Led to the beach by Kyra…

May 27
NabanitaDhar

‘Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.’-Longfellow

It was hot and humid as Siri sat on the porch looking towards the beach that lay just beyond the gates of the humble cottage. It was the first time in years she was home during summers. Picnic Lunches and Strolls along the beach like yesteryears was what she had planned for with her girlfriends.
Diya, Pranjal , Reene and Siri had been planning for an all girls vacation for a long time but personal and work commitments caused this much awaited trip to elude them for ages. They were four best friends wanting to relieve moments of their childhood in the very place where they had first sown the seeds of their friendship. But being mothers and wives along with jobs with demanding bosses left little time at their hands to actually do something all for themselves. But this year was different as finally everything fell into place and they were off to Goa for some ‘Together Time’ where for a change they didn’t have to be a mother or a wife!
With hopeful eyes and excited hearts they set foot on to the land of sun, sand and the beaches but something changed, the carefree summer that they had planned for changed into one where they began to whine about the heat and the humidity; one which they now only wanted to spend indoors.
‘Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12 years old.’

Life is strange in a way, the very things that you so loved as a kid sometimes would turn out to be something that you end up detesting as an adult. Summer is a time when the flowers are in full bloom and the whole lot around you is adorned with freshness. Francis Thompson aptly orchestrated the essence of summer when he penned ‘Summer set lip to earth’s bosom bare, And left the flushed print in a poppy there’.
Siri remembered all four of them running along the beach as kids during the summer vacations and enjoying every moment of it.  Some of her best memories were of the times she spent with them in the shoreline not worrying for a moment about the sun or its scorching heat! But things were very different now; they shrugged at the thought of even venturing out of the cottage during the day. There were no lunches or no strolls along the beach in the day. They were just whirling away the precious time sitting at home troubled by the heat, the humidity and worrying about petty things like tanning. Yes, instead of making the most of this time together and doing the things they so cherished as kids, they ended up confining their holiday only to the nights.
As Siri sat on her easy chair looking towards the beach that had been her favourite playground for years, she noticed a child all of five or six perhaps, with curly black hair upto her waist and the face of an angel, building sand castles in the beach. The sun shone brightly burning the sands; there were very few people on the beach except for the little girl and a few of her friends. That girl had an aura which drew Siri towards her. There was a time when the girls and Siri had the same radiance in their faces. It was like looking at the reflection of the past as Siri watched the kids especially the little girl play.
Unknowingly Siri strolled towards her; neither did she feel the sun nor the searing sand. All she could set eyes on is the ecstasy in the little girl’s eyes and she kept walking towards it. The girl sat there with her friends giggling and playing. They couldn’t care less of the sun and hence the delight they felt was apparent in their eyes and in their faces.
As Siri stood marvelling at them, the little girl walked up to her, held her hand and said ‘Hi I am Kyra, will you play with me?’ Siri didn’t know what happened after that but she found herself with her, running around, playing in the water and building sand castles. She loved it and Kyra innocently made her realise what she had been missing. She made Siri connect to the romance of summer which Siri had tucked away somewhere deep inside and forgotten all about.
‘I question not if thrushes sing,
If roses load the air;
Beyond my heart I need not reach
When all is summer there.’ ~John Vance Cheney

Suddenly Siri turned towards the cottage and saw all three of her friends walking towards the beach. Perhaps they too had seen and felt what Siri had, possibly that got them out of the confines of the cottage. They ran towards Siri, took her hand as they all ran together towards the sea just like old times. They pushed each other into the water, laughed and enjoyed just as they did back in the days. They ran around singing their favourite songs from their childhood and danced like mad women under the sun. They couldn’t care less for the world that was watching them; all they knew was that they were enjoying the summer and the sea. They were doing what they were there for in the first place- reminiscing and reliving their youth.
Siri looked around and couldn’t find Kyra. She was nowhere to be seen. She asked her friends and was told Kyra had just left with her parents a while back. At that moment Siri wished she could have thanked her. If it wasn’t for Kyra, Siri along with her friends would still be locked in the cottage missing out on the pleasures of the day out in the sun. Yes Kyra had set the tone up for their holiday and they were going to make the most of it.
As Siri stood there lost in thoughts of Kyra, Diya came up to her and handed her a Lakme Sunexpert saying ‘Now we wouldn’t want your husband blaming us for getting you tanned, would we?’ No sooner than Diya said that all of them burst out into a good laugh. They went ahead and had the times of their lives in the white sandy beaches and the deep blue sea without worrying about the Sun, the heat or the humidity, with the help from Kyra and ofcourse Diya’s Lakme Sunexpert! They had fun and enjoyed sunshine like never before with the little nudge from Kyra.
‘What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. ‘~Gertrude Jekyll
This is my entry to The Lakme Diva Blogger Contest. Read more about Lakme here www.facebook.com/ilovelakme



36 thoughts on “Led to the beach by Kyra…”

  10. Very nice lovely narration. I think you are basically a poet. But i did not find any of your poetry in your blog. Do you write poems?

  12. Hey Naba, it was a wonderful read. Enjoyed the beach watching Siri and her friends indulge. Wish you all the best dear.

  23. Thanks Susmita 🙂 … I have never written poems; though I personally like reading poems a lot!!

  31. An interesting post… but whose pictures are these? If they are yours, it is fine. If not, you need to acknowledge the source… maybe even ask for permission for use in the post.

    Hope you were this side of the legal boundary. 🙂

  32. Quite an interesting post…great stuff and wish you the best for the competition !!! ;))

  34. Thanks Arvind… I have a note on my blog saying all pictures are either sourced from the Internet or are personal.. 🙂 Wasn't aware that I have to put in each blog individually..

Comments are closed.