A Breakaway..

I was tired of working routinely. There was no adrenaline gush any more , and it all the more sounded mundane. The routine jobs seeped in to my sub concious memory...and i sleep walked through work daily...
The routine weekends... watching movies and dining in restraunts did not help change anything except for a bit of relaxation. Apart from washing my clothes there was hardly any productive acitivity that I was doing during the weeekends.

What I needed was not relaxation. It was EXCITEMENT. A thrill to ensure that I forget everything else at that particular point of time and concentrate on enjoying THAT MOMENT. A moment which would last with me for so long that I could still sleepwalk through my work, yet my attention would be else where- which would keep me going...
A characteristic of that the moment is that it might come to you all of a sudden, without any anticipation of it. You might not even pay for it, not do any effort to attain it, yet enjoy the fun and excitement in it...

A couple of weeks ago I went with my colleagues on an official breakaway trip to a resort called MGM on the ECR(east coasst road) about 30km from Chennai..
It had all the regular arrangments which a general beach resort would require. A plush bar (with obscene prices), a good looking restraunt, a swimming pool in which you are not allowed to swim, a clean beach which you are not allowed to enter. A beach volley ball court which looks good but is deserted.

So what the hell did I go to do ??

I went on a Catamaran Trip!!!

After the regular entry into the resort, and a welcome drink and a curious look around, I was desperate to derive some fun out..
The average age group of people I was with.. was good enough to vote for the second time of their life...YET...most of them either wanted to play cricket (which i felt was a boring, since I treated cricket more as a serious sport and played it as professional. And playing on the beach with pot bellies was not much fun) or drink to death...
A few interrogation and investigation sessions later I came to know that couple of kms away lies a fisherman's beach with motor boats, and nets...
I went about asking every person I knew whether anyone would join me to make a visit to fishermans beach..and as usual since majority of them were busy doing something or the other..I walked off alone..

15 min later I reached the beach..and saw 2 of my colleagues already engaged in a conversation with the fishermen..I joined them...5 min later 3 more joined (seeemed like there were a few other guys bored similar to me)....
The deal got finalised... A trip into the water where waves would stop generating..you are free to jump in...enjoy the water...and come back..all for a 100 bucks per head..
It was 5 in the evening..and the weather was turning stormy..we saw the clouds approaching the beach from a distance, and was bringing lightning thunderbolts...yet we wanted to go there..since all felt it is NOW or NEVER...

We got into the motor boats with life jackets on... the waves were coming in fast and strong..each atleast 5-6 feet high..the boat was jumping over the waves and was making head way into the sea...we squatted in the boat 4 on each side...there were 3 fishermen who accompanied us...As the boat was heading into the water jumping over the waves, we guys were being dispositioned from our place time and again...to my surprise the fishermen, 1 standing in the front guiding as the captain, and one on the side of the boat breaking the strong waves with a log, and the 3rd operating the motor behind were fixed onto their positions....as similar to a skater on his wheels who can run through, can dance, can jump...
It started raining... the clouds were right on our head, and the rain drops were thick and dense.. we could still see the sun clearly on the edge of the shore (being east coast, the sun would be in the opp direction to the beach in the evening). Never would any one of us must have thought to go back, although the odds were against us...A potential storm, a violent sea, and none of us knew to swim in the sea!!!

15 min later the motor was killed, and the boat was moving with just the force of the waves..
1 by one each jumped..there was a fear that gripped me, what if I drown...In a swimming pool 10 feet deep also if the situation is un controllable you might hit the floor, yet push it and make it to the surface...This is the SEA, which has no known metric of depth...yet I wanted to do it, I wanted to do it to over come the fear and the regret of not doing it once I would be out of that place...
I got to one of the edges of the boat and jumped!!!


I went in a few feet down and came back...I was floating!!! the life jacket actually worked and kept all of us afloat...yet there was a suspicion, what if the sea is shark ridden, or if there were any poisonous snakes inside...one of the fishermen assured there werent any animals of that sort, and since it was a storm time all sea creatures would be taking asylum in the deep waters...

The crash course on sea creatures gave us confidence...we clinged to the rope tied to the boat and were swaying with the waves..."This was the moment of Bliss"...I left the rope for a few seconds and was relaxed doing nothing..it was a terrific feeling..a thrill of being in water...where I was never before, no fear of drowning or being eaten by any sea creature..it was nothing but sheer enjoyment for 20 min swaying with the waves in the sea..the waves although were directed towards the shores...i actually felt they were pulling us into the sea..any ways who cares...it was great..we were all shouting, whistling, and singing..it was just beautiful...
The stormy clouds went past us and headed towards the sun somewhere..there was no rain anymore..it started getting darker, as the sun was setting..
After a reluctant nod from every one we got back into the boat ( it was hard task for the fishermen to pull us one each into the boat...esp me..though the law of bouyancy was putting its hand up and helping us to move upwards)...
we got back shouting cheering and feeling HAPPY...the pleasure turned into happiness...a priceless joy...a kind of tranquility engulfed me and I was silent for the next 10 min when we hit back to the shores...
A day to remember for me the entire life...I came to know it was a kind of routine activity that people "heard" frequently and actually done "rarely"...yet the situation...the proportion of each element within the scene changed the context in all..I felt most wouldnt have ventured into the sea risking the storm and darkness..most wouldnt have a group of non swimmers sharing the similar desire to get into the sea...

It all just worked out...and in the end it was the best Break Away..a 30 min thriller which would remain on top of list for quite some time


PS: Thanks to one of my colleague who volunteered to stay on the boat to take pics/videos....one look and you would say they are amazing.. :)

On the other side...

I am often curious to know what would the other person think...given we have the same situation at hand, the same physial surroundings, an environment with similar/dissimilar oppurtunities and threats ...In normal circumstances i would guess it 90% of the time inaccurately...
Yes -- the psyche , the mood, the brought up, the back ground of the person add to the weightage of the thought process, yet i really feel wonderstruck how could that thought of mine couldnt have occured to him, or why did I not think the way he thought it is/was.. ( frequency mis match probably)

One hot afternoon, after an intensive job at the work place and long hrs at the desk, I wanted a break, and went on to the lounge/corridor area and picked up some tea.Through the sealed and translucent windows if the sealed corridor I could see a person opposite to my office, right next to a world class tennis court lying on a cot under a tree...
It was a hot afternoon no doubt, since it was may and Chennai!!! ...
I caught a glance of his posture and started observing him... he seemed to be middle aged, dressed for comfort in a dhoti tied above his knees, and a white cotton shirt which had mud marks..He had a Beedi in his left hand and a radio on his right laid side ways on his bed and was gazing at the glass windows of my office....(Probably he was undergoing a relaxation therapy session which now costs about 5000 rs/hr in the plush interiors of a health spa) . I wondered what on earth must he have done/been doing to relax in the luxury of the sea breeze beneath a huge tree...

Mean while I finished my tea and just gave a one last glance at the person and was about to leave, when some how I felt he was looking at me...being translucent glass he couldnt see through and look at me...yet some how there was an eye contact which i felt, and there was a sense of puzzlement in his eyes...I breathed easy and left to my desk...

A few days later I found out that man i saw relaxing was one of the groundsman specialized in watering the clay courts...
I wanted to join the tennis academy for a few training sessions, and the first familiar face i met as i entered the academy premises was this man... he appeared more wrinkled, than what he looked from my office window...

With my toota phoota tamil, i introduced myself and asked for the incharge person there, he pointed towards a person who was then engaging kids, and teaching them how to slam a ball past the court..I went to him, cleared all modalities and was returning...
the grounds man came in my way, looked up at me and asked what you guys do there in the big building...there are so many people working on the computer, wonder you must be the great people...what do you study to go there...I broke into a smile...and conversed with him for a while..

When i was alone i recollected the thought sequence when i first saw this grounds man and was mapping the same with his viewpoint about people inside the building behind the glass windows..!! What a contrast!

The other side is always mysterious..