Besant Nagar Beach - my Bodhi Tree

Besant Nagar beach has always and will always be a place that I go, when I want to be alone,  or I need to take a step back from my daily life. 

This is one place where you can view life in full - you can see old couples walking together, young family with the kids playing in the sand with a ball, group of young guys in the water having fun, couples some sitting bravely in the open others crouching in the dark behind an empty stall, groups of college / young office goers with a frisbee / volleyball / foot ball sweating it out and many more such scenes.

But to me, the beach experience is divided into 3 categories - the walks as part of my excercise regime (cutting myself from the outer world with ilayaraja on the earphones), the chat sessions with one of the very few friends with whom I regularly share the beach and every topic under the sun, and finally my long visits at the waterline with Velukudi Krishan (religious / spiritual discourse) and the vast ocean for company.

I have had some strong debates with friends, or silence alone. Sometimes i see a lot of scenes and feel happy or sad or whatever other emotions; at other times my mind is just blank concentrating on what I hear and contemplating on it, especially if it is a devotional discourse. At times, I am completely mesmerized by the beauty of the beach, the sun rise or the full moon. 

But every time I visit the beach, never do i fail to listen to Nizhalgal song especially ' pon maalai pozhuthu '.. and the as the line goes ' vaanam enakkoru bodhi maram, naalum ennakathu sethi tharum.. '

The vast ocean and the skies, never fail to make me happy. the vast emptiness - my bodhi tree.