Dream Castles in the Sand

Retired life is great!

I can go to sleep whenever I want, wake up whenever I want. I can sit in one place for hours and yet there’s no one to bother me for that. No studies, no work, life at this stage is pure enjoyment.

It gets even more exciting if the location of choice is by a beach. According to me the best place to spend one’s last days is by the beach. Watching the beautiful sunrise, feeling the uninterrupted wind on the face and the soft sand that hugs the feet while walking. Just soak everything in for one last time. This is best appreciated when experiencing first hand.

Fortunately, I have. Garvahi city beaches are very beautiful. The sand, the water, the sky; people work very hard to keep this place clean.

Every morning, as a habit, I used to stroll on the beach, taking in every moment of that place’s beauty. My walk would begin as early as five, even before sunrise and sometimes I wouldn’t return till evening. Those were the fun days.

I remember that one day. I couldn’t sleep so I got up, stepped out of my house and started walking on the beach. It was summertime and yet there was a cool breeze brushing past my wrinkly face. The sun wasn’t risen yet so the place was relatively dark.

I started walking around the edge where the land and water met.

“Funny thing isn’t it.” I said to myself, “Walking on the beach I am between the land of the known and unknown. Age-wise I am at the right place. Having lived a full life in this beautiful world I would have thought I am ready to take a leap of faith and finally rest in peace. But I’m not sure about it because I don’t know what lies ahead.”

It is philosophical thoughts like these that accompanied my solo morning walks. I preferred walking alone, feeling the cool breeze on my face, the wet sand under my bare feet and the deafening silence resulted from the gusty wind blowing past my ears. These walks were the moments of solitude for me.

But it was the vacation time, so with the rising sun, the beach started to populate. Mostly with children excited to play a variety of games. Fearing a ball might hit me, I went and sat far away from their reach, just outside an abandoned shack.

The beach was getting busy and loud, still, to maintain inner peace I shut my eyes. After some time I heard a little boy crying.

“I promise, it was here. I had built it myself, yesterday.” said the kid.

“Don’t lie!” said another.

“Do you want me to tell your father how big of a liar you are?”

“Yeah, he will set you straight, liar!” said another one in a harsh tone.

Then suddenly three-four boys started cheering, “Liar! liar! liar!”

Their constant taunts were annoying me still keeping my eyes shut I tried to ignore them.

“No I’m not a liar.” cried that kid, “I promise. I am telling you the truth. It was here yesterday.”

Eventually, I stopped resisting and witnessed the rest scene unfold with my own eyes. A couple of meters away there were 4-5 young school going kids standing in a circle. In the middle was another kid of their age but he was sitting in the sand, crying.

I couldn’t see his face but in his shaky voice, he pleaded, “Don’t call me a liar. I never lie. Please.”

But none listen to him. After showering that poor kid with a lot of taunts the other boys walked away. That’s when I noticed the young Virat Garvkar. I knew him, he used to live in a chawl nearby.

The moment his ‘friends’ were gone he suddenly burst into tears. While crying he kept on scattering the sand as if searching for something. 

“It was here! I know for sure it was here!” he shouted.

For a long time, he kept on doing that same activity. Until he saw a middle-aged man in white kurta-pyjama and thick black mustache approach him.

Seeing him approach, the kid quickly got up wiping his tears and sat there looking at the sand. I could see a slight fear on this boy’s face. He was trying very hard to not to make eye contact with his father approaching.

“What happened? Why were you crying?” the father said in a harsh tone.

“I was not crying.” said the guy wiping his face.

“You were, don’t lie to me! Tell me what happened,” he shouted walking very close to him.

Seeing him approach the kid stood up and fixed his shirt-shorts while staring at the sand.

“Tell me what happened.” the man repeated. His harsh tone had softened this time as he said while placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

The kid still didn’t look up, “I… I had built a big castle here yesterday out of the sand. I’m sure I had built it at this exact spot, but now it is gone. I don’t know what happened.”

The father smiled at his kid’s naivety. But he didn’t correct him. Instead, he asked, “How tall was it?”

“Almost this big.” said the kid raising his hand to mark the imaginary castle’s height.

“Tell me how tall exactly, as I’ve taught you.”

“Three feet. The castle was three feet tall,” replied he with pride. The kid imagined the castle in its full glory but soon got disappointed that it was gone.

Seeing him get depressed the father smiled at him. He walked away to the shack, picked up a half-cut coconut shell and then walked back to him. 

“Three feet was it? Why don’t you build a bigger castle today and then call your friends to show them,” he said while handing him the shell. 

Excited the kid took the tool and started digging. The father took a few steps back and simply watched his kid in action. Virat seemed very excited to rebuild the castle. He didn’t care if other kids were playing games and having fun. Instead, he continued to work on his structure. Meanwhile, the father silently observed his son. 

This was an important moment in Virat’s life. His father could see that his son was discovering his passion. Virat was an architect in making. For hours Virat was at work trying to build it bigger and stronger. He didn’t get disheartened when some of its structures collapsed midway. Just wiping the sweat he continued with his job.

The thing that motivated him the most was his father’s presence. Never before had Virat seen his father dedicate this much time for him. Virat’s father was a busy government official. Also, the fact that he had to take care of his four other children, Virat barely got the attention and love from his father. But at that moment he was extremely motivated to see his father there for him.

The sun was high in the sky when Virat was done building his castle. “It’s done, it’s done!” he cheered. With full excitement, he danced around the structure which was almost as tall as Virat himself. 

For a seven years old, he had exceeded the expectations of his father. Seeing his work father started crying. Quickly he hid his face and wiped his tears. There was a sense of pride when he looked at his son. He didn’t say anything to his son and yet Virat could tell.

Once the castle was perfectly ready father asked him, “Why don’t you go get your friends to show them your work?”

“There’s no need for that,” said Virat.

What’s the point of having ‘friends’ when they are not there when you need them the most. That was the moment I learned to differentiate between good and bad people.

I watched the father, the son and the castle literally disappear in front of my eyes. While smiling I got up out of my chair and started walking back home. It was already evening time by then. I didn’t realize how time passed so quickly. 

The sun was setting and the place was getting dark. Watching the orange ball of fire at the horizon I stared at it saying, “Father… I hope I have made you proud.”

I walked to a beautifully lit royal bungalow by the beach. I took pride in what I had achieved. Standing in front of my structure I looked at the waves and said,

“Finally I have built a castle that no waves can destroy. I, Virat Garvkar, dare you to try!” There was confidence and a slight arrogance when I challenged the gods that day.

But the story is not over yet.

Death teaches us a lot. I can’t believe how naive I was while I lived. The bungalow that I built by the beach had occupied a large amount of land making it a private property. No one was allowed there without the owner’s permission.

I realized my mistake very late. So a couple of decades after my demise, I myself became the tsunami wave that destroyed my bungalow uprooting it entirely from the foundation. This was necessary and so I did it without any hesitation.

We think we own the land of the planet we are born on. But that’s not true. We own nothing. I did this because if I don’t then where will the future generations build their dream castles? like I did when I was little.

THE END

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