Last year, i finally took my friend Kris up on his millionth attempt to take me overnight camping by the beach. He picked Kashid, a beach town on the shores of the Arabian Sea, in the North Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. Located 30 kms from Alibaug and 135 kms from Mumbai on the Alibaug-Murud road. I rode pillion on his motorcycle all the way from Mumbai one weekend and we arrived at 9pm. After picking a secluded part of the beach under the high coconut trees we pitched our tents in complete darkness and set a carpet in the sand under the starry skies to fill up on munchies and conversations. Catching up on each-others lives and relationships while bon-firing sausages for dinner and marshmallows for dessert and then finally retiring to our tents when we were ready for some shut eye. The minimalistic camping lifestyle 😉 That night i fell asleep with the stars above me and the sounds of the ocean and the wave’s singing a lullaby at a distance.
I was woken by sun-kissed cheeks and a sweat gripped tee. The others were probably up before me and when i peeped out to look for them, i found them cooling off with a swim in the sea. I followed and did just that. Nothing short of liberation. To wake up in a tent, walk to the shores and then dip yourself into cold water. I wished in that moment that it wasn’t the first time i was trying this out and that i should have taken him up on his camping trips long ago. For whatever apprehensions i had built in my head then and every time he had asked, were now an absurd reasoning, which i felt free from. And i realised that freedom only comes with courage and courage only comes with knowing that there is nothing to loose but so much more to gain.
Did it feel safe? Did it require any permissions?
Yes it did. Id recommend trying it out with friends before you muster the courage to go solo 🙂
I love the photo montage! Well captured.