A piece of paradise

I have been meaning to write this post from a long time. But this laziness!! I cannot tell you how annoying it can get. Well, so this is not a travelogue. But I want to be a traveller. My bucket list has every corner of the world. For the past few months I have picked a new hobby – reading maps. So last month I went to one of the most beautiful places in India – Dhanushkodi. This place is approximately 20 kms from Rameshwaram. We had to take one bumpy ride by a jeep to get to this place. The significance of this place is that it is only 28 kms away from Srilanka. It is a very small island that has gone through too much in the past. As our wrecked jeep whose speedometer did not work drove through the sands I saw the remains of the british buildings, roads laid before 1962 and the railway tracks that were destroyed in a storm that hit the place in 1964. The place has no signs of human except for the tourists like us.

Now, the great Indian ocean and bay of Bengal merge at this place. The water is in 2 shades, dark blue and green. Such a beautiful sight, such a beautiful ocean! I walked along the sea shore collecting sea shells. I played in the water and ran here and there for a while. The speciality of the Indian Ocean is that it is annoyingly silent. You can hear the sound of the waves only as it falls on the ground. I started collecting sea shells along the shore. There were so many in different shapes and colors.

I noticed that the natives are very innocent. All they know is Rameshwaram and a couple of friends they have. They still do not have 3G connection. I lived without internet for 2 days! While I collected sea shells a fisher woman gave away all the shells she collected that day. I offered her money but she denied taking it. She said the happiness on my face is priceless and that made her day. I would definitely not do that. People in places like these are broad minded, loving and innocent! They are always happy because they are ignorant. Ignorance is definitely bliss and beautiful too!

While collecting sea shells along the shore, it struck me that this is life. Walking along the shores of Indian Ocean in a destroyed yet beautiful island, collecting the shells of various types and colors is life. That day to collect as many shells as I could was the only aim. My worries, any little pain that was sticking along in the corner of my heart seemed meaningless. Life has more to it than running behind people who don’t want to stay, regretting about the things that are over, crying over an ended relationship or cribbing about the things that could have been. Life is about travelling the world, living without 3G connection, roaming around with parents and cousins in an unknown village, squeezing up the time and giving upon sleep just so you don’t miss the sunset at Pamban bridge,eating roadside bhel puri and clicking crazy pictures with my old man!

The take away from this trip is that everything is possible for a willing heart if humans can build a bridge across bay of Bengal you can do anything! Travel often and sometimes life is just about collecting sea shells, taking a handful of sand and storing it in a jar at home! :)

Happy New Year - I know it is too late.. but hey it is still January! :)

I am not really good at photography but here are few pics I clicked during the trip.

The Pamban bridge 

The Sunset from Pamban Bridge

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Remains of a temple in Dhanushkodi

The Indian Ocean

The seashells I collected and a handful of Indian Ocean jarred up! :)