Freak o' Nature...

After having witnessed my first (n in all probability, last) hailstorm at Delhi.. I didn't expect to observe anything related to nature that wud be quite as spectacular.. until today. It was just another day, except dat it was raining pretty hard. My grandmom informed me that water had seeped thru the compound walls n entered our bldng. So I rushed to d balcony to check n was distracted by d sea. Now, having stayed at seaface for 22 yrs, I am used to d furious monster dat plays havoc wid all creatures, living and otherwise, within some metres of its reach, every monsoon.. namely, d beach. And its never a boring sight; it can keep u mesmerised for hours. the difference dis time was, I had a digi! lolz.. so I set out wid dat, my windcheater n my cell, to d beach, once d rains had stopped.

I went 2 d lane adjacent 2 mine, aftr hearin frm some1 on d road dat it was totally waterlogged. Made my way thru d 1 foot footpath, d remaining 3 feet of wich plus d road was under water.

Have u evr seen flooding NOT due to rains in Mumbai? I did today. Neways I reached d end of the lane.. wich was bordered by othr curious souls, some like me, takin pics of d fascinating sights. Just dat some things cant be captured in text or photos.. the howling wind, d crashing n ebbing of d waves on d rocks, d myriad shades of blue and grey that seemed to stretch from d sea to d skies, d mist of froth n foam dat wud engulf u if u stood close enuf 2 d waves.. wich i did, for a while.. it was safe coz i was standing at a height.. below me wer rocks n d waves wer hitting that.. just d gentle spray was hitting me. Aftr some time I went back 2 d end of d lane from d shore.. or watever little der was remaining of d shore. I stood atop a bench thnking I cud capture d waves from a different angle. Now I have a knack of not noticing fast moving objects coming towards me.. even if its right in fronta my eyes.. so whilst i moved d digi from left 2 right, i got soaked. DRENCHED from head to toe. It happened in an instant, d effect was equivalent 2 some one emptyin a bucket of water on you. Wen I opened my eyes, I realised wat had hpnd.. d wave had climbed over d 2 feet of rocks, lunged over d shore, n planted itself onto d bench at d end of d road.. wer I was standin. FREAK!! Thank God I wasnt actually on d shore..

Der wer a lot of "ohhh"s and "aahh"s frm d handful of spectators arnd.. and some" madam aap neeche aa jao" wen dis hpnd. I askd a guy 2 take a pic of me in dis bedraggled state.. wich he did, wid some advice.. "wen u hear sound of d waves becomin a large roar, u must step back". Right.

This experience left a thrill dat cant be put down in words.. its all in d moment.. i still feel d unexpected impact of salt n water on me.. n it feels gr8! Had actually planned 2 write a poem a coupla weeks back.. jst wasnt gettin d right words.. abt a painter who goes 2 d sea durin a storm 2 capture its beauty first hand.. n never returned back.. kinda had a deja-vu wid dis.. Mother Nature sure can be beautiful and dangerous at d same time..