I Gotta Feelin that Tonight's Gonna be a Good Night

I still reckon that day, the very moment I landed on Varkala Beach. I was with my friends, and like every passing-out batch of B.Tech students, we wanted to make memories before we bid adieu, to create a bittersweet ending, and that landed us on Kerala.

After travelling restlessly, we finally reached Varkala, and up until then, I was a bit agitated and fatigued. But the very moment I stepped down and saw the beach view, it instantly felt like walking into a wave of love. The landscape was so serene that I took a moment to truly appreciate its beauty. A cliff and a beach on the same canvas are the most romantic thing one can see. I had always fantasized about such a place, but experiencing it was surreal.

My friends and I spent the entire evening exploring the length and breadth of the beach, and as good times vanish quickly, the day transcended into night. We were all fatigued, and my friends decided to head to a place to get some rest because we needed to hit the road the next day. When they asked me to come along, I quickly replied, without thinking, that I wanted to spend the night on the beach.

My friends thought I was kidding, and they were too tired to argue, so they let me be. My mind told me I was making a big mistake, while my gut told me it was going to be one hell of a night in my life. I truly went with my instinct.

So I solemnly walked back to the beach after buying a packet of 20-20 biscuits (I didn't know they were still in business) and a bottle of water to keep me company. I was tired, hungry, irritated, and, not to mention, broke, but I sure did know it would be a day forever etched in my life.

Although I tried hard to get some rest, sleep eluded me. So I watched each person leave the beach, taking their loved ones and half-drunk bottles with them. I suddenly felt an onrush of thoughts gathering around me. I felt like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. I shouted into the waves, only to realize that my voice was no match for the deafening roar of the sea. I prayed to the ocean god to bless me with bioluminescent algae or phytoplankton that would make the water glow blue, but he didn't heed my prayers.

I suddenly realized the beach was empty and all the onlookers had left. That scared the shit out of me. I was all alone, except for the company of crabs. At one point, while I was lying on the beach surrounded by a cast of crabs, I genuinely believed they were conspiring against me to kill me. I felt exactly like Pi when he discovered the carnivorous island, but I didn't move an inch simply because, for some reason, the imminent danger seemed better than the suffering of societal pressures.

You may think I am stupid, paranoid, and delusional, and, as a matter of fact, In times like one needs to be crazy enough to experience the surrealism.

I, of all people, know that the things that happen in movies and novels won't happen in real life, but the excitement I get from reminiscing about all those movies and books was life enough for me. With the sea breeze to keep me warm, the dark sky to entertain me, and a bunch of crabs to keep me company, I slowly drifted into sleep. Luckily, no crab made contact with me. I was in their territory, and yet none of them bothered me, and I deeply felt bad when I imagined What would happened to creatures in the other way around.

For exactly two hours, I slept like a baby. When I woke up and checked my phone for the first time that night, I saw that one of my close friends had gone through a breakup and was pretty devastated. I immediately called him and talked to him, trying to give him some support. At that point, I felt like a baba enlightened by the sea, so I shared my wisdom.

After the pep talk, I returned to my lover—the sea. Around that time, a party on the cliff was coming to an end, and people were going crazy. I recognized the last song they played—one of my favorites—"I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas. As I heard the song, I couldn't help but realize how apt the lyrics were: "I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good, good night."

At that moment, I wanted to go and join the party, but I was too much in love with the beach to abandon my post. I lulled myself back to sleep, singing "I Gotta Feeling" as my lullaby.

As the clock struck three o'clock, the beach suddenly became unbearably cold. So I woke up and went to sleep on a bench on the cliff. It was then that I realized I had spent the entire night like a broke, homeless guy, and by dawn, I felt rich—rich with experience.