By Shraddha C Sankulkar
It was a set routine in my childhood to visit my maternal aunt during my summer vacations. Her beach home situated in the picturesque coastal town of Murud-Janjira, is a 5-hour drive from my hometown Mumbai. Visiting my aunt’s home was a childhood paradise for me and my elder brother Siddhesh. When at Murud, ‘eat, sleep& play’ was our mantra and watching the sun set in the bay was an everyday backyard experience. The town’s royal charm, its cultural heritage and nature kissed warmth made every summer vacation a memorable treat. Most of my cousins too would join us from Mumbai, India. But one summer, when I was around 9 years old, something happened that changed the ‘tone’ of my thinking and approach towards life forever.
It was31st May1984. Being the last day of the month, we kids (myself, Siddhesh (age 11) and two older cousins Suraj (age 14) and Prasad (age 15) were upset that, the next day onwards we would be sent back to Mumbai, as school would re-open soon. We sighed upon the fact that the fun and merry making that was ongoing since the last two long months would come to an abrupt halt. Thus, to wash the sulking vibe, after lunch time, my cousin Prasad, the eldest among us, came up with a ‘grand finale’ activity idea which we unanimously approved of. The plan was to impromptu head towards the beach and take a swim, for one last time before the vacation ends. He took the lead, and we all went to our uncle to seek permission. My uncle was busy with some construction work that was happening on the terrace. He seemed to have approved Prasad’s proposal, thinking that we are just going to be hanging out on the beach. My cousin informed us that uncle had approved. We all then ran to the beach and were eager to have fun in the waters. Little did we know that destiny had other plans for us that day!
Unknown to our childish lay mind, the sea has its own dance going underwater. Apparently, it looked calm but deep down the tides were shifting. We kids were all excited to just jump and swim in waist length water. The first to enter the water was Prasad who flicked off his shirtbut his shorts and vest were still on. Meanwhile my real elder brother Siddhesh and another cousin brother Suraj, were taking their own sweet time to chit chat on the beach while taking off their shirt to enter the water. I was wearing an umbrella frock and decided to jump in with my frock on. Just then I saw a weird sight where Prasad, who had already jumped in the waters, was gasping for breath, and kept going in and out of water! I thought he was playing a prank, so I went near him to check out. The moment I entered the water I too started getting pulled into the water and within moments was gasping for breath like Prasad! Unknown to us then, we were being pulled into by a whirlpool which usually is formed in that area, particularly when tides change from high tide to low tides! Both of us were being aggressively pulled in by the undercurrents of low tides. It feels like some ghost from underwater has caught your leg and is pulling you inwards. Actually, the leg gets stuck in the sand and the entire chunk of sand moves aggressively when sea water pulls everything inwards during low tide. Above water it became obvious that we were both drowning. I didn’t know swimming at all then, but Prasad was a good swimmer. We were 4 feet’s apart and were spinning in our respective whirlpools. As I was drifting away from the seashore, I could see Siddhesh and Suraj panicking on the beach after realizing my strange drift into the waters. I could faintly see that they were themselves contemplating to enter the water to pull me out. They had no clue that the other cousin too was drowning along with me. Since I was visible (due to the umbrella pattern frock that proved to be a rough marker of my presence in the waters) they just thought it’s only me, who is being pulled in by the low tide. But wisdom struck them and instead they decided to go back and alarm the elders of me drowning. So, they ran back to my aunt’s home and told uncle about the situation. I found out later that within 10-15 minutes the whole town’s coastline was alerted to the drowning accident that was in motion. Murud-Janjira is a fishing town, and the fishermen community is extremely helpful during such crisis situations. Most of the fishermen jumped into the water and led the rescue mission, along with the local police, as they knew the sea routes to avoid whirlpools. But due to the aggressive undercurrents it was very difficult to swim straight and catch up. Meanwhile I was losing consciousness and the last thing I saw was a crowded seashore where people were helplessly witnessing the drama of my life and probably wondering about the fate of the ‘drowning girl’, that was me.
An hour may have passed; minutes were ticking as the skies above were the only site my fading consciousness could see. The salt water was entering my lungs as I bobbed up and down the sea water. Soon me and Prasad must have got totally unconscious and were at the mercy of the uncharted waters of the Arabian Sea. Meanwhile my parents were in Mumbai, when all this was happening. Prasad had already lost both his parents when he was an infant, and my aunt and uncle were his foster parents. Even after an hour and half, the rescue team still hadn’t reached us. Just then on the road that overlooks the seashore, there was a first-year medical student named Mangesh, who himself was visiting his hometown in his vacation, noticed the crowd that was gathered at the beach. He was cycling back home along with his brother, when he inquired about the massive gathering of the crowd. He was a fisherman’s son himself, and the ambiguous sea, though rough, was almost his ‘second home’. Given his values of generosity and altruistic nature he jumped into the waters to join the rescue mission, as he knew the sea well. Calculating the distance and angle to reach me, he chose to swim across, unlike others, who were swimming straight behind us. Within half an hour he managed to get hold of me in the water. He noticed that I was unconscious, but breathing. He took me in his arms and was swimming back to the shore, inspite of the resistance of tidal currents. Meanwhile, none of them knew that Prasad too was somewhere around and needed to be rescued. Everyone was relieved that I was found alive and brought to the shore by a local lad. I was pulled on the sand and my prime rescuer, Mangesh, being a fresh medical student, was aware of the first aid that’s given to drowning accident cases. When all the swallowed salty water came out of my stomach and lungs, I gained consciousness and the first thing I asked was ‘where is Prasad who was drowning along with me?’ They were shocked to know that there was yet another kid that needed rescue! Though tired, all of them jumped back into the sea waters again and the mission continued. As the hours passed by, the sun was about to set but there was no news from the rescue team, nor the police, about Prasad’s whereabouts. Unlike the usual, that day’s sunset vibe was the most melancholic of all! Meanwhile, I was given medical attention to stabilize my blood pressure and was recovering from severe headache, high fever and fatigue. When it was pitch dark around 8pm, search lights were switched on at the seashore and the rescue mission continued. My parents had come till midnight and were first shocked to hear about the sequence of events that led to the drowning accident and its aftermath. They then were deeply grateful that I was rescued by a ‘kind soul’ but were sad and hoping that Prasad too gets miraculously rescued, by someone somewhere!
The next day dawned, it was 7:30am and there was a knock at the door at my aunt’s bungalow. It was the local ice candy man who would sell ice-cream at the seashore. He came to inform my uncle that there was a dead body lying face down on the seashoreand therefore he had come to alert all. My uncle and the police went for identification. And indeed, it was my cousin, Prasad! We lost him! This incident made me reflect deeply, even as a kid. It was painful to lose a cousin, who was a playmate during vacations. For almost a year or two, I would get nightmares of the drowning episode, but it also made me realize that i myself had a close shave encountering death. It was sheer luck that the medical student arrived as a ‘guarding angel’ and used basic physics to cross swim and rescue me! Also, I intellectually realized that the sea is deceptive, especially when the tides change. And so is life! Thus, one needs to be well-equipped to build one’s skills and positive outlook to face the ups and downs of life. But the biggest take away was that spiritually it dawned on me that if destiny had given me another chance to live then I would want to make the most of it by living it positively and impactfully. Life, like any privilege, usually is taken for granted until we are on the verge of losing it. I managed to convert my childhood trauma into a spiritual talisman that keeps reminding me to make the best of life in whatever small or big way through my work, the people I touch and life in general! Since then, I don’t take my breaths for granted, because I know how I am blessed to have got them back from the clutches of death!
Contact the author: shrays22@gmail.com
