Borders blessed

 No doubts about the theme today. Yes, You guessed it right. It is the World Maritime Day today. Talking a little about that vast limitless deep expanse that makes the most of the earth is the infinite topic we discuss today.

The sea! Apparently the land/sea ratio on our earth is 30:70. In other words, the sea covers the Major Part  of the earth and its surface. Marine life, moreover, was where Life, as we understand it today, began. It is indeed fabulous hence reading up anthropology and ecology  No wonder, the existence of marine life is what the space ships are trained to look for.

Incidentally, we know much more about the space than we are aware of the mysteries of the seven seas, our immediate and constant companions. Oh, yes, I have chosen the word 'companion' knowingly because in our childhood, Aai-Papa saw to it that the "Seven Seas" tablets were our best buddies.

The sea! It is a friend near the shore. The soft, scintillating  sands shifting under the feet, the shimmery shades of the not so deep water, the treasures the flow would throw at your feet, the gentle breeze in the mornings and the evenings, and the best of all, the superb Siren Song of the Sea, near the shore, the sea is Picture Perfect, what with the silhouette of the boat masts against the vast expanse of the horizon.

That very gentleness is fierce fury in deep seas. "Roll on, Thou", that Byron ditty, would be a terror at the distance of some five miles away from the shores. The terrible storms that rage there are indeed stomach churning. The " Jal"/water and "Wayu"/wind, the most indomitable of the " panch  mahabhutas", have their free rein and unfettered kingdom there. Hence, despite the colonial cruelties they brought in their wake, Megallan, Colombus and Vasco de Gama and others of their ilk are indeed heroes, the way they conquered the high seas, battered the borders, and with such  primary tools!

As a student of literature, with Coleridge's Ancient Mariner  and Melville's Billy Budd and Captain Ahab as the guides, the seas become the best/blessed borders to 'navigate' the depths of depravity and to scale the heights of human(e) values.

When  your brother is a shippie though, the sea is a mystery shrouded in terror. In the 80's, at the height of Raju's seafaring days, I knew the sea routes almost like the lines on my palms. Looking up world atlases was  one of my hobbies then! 

For Aai-Papa though, the terrible and constant tension was palpable. Mobiles werewolf not available then. Till he reached the next port and called up, prayer was the only solution. They used to wait for his letters as if his words were the very world. In Aai's opinion, the worst of the five mega principles were"jal" and "vayu", and her favourite most child would be in the throes of these two terrors. I can imagine though cannot fully fathom her anxiety as vast as the deepest ocean. Borders blessed it used to be each time when he landed ashore!

Pratima@ the sea scenes seen/to heaven-n-hell thou hath been!