Life is beautiful

I'm cramped.My legs ache from crouching and my body is restless.I watch the sea,calm and clear,like molten glass.The setting sun's honey-gold light cast long streamers of color in the water.I long to get up and stretch,to walk barefoot on the cool sands,but I dare not.My guide motions me to be silent and points to the sandy bump we've been watching for the last three hours.I sigh,continue to watch,and my mind wanders to the thing that’s intrigued me all day:the Kasav's blessing.Velas is a sleepy village hidden away from tourists,and in that lies it’s beauty.It’s unspoiled by the commercialism that inevitably follows a rise in tourism.I’d spent the day exploring the village.The well trodden paths were fringed by trees,Coconut,Betelnut,Cashewnut and Mango.Children waved at me happily as they ran around barefoot and women went about their chores and yet,all those who saw me invited me in for tea!Velas is not too far from the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai and yet,it couldn’t be more different.The pace is calm and unhurried and the people,warm and welcoming.Every home had a Kasav(turtle)painted onto its outer wall.Everyone spoke of the Kasav’s blessings.A bountiful harvest,the birth of a baby,a wedding in the village,all of it was attributed to the Kasav.I was so curious!It was this curiosity that led me to the beach,where we now sat.It's a glorious sunset,a pristine beach,gentle waters and swaying palms.I snap back to reality suddenly as my guide grabs my arm and points.The top of the sandy bump begins to wriggle!Then,through the sand,emerges a tiny,baby turtle!I sit stunned and watch this baby Olive Ridley turtle take his first steps.In that moment,I am oblivious to everything!I am hypnotized,by the miracle unfolding in front of my eyes!The turtle wavers,he's unsteady but gradually makes his way to the sea.He reaches the edge,the waves are lapping over him.He enters the water,the wave breaks and he's engulfed in foam,but he is pushed back by the waves,and then,he learns.This time,when a wave hits him,he ducks his head and in a fraction of a second,he is gone!It’s a surreal experience, a blessing,to witness the miracle of life,of nature, to witness an animal in it’s own habitat.In that fleeting encounter I understood meaning of the Kasav's blessing,about the ties we have with nature.I learnt a simple and profound truth that day,summed up by my guide,”The sea is their home. We are grateful for all that they give us but we mustn’t take more,it’s not ours to take”