Happiness is....sand and waves

Friday, 8th March, 9pm: After a long day at work, I was winding down and looking to retire early for the night. My wife - Sakshi walked in and started to discuss about the weekend ahead. I wanted to groan and be grumpy😩 but stopped short (been in this situation before, being grumpy doesn't help...it pays to listen)

One of the ideas she suggested was hitting the beach away from the city early morning to watch the sunrise. Our son Ahaan would love to play, building sand castles, waves...perfect plan, we would have the whole beach to ourselves.

Sakshi likes to get up late on the weekends, but she had made an exception here. I loved the idea (good, I listened...a thousand points to me and the points don't matter 😊). We planned to have breakfast right after, it would be the best way to spend the morning.

Saturday, 9th March, 530am - we were ready and raring to go. We live about 20 minutes from the beach, so were there fairly quickly (not much traffic in the early hours). Like we imagined, we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves. We settled down and relaxed on the beach while Ahaan got busy building sand castles (this is serious play for kids)

The surf gently breaking and washing the beach, the sun playing peek-a-boo from a blanket of clouds and crabs with their pincers in the air gently swaying to the rhythm of the waves. There was a slight nip in the air which was just perfect...not too cold and not too warm.

We were in the lap of beauty and it was mesmerising. Thoughts have no place here and solitude is just a word in a dictionary. 

We spotted some of the local fishermen digging for crabs and clams...its hard work. we greeted some of them with a smile and they greeted us back with a smile. They even showed us some of their catch. Have to admit, for someone who is busy making their livelihood so early, it was a privilege that they indulged our curiosity. 

Some distance away, we spotted the carcass of a dead sea turtle. Perhaps it was washed ashore and couldn't make it back, it was sad because they are truly magnificent creatures. A stark reminder that everything exists in nature in balance.

Life is truly precious and moments of joy, togetherness, bonding and happiness are free, all it needs is investment of mind and heart...really, all free.

After an hour, we decided to head back to town and the promise of a pipping hot breakfast. Sangeeta restaurant on OMR does not disappoint. Hot dosas, idlis, vadas and fresh aromatic south Indian coffee...superb way to sign off on a Saturday morning adventure...simple pleasures in life.

Thank you Sakshi and Ahaan for a wonderful morning!💕