The pebbles on the road scattered as his bare feet scrunched the earth beneath. A white dhoti (It is a traditional men’s garment worn in India. It is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, usually around 4.5 metres long, wrapped around the waist and the legs and knotted at the waist, resembling a long skirt.), and a white shirt marked his swarthy lanky figure, as he trudged through the piercing darkness to the sea port. It was always that time of the day, when the moon was bidding it’s moments slipping into oblivion, while the sun had still not stirred from the fumbles of its yesterdays descent.

The village road feigned being deserted, as he pushed open the creaking old gates. He was headed to the salty waters that crashed incessantly on the shores he grew up on.

As he neared the shores, the reason for the village been deserted was solved by the presence of a large contingent of rugged men and women. All of them seasoned and sea fared, jostling and nudging, as the ships and boats came ashore.

Though lanky and swarthy, his presence, his quiet voice and his deep seated penetrating eyes, made anyone, and everyone, respect him. Even the larger heftier henchmen bowed at him as he walked on. A path was formed as he approached, and he carried on to the shore. He got onto the huge stones that bore the brunt of the crashing waves, and turned to the crowd. Silence befell them, the crashing waves sounding like soothing lullabies, as the wind carried his voice forward.

Order was the form that this shore had seen, since he had first entered the port. The mafias and the gangs thwarted by his firm, non partial, loving, yet firm intelligent hand. He persuaded where required, and cajoled where required, but the way everyone got taken care, there were no enemies left for him except for the greedy lots, who got expelled from the shores. This had brought in an undreamt era of peace and calm.

It was time to move on, he couldn’t do this forever, and hence he said, “Rodriguez will handle the port from now”.

Not his blood, Harris had adopted an orphan whom he took under him and had grown. He had finally bloomed into a better sophisticated ruthless, yet calm man who had the ferociousness required to handle the shore.

Time was limited, as he divided works between everyone. Rodriguez gave his heart and ensured a stable transition.

A year later…

Rodriguez sat by Harris. These were those quiet moments when Harris, now confined to a wheel chair spent time with Rodriguez.

It was the usual trip to the sea shore for the duo. In the evenings, watching the sun set, seeing and hearing the waves crash while the sea gulls mewed, was calming to both the prodigy and the mentor.

The greedy maniacs had tried rearing their ugly heads, in the hope that Harris wouldn’t be able to transcend well. They had after all watched and waited for far too long, to allow such an opportunity slip by.

A change was the order of the day and the “change” shook them, when Rodriguez  proved his mettle by making one of the maniacs disappear, never to be heard of again.

Well, the shores were safe again from the corrupt politicos, cops and bureaucrats for the time being. Harris smiled. The cancer had entrenched itself, and worn him down. He had fought against it valiantly for 12 years.

Now as he sat and reminisced, over the years he had taken on life, the wealth, the work, the respect – nothing made sense anymore.

All he could see was his time on earth dwindling, while humans fought with each other over petty issues. Everyone wanted something. Some wanted everything. This imbalance made life an unfair trial for many and a tryst of sorts for the others.

He had made peace with everyone, and everything. He had realized that the importance of material wealth was in fact, just an oasis in the desert. He had tried to make people around him realise this, but they dismissed him as the rantings of a dying man.

The scenery that unfolded in front of him looked beautiful. The rich golden rays of the sun, lit the sky, in an attempt to reignite a dwindling day, as it descended into the sea. He realized with a jolt – this beautiful scenery – would always be there, everyday without fail, while he would be gone soon …

He looked at Rodriguez and shuddered thinking whether he had done right by him. He would never know. Looked like he would live on through the kid. He sighed within, realising he hadn’t even touched the shores of wisdom, let alone the bond of love. Could he have if he had tried? He would never know …

Rodriguez turned to look at Harris as he looked his last at the setting sun.

Inspired from a true story…