A little bit of context before you begin reading this book review. I have recently enrolled for an MA in Philosophy at the University of Mumbai. Philosophy is something I have been getting interested in, over the past few years, as those of you who have been reading my blogs and Instagram posts would know. During the pandemic, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do next, and this is what I eventually came up with. It has been a challenge, getting back into academics as a student at this age, especially in a subject I have no academic background in. However, it has also been very exciting, especially thanks to my wonderful classmates (who, surprisingly, are of all age-groups, including some quite near my own) and my teachers, who have been very supportive and understanding. How well I will do is something that remains to be seen, but so far, I am enjoying this new journey and look forward to where it leads. Now that you know the background , you probably get an idea of how
Partly buried in the sand, it wouldn't have attracted attention, but for the fact, that we were searching for shells.
Ardent shell collectors that we are, we were looking for something different, and a sudden movement caught our eye. We first thought it was a crab... and there was one nearby, one that Samhith saw, but one sight of this starfish, and shells were all forgotten!
We first thought this was the only one around, but we soon saw many others. It appeared that they had been washed ashore, and we soon realized that there were plenty of them scattered around, and we were able to take a closer look.
I had only seen dead starfish in all these years, so seeing a live one for the very first time is a sight I can not forget. The quivering 'feet' if I can them that, and the ease with which they buried themselves into the sand fascinated us for quite a while, and we stood there for a while, simply watching more of them appear and disappear.
It was only later, walking around the beach, that the realization dawned, that many of these were destined to go the same way as the shells we were collecting. Washed too far ashore to be able to get back to the safety of the sea, or even to burrow under the wet sand, there were so many left behind by the ebbing tide.
It was a sad sight to see all those dead starfish, but we also realized that this was almost the same as all the shells scattered on the beach. That is how they came to be here too. However, try as we might, we weren't able to pick it up to bring it along with us. After all, we had seen them as they are meant to be seen - alive!
P.S. If any of you are wondering, we saw these starfish at Varca Beach in Goa.
Interesting Anu! I haven't seen a starfish at all be it dead or alive. Lovely pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anu. This was our first too, so keep your eyes open! you never know what you might spot!
DeleteHi Anu, Great pics... was just wandering out in the net for surviving Goa in the monsoons as me and my wife are going there on Aug 13th (midst of monsoon I guess)! So was skeptical. However, your blogs gave a new angle to the monsoon... am more inquisitive now.. thanks...
DeleteGlad to have encouraged you!!! Have a great time in Goa!!!
DeleteWow nice picture Anuradha. I am from Goa but i have never seen a star fish in my life. I have seen a little octopus once but not star fish.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Hope you see a starfish soon!
DeleteHi Anuradha ,
ReplyDeleteWe visited goa last week ... Gone to Varca beach also ... Righly said there are lots of small starfish in and around .. Luckily i got 4 starfishes alive !!! I put it in a small plastic container with sea water and bring them home at Kerala ( It was a road trip ) .. I am so happy to say that they are alive still and i am looking for a good aquarium habitat for them .. :-)