Sarika Saiyara
Even a few centuries ago, they used to call me “sand”. With the gradual change in my habitat and colour, my name has altered too. Natives here call me balu, the tourists call me “sand”, and you call me whatever you want to.
When the sun shines at me as dazzling as reacting magnesium oxide, I take on the most gentle hue of gold, almost earthen and muted. Once again, when the sun dips behind the horizon, my primrose hue is as gentle on the eye as a vintage photograph. This life of being a chameleon with the solar cycle has become my nature due to the centuries I have passed on this shore of Inani.
My origins, however, were humble. I was jet black obsidian, trodden on in the scenic Himchari hills under the feet of an Asian elephant. I heard that they no longer visit Himchari, and it gives my tiny particles goosebumps to think of a life without being a part of the largest sea beach on earth. How I’d miss the driftwood that comes into my enormous body as tiny, dinghy boats!
Being in Inani, I have no choice but to love the cool water singing me lullabies and the percussion of the waves; the fluttering breeze gently whispering to me about the tall palm tree’s argument with her partner. But my most favourite part is when the droplets of rain merge into the sea as one, each fragment clashing with one another to become a part of the body of the waves. This is how music began, how mankind began its endeavour of conjuring up dance and songs, by hearing the nearly hypnotic, soft, and natural rhythms of Mother Nature. Upon me, the rain is silent like the understanding of an old friend. It changes my hue to a more saturated one and I seem to thrive in it.
But these days, due to decades of littering all over my gigantic mass, I have difficulty breathing and interacting with my friends. Sometimes, I choke so hard that uncertainty dawns upon me as to whether I will be able to see another beautiful sunset or not. It amazes me how I, an infinite body particle, realise the gravity of littering on the coastline and yet the most ingenious creatures fail to comprehend it?