holes indicating the 9 forms of devotion through which we can please God.

The Udupi Temple Tank

After feeding the soul, it was now time for the stomach. We were looking forward to the much hyped Outlook-Dosa in Mitra Samaja Restaurant, a popular mid level restaurant near the temple. Unfortunately Wednesday being their weekly holiday, the tiffin centre was closed. Satiated with food for the eye, we proceeded on our journey towards Mangalore. Grabbing a quick dinner,we headed to the bus stand and crashed into a deep slumber even before the bus started on its journey back to Bangalore. The vacation had come to its end.

A special note of appreciation and gratitude to all the staff of Sai Vishram Beach Resort who made us feel right at home while letting us float onto heaven.