■ By Vijay Phanshikar :
‘Ocean waves --
They heave and sigh,
Dip low and rise high
And surge and urge
Finally in themselves
They merge ...

 

 

THAT early November morn, the eastern sea was truly boisterous -- as if eager to converse with anyone who was willing. ‘So much I hold within’, He meant to say. ‘So much I want to emote’, He added. And then suddenly, He fell silent -- as if dipped in deep ponder. Then came the roar -- of waves heaving and sighing and hissing and rising and surging on the soft, wet sands, drenching those who stood on the beach. In the distance, two grey and hazy outlines of ships breached horizontal line where the sea met the sky, and danced indolently on the waves. The roar rose. The waves came on to the sandy, curvacious length of the beach with vengeance -- as if in a hurry to make a statement, to nobody in particular but to anybody who would hear.

 

Since Time began, the ocean has been craving to converse, to emote -- acting as both, an elder and a peer. In the process, He evoked poetry, inspired writers and artists to include His imagery into their thought. And to Mother Earth, the ocean provides an apparel so wonderful and so beautiful and so sentimentally appealing ! Standing on the beach and peering into the dance of oceanic waves, the ancient verse sprang up in mind: ‘Samudrea Vasaney Devi Parvatah stanamandaley Vishnupatni Namah Stubhyam Padasparsham Kshamasva Me’ (Oh the ocean-clad goddess with mountains adorning the bosom, Please pardon me, for I (must) unavoidably step on you). There, standing on the verge of both -- the Earth and the Ocean -- the beauty of the verse and its depth got all the more pronounced. This is the power of the oceanic persona.

 

Each time one stood by the sea -- all over the globe -- one felt stymied by the greatness and grandeur -- and also graveness from another angle ! It was certainly not without reason that (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi emoted (again on an early morning appointment with the ocean): Hey ... Sagar !!! Tumhe Mera Pranaam ! Tu dheer hai, gambhir hai, Jag ko jeevan deta, neela hai neer tera/ Ye athah vistaar, ye vishalta, Tera ye roop nirala/ Satah par chalta ye kolahal, ye utpat, Kabhi upar to kabhi neeche/ Garazti laharon ka pratap, Ya fir santaap? Tum na hote vichalit Na ashankit, na bhaybheet Kyonki tum me hai gaharai! ... One must avoid the protocol of offering translation of these deeply meaningful lines. Suffice, of course, it is to say that as he waited for the diplomatic parleys with the Chinese guest to begin, Narendra Modi engaged himself in deep conversation with the ocean and its nuances.

 

On that November morning, as one stood staring deep into the ocean and at His dance, one got connected with the massive expanse that came as a great reminder of the Divine. Those waves heaved and sighed and surged ... and urged one to join them. On that morning (whose silence was interspersed with joyous babbles of the tourist groups in the distance), one felt a very powerfully magnetic urge to take the plunge -- never to return -- -- and to mingle with that oceanic persona and merge with the Ultimate!