The Ocean

 Recently the World Ocean Day was celebrated. Indeed the oceans do deserve a special day dedicated to them, a unique celebration they do merit. The very life emerged from the ocean as ecological history explains it to us. In that sense, if the earth is our mother, the ocean is our father.

The ocean is a very important factor in the history of the mankind. In the times of the early Renaissance, the oceans invited the brave and the ambitious such as Columbus and Vasco the Gama for unique adventures. New continents, new mode(l)s of knowledge were born thus, enriching human  lives.

 Sure, the ensuing colonialism was wicked and crooked, but there was a time when the fates, the dominance of  small little nations in Europe depended on their seafaring abilities and prowess. The Spanish Armada and its defeat by the British are myths that would never ever die.

The ocean is indeed infinite, and in fact contains within it far and deep very many secrets. In fact, we know more about the space than we know about the seven seas, the vast oceans enveloping us. 

The oceans have a unique mystique of their own, too. The way the deep waters constantly change and shift shades of colour on the surface is unimaginable.  The lovely foam decorating each wave (e)merging in to the next as they rush towards the shore is a sight one can keep on looking for days on end. 

The seas, the oceans have their own unique language, so to say. There is a depth to the voice of the oceans, there is a rhythm to the swish of the waves as they merge in to the sands on the shore. The winds, too, sound unique when accompanied by the orchestra of the ocean.

Despite such obvious domination across the very directions, the oceans, the seven seas never cross their limit, unlike rivers in spate. Sure, tsunamis can wipe out continents, but that is a rather rare phenomenon. 

In fact, the seas, the oceans are quite forgiving in their vastness. During the ebb, they drag all the human waste in, and during the flow, especially on a full moon day, when the sea waters rush to hug the shores, they come with beautiful gifts such as unique conches, for example.

With a brother who was a shippie and now continues teaching seafaring, i am absolutely aware of the fact that just  half a kilometre away from the shore, the oceans are not so romantic. In fact, they are downright dangerous, deadly like the sharks. 

I have seen videos of storms madly raging, waves almost hitting the skies, and then one feels so proud of the bravery, the courage and the ingenuity of the mankind that crosses such thunders through wonders called boats and ships.

Of course, we, the human beings have managed to tarnish these transculent depths in multiple ways. No wonder, these two major of the 'panch mahabhutas' Aai talked of as the most dreadful, the 'vayu' and the 'jal', as the base of the oceans, are getting irritated with the human interference, with the result that the rising sea water levels are already threatening the metros ashore.

The base of multitudinous myths in every culture, in each literature, the oceans should be allowed to live, like the infinite human creativity and imagination. They should not be destroyed like fish out of water through the immense selfish wickedness of heartless mankind.

Pratima@"The sea cures all the ailments of                         man," says Plato.