‘Time and Tide Wait for None.’
Joys and sorrows always come unaware. Life is made up of smiles, sobs and sniffles, the last two dominating. We daily read about accidents, mishaps and deaths in newspapers. We discard them after reading without being moved or affected. It appears as if everything has value except human life.
Hearing and seeing are two different things. We generally, hear through one ear and let pass out from the other. It is correct that seeing is believing. Some events and incidents that we see, become a part of our memory. They ring us out of depths when we are personally affected by them. Such was the mishap of the drowning tragedy. I saw it with my own eyes.
The weather was pleasant. We were in a picnic mood. So we went for picnic on the Somyani Beach. It was a family outing. We drove to the pinic spot in two cars. The party consisted of about a dozen persons including women and children. All of us were in a jolly mood.
No body thought what was in store for us in the future. There were other parties and groups that had come there to pass and enjoy the holiday. All were in a holiday mood. We parked the cars and carried our tiffins to the beach. All were bathing on the shore except grandpa and grandma. The beach presented as busy scene. Camel riding and horse racing were special attention. After lunch and short rest, we loitered and played on the beach. The kiddies again started splashing and bathing. My cousin went up the rocks to take some good snaps. As he stepped back, he lost balance and fell into the sea. A rising wave tossed him up and washed away into deep water. He was fighting for life. All of us stood like silent spectators. Ladies were crying and weeping.
Hearing the cries two daring young men close-by, swam towards him and tried to rescue him. It is always dangerous to save a drowning person. One of the rescuers caught him by. the hair and dragged him towards the shore. He was unconscious.
One of them was a doctor. He stretched my cousin on the sand and tried to squeeze out the salt water from his stomach through nose and mouth. He used first aid methods. A large crowd had gathered round the inert body. The doctor advised us to rush the patient to the hospital. But my dear cousin breathed his last on the way. It was most painful because he had come to pass his vacations with us.
Mourning and weeping dropped a curtain on his life. We were ashamed to show our faces to his bereaved parents. What is ordained must be sustained!
