Skip to main content

Ocean's Eleven

I recently went on a short trip to a seaside town with a group of ladies, mostly middle-aged working women and it was indeed a trip to remember. We met at the railway station. Initially the conversations revolved around husbands stranded at home with zero-knowledge of cooking, much at the mercy of food delivery boys; and teenage kids who were more than happy to say good-bye to their hovering moms.

The train arrived. We got on board and soon the clanging wheels got us excited about a lot of other things. We chattered on about being free from domestic responsibilities for two full-days and being on our own. The compartment was filled with silly jokes and senseless laughter as we got younger in years. My mind travelled to my college days and I was reminded of the educational trips I went with my friends. Yes.  We were teenagers, once more.

As the night wore on, we realised we were teenagers only in terms of our endless giggles and jokes. We were given several upper berths for bed and climbing them with our 40-something inflexible bodies was quite the hurdle. Some of us did manage to do it eventually with a lot of cheering from our travel buddies and also fellow travellers in the nearby coaches. I must say I felt like I had reached the peak of Mt. Everest with all the cheering. No less a feat, I guess.

The next day, we arrived and headed straight to the beach. Lo and behold, we, the middle-aged women were now prancing on the waves, laughing excitedly; collecting shells and squealing like six-year-olds every time the waves rushed towards us. I could see age and worldly worries wash away with the crystal-clear waters.

A considerable amount of time was also spent trying to make Instagram reels to mimic the fads of our teenager kids. And I must say we were reasonably good at it, aided by a friendly, neighbourhood lifeguard who readily became an impromptu director and cinematographer for our reels.

We also tried to go on a bird-watching expedition on one of the mornings and spent more time trying to get the binocular in focus rather than actually watch birds. After several failed attempts, we did manage to catch sight of a few exotic birds. We did have the help of a very enthusiastic father-son avid bird watching duo who were staying in the same hotel and who willingly gave us free lessons on birds, even though we were rather unwilling students.

The sunset was magical. As the tides set in and the sun went down and the waves glimmered as gold, we stood together- eleven women, from different walks of life, world-worn with so many different stories of our own, mesmerized and rejuvenated by the beauty that is nature. I turned to my side and looked at this little sisterhood of the traveling kind – fellow travellers in the journey called life and I could see life’s wondrous strokes in each of them.  

Published in Decccan Herald, 16 November 2022

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shah Rukh Khan's marketing superpowers

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No...It's SRK with his Ra.One promotions. I am looking at the Ra.One promotions and I'm literally bedazzled. Is there anything that the King Khan has overlooked? mmmmm....nothing I can think of. From dancing with TV stars to visiting malls (he was swarmed by screaming fans in a mall at Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore), from Youtube to Google+, Shah Rukh has pulled all stops. I just see him anywhere and everywhere. What's more, Ra.One merchandise is selling like hot cakes, these days (even my son wants one!). Not to mention the Playstation video game which is really the brain child of a marketing genius (my son wants that, too). Amazing but just not enough to get me to the theatre. Atleast that's how I felt because of the Ra.One overload, till last sunday. But then came the showstopper. The real eyeball grabber - the super cool Ra.One comic book that came with my Sunday Times, last week. It was so appropriate. So in tune with the movie and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Quite Quiet.

 I spend a day alone. In quiet reflection. But again, it’s not quite quiet. There’s me and my cesspool of emotions. Turbulent. Rocky. Choppy. Like a sea on tide. I’m trying to ride the swirling ebb and flow. Abysmal despair alternates reams of hope Like a lone oarsman caught amidst raging waters I glide and slide. Uneasily. Visions from the past; Stories wrapped in wreaths of pain That seemed long dead and gone, Rise above from deep inside. Like a tsunami Brutal and destructive. I let it take hold. I let the emotions flow. Wild. Feral. Untamed. Seeping through my very being. While I lay still. Very still. Waiting patiently. For the waters to reside. For calm to reign. For healing to begin.
Post a Comment
Read more

Of thought leadership and Indian Media

 Recently, the Supreme Court came down heavily on Television channels for using ‘hate and all such spicy things’ to increase their ratings especially during their prime-time debates. Terming hate speech a ‘poison’ affecting the social fabric of the country, the Supreme Court asked, “Where is our nation headed to if hate speech is what we are feeding on?” Mainstream channels still hold sway and the role of the anchor becomes critical. Media must have freedom of expression but should know where to draw the line, the apex court added. The Supreme Court’s rap for Indian Television media comes at the heel of several controversial and often polarizing discussions that prime-time debates usually delve upon. These vitriolic debates often reach heated heights when communally or socially inflammatory issues are discussed with an eclectic ‘panel of experts’ who most often out-shout each other. Media traditionally is called as the fourth estate, the fourth pillar of democracy that is the w...
Post a Comment
Read more