Marine Drive

I was exactly at the

mid of the

road and sea,

impervious to

the traffic

behind me.

It was magical,

the power

of the sea,

how it could

filter

those traffic sounds

behind me

so effectively?

I had come here

after two months,

and

first time

at this time of the day.

The fading sun

made the water

look shimmering golden,

the rest looked

a spectrum

ranging from

golden to

white to

light blue to

darker blue with whitish tinge.

I was like those

washed up fishes

being

gulped and chewed

by

an army of crows

on the beach.

Because,

I was

Surrounded by

young couples

making hesitant love

in broad day-light,

unaware of

the life around.

I guess,

they didn’t notice

my presence,

or were

hardly

unaffected, but

I didn’t miss

a chance to

observe them:

I,

quite blatantly

saw

their self-consciousness,

nervousness,

fear,

awkwardness

in a public space

even though

this was

sort of the

hub.

Well,

they were

boring and

mundane and

typical.

Couple One:

“...pehente hain ye shaadi mein.”

“tum bhi pehnogi?”

“haan, to aur kya!”

Next Couple:

“...tujhe pata hai teri ye aadat kaisi hai?”

“nahi.”

“bilkul meri jaisi.”

and,

right below the platform

I was sitting on

Couple N:

“ah..uh...hmmm...ah.ah.ah...hmmmmm….”

“ouch...ahhhhh”

and then,

finally,

the cool breeze

from the sea

came

and

kissed me.