Funday Times

A promenade along the beach
By Chandrani Fernando
I was on holiday at my aunt’s house, when my nephews asked me to take them to the nearby harbour. I asked Menika, the maid, to join us too. It was about one mile from my ancestral home to the harbour.; and I did not like to take the risk of taking the boys all on my own. Hasanik and Santhush put on their caps and carried brown paper bags to collect sea shells.

“Don’t get late to return” My aunt advised us before we started from home .
“Shall we take the dog ?” Santhush asked.
“No, no we can’t”, Menika squashed the matter then and there.
So, we went down to the Galle –Matara highway and crossed on to the sea side..

“Going to the sea- beach”, Babunhamy, who lived in the village, asked us.
“Yes they want me to accompany them”, I replied.
“The waves are high today”, Babunhamy said.
“Really?” Menika joined in.
I gripped Hasanik’s hand the moment Babunhamy spoke about the high waves.

Menika , held Santhush . But he shook off her hand, and held on to my left hand
“Baby, Nanda can’t hold both of you. Come to me”, Menika shouted.
“No, I can’t”, Santhush replied, and walked by my side.
There were heaps of corals collected on the beach. Women clad in ‘diya redda’, the traditional bathing attire, fought with the tide and brought them ashore. They carried corals in small baskets on their heads. Their plight was quite pathetic to watch.

“Very difficult to fight with the waves”, one woman remarked.
“Yes I can see” I replied.
“Why do they collect those stones ?”, Hasanik asked.
“They sell them to kiln owners “I told him.
“To lime kilns ‘’ Santhush explained.
“They lead a difficult life’’, Hasanik observed.

We walked along the beach. As the sea was rough we kept more on to the land side avoiding the tide line. Hasanik and Santhush started to collect sea shells. Even I joined them to encourage the youngsters with their interest.
Menika was worried about the roughness of the sea, rain clouds in the sky and young boys who were somersaulting in deep sea water.
“Let’s hurry up. These boys are a bad example for the babies”, she whispered in my ear.

“I heard what Menika said”, Santhush said.
“What did she say Malli?’’ Hasanik asked.
“Nothing of importance ‘’ I said, and hurried them away from that particular spot.

“Menika’s next problem was the drunkards, who happened to be close to ‘Giragala’ a small rocky island, which was a haven for parrots.
My nephews and I climbed the hillock quickly. There were quite a number of bird varieties living in that island. At some places were small seawater pools formed by the rocks.

“Be careful of the crabs” I cautioned my nephews.
“I wish we could take them home and put them in a tank” Hasanik said.
“Who is going to bring sea water for them?’’ demanded Menika
“Can’t you do it as a favour for us?’’, Santhush pleaded.
At this point I signalled to him not to annoy Menika.

Another sea urchin that attracted my nephews was the hermit crab. The moment it sensed that danger was near, it quickly hid inside its shell.
“I learnt about the hermit crab when I was in the lower kindergarten.’’, Santhush recalled.

“It was not in the text book”, Hasanik said.
“No, the teacher taught us “ Santhush quickly replied.
We spent about 20 minutes wandering on the ‘Giragala’. Then we passed the school.

“This is the school Thaththi went to”, Hasanik said.
“Not only your father Vajee Lokuthaththa, and Sumi Nanda, also attended this school “ I told them.
“Really? Shall we go inside and see it?” suggested Santhush
“Baby why should we waste our time looking at empty desks and chairs?” Menika shouted.

The beach was quite wide close to the school. I allowed my nephews to walk about on their own as the sea looked calm. There were fishing boats and canoes stationed along the beach. Children of fishermen were trying to drag a small canoe on to the sea. Another bad example in Menika’s view.

We left the scene quickly. When we came near the harbour, we could not walk along the beach due to sea erosion. So we had to get back to the main road. The sea was rough and the waves splashed high, and we were soaked to the skin. We hurried in order to get back to the beach as soon as possible.

The scene that met our eyes, was marvelous. We saw a number of boats lying in the harbour. We ran along the break water. There were some trawlers stationed there too. A harbour guard casually questioned us about our visit.

I explained to him that my nephews were interested in seeing the harbour. He was eager to help us and answered the questions from my inquisitive nephews.. When the sun set the three of us were sorry to leave the harbour. The horizon was scarlet in the evening light. But Menika was happy to leave the sea beach as she wanted to be rid of the impediments that haunted the area.

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