It was a beautiful evening in Chennai. The winter evenings in this city have a remarkable sunset. The city grew more busier as the sun sank down the horizon. With each passing hour, the Palavakkam Beach had more visitors. As the waves hit the shores, children stepped back with joy. A few couples walked with their hands entwined. A small boy walked by all the visitors. He held a huge basket that was filled with groundnuts and asked everyone if they wanted to have some of these. He received some head nods whereas others ignored him. Whenever he would come across a child, he would ask their parents for he knew that any child might want these as they enjoyed themselves. His tattered shirt was way too loose for him. He was walking slowly as he had a bruise on his left knee. There were moments when he would stop and look far away.

“Can I have two cones of groundnuts please? “, a young man asked him.

The boy was still looking away but now he was more anxious.

“Are you alright?”, the man asked as he bent down to look at him.

He boy turned around and started filling the cones with groundnuts. He folded the top of these cones carefully and handed these to the man.

” Twenty rupees sir.”, he said as he adjusted the basket.

The man took out a note from his wallet and paid him. He stared at the boy and then asked him his name.

“Surya”, the boy said in a low voice and walked away.

As the man went back with the groundnut cones, he turned back to look at the boy. He spotted the basket being placed ahead but Surya was missing. His eyes searched for him. Within few minutes he could spot him. He was walking into the sea. This frightening moment made him drop the cones and he ran towards Surya. He called him but the wind blew strongly that his voice couldn’t be heard. Finally he held Surya’s hand. Surya looked at him and pointed towards the sea.

“Is there anyone you know?”, the man asked him.

Surya’s eyes were filled with tears. He tried saying something but he broke down. The man took him to the shore. They sat on a bench that was outside the food corner. The bench was wet and had grains of sand everywhere. He offered Surya a bottle of water.

“Are you waiting for someone?”, the man asked as he watched Surya taking few sips of water.

“Appa left me here last week. He said he would take the boat to a land of gemstones and would be back soon.” , Surya was looking at his feet now.

“Why didn’t he take you along? Didn’t you insist?”, the man asked as his eyes narrowed with curiosity.

“Appa said he would be back with money for us to get a rental home. He asked me to work here at the ice cream shop. But the shop owner didn’t offer me work saying that Appa had lent money from him. Ramu heard all these and he asked me to help him sell these groundnuts. I should hand him the money after selling these. He promised to get me three meals everyday for this work.”, Surya finally looked at the man’s face.

The man looked at him with sympathy. “Do you think he’s back? Were you looking for him in the sea? “

Surya pointed towards the North and said, “Appa left on this boat but he didn’t come back. I spotted a similar boat in the sea now. I thought it was him. The ice cream shop owner says that he fled away.”

The man looked away. He couldn’t say anything. They sat in silence.

“What is your name?”, Surya asked.

“Arun.”, the man smiled.

“You know this beach offers a beautiful sunset. However it’s less crowded. It’s more peaceful for all. But do you see these children like me who run errands with baskets? We all have live here forcefully. All of us here work with no payments in return but just food to sustain.”, Surya said as he bent down to take a shell from the sand.

“Do you feel sad?”, Arun asked him

“I work and live at least for myself. There are days when I see the kids with their parents. They have fun together. I crave for it. My mother died when I was two.” Surya sighed

Arun looked at him and he thought about how everyone there at the beach had a story to tell. He looked across the shore.

“We also enjoy the sunset here and get to feel the breeze. However we aren’t happy to be here as him”, he said as he looked at a kid who was playing with his father.

Arun understood the pain behind these words.

“This same place is filled with people who look at these waves and sand in different manners. For some the waves bring joy, whereas the same waves have tired us and washed over our hopes “, Surya said.

Arun thought over how a child can think in this manner. How he must have endured all that life offered him.