Crazy night

Yesterday was one hell of a crazy night. I had slept for 5 hours in the afti, as I hadn't slept at all the previous night. And despite the afti sleep, I felt sleepy around 11 in the night. And to my utter delight, I drifted away into blissful sleep as soon as I hit the bed, only to be woken up at 2 in the morning by the music emanating out of my neighbour's room. This is crazy I thought..this guy for the past one week has been going to bed by 1 am, why did he not have to sleep today at the same time? The vagaries in sleeping time induced by the thesis submission date looming indeed....Anyway, I couldn't go back to deep slumber after this interruption.
So now, I thought...what do I do? Suddenly, a crazy idea came up to my mind. Ofcourse, cycling...What else would you do in the dead of the night if you weren't sleeping and didn't know what to do - That's what my mind suggested. It also justified saying that after a bout of good cycling, it would be fresh for further activity(Read: work). I consented.
But where was the destination to be? Why not try Marina Beach, besides you haven't been there since two years, right? Right... It wasn't a bad idea...All right!, I was set to go to Marina beach at er...2:30 in the morning...all by myself.
The route was as follows: tharamani gate - ascendas - tidel park - tiruvanmiyur - indira nagar - adayar signal - adayar bridge - santhome road - mandevali - lighthouse - marina beach.
The going was without any incident, I was having a good time taking in the air and the sights. The occasional sweepers on the road, the ocassional dog in the middle of the road and ofcourse, the occasional vehicle to pass by me.
I parked my cycle opposite the police head quarters, which I must say looked impresive with the front facade in the spot light and the two gates guarded by two police guards. The round-thana or rotary in front of the building and in the middle of the road was circumscribed by a row of cat's eyes( reflectors), that blinked similar to the decorative lights at a marriage function. As I headed towards the beach, I looked to my right and noticed the lighthouse in its full splendour and admired its functionality.

The paved path that I took towards the sands made me intercept and avoid sleeping dogs and men(oops..a policeman). I got down the steps and walked across the road that divided the foot-path cum garden from the beach. The sands at the beach were well-lit by a towering light post behind me. As I stepped foot into the sands, I could faintly hear the rumbling waves in the distance and with each step into the sand, I realised how much I had taken people for granted. There was not a single soul on the beach and the funny thing was the further I proceeded into the beach, lesser and lesser light was cast on to the beach and the roar of the waves ahead were getting louder. It seemed as though I was making my entry into a sinister, dark place full of shady happenings. I halted my ever-slow jaunt many times and looked around carefully, gripped by some unknown fear (fear of what I didn't know..I think it was more to do with the massivness of the ocean which seemed real and alive as indicated by its deafening roar), for signs of life..any life. A crab that scurried across in front of me made jump. Whew! Only another 50 metres to go and I would be standing face to face with the ocean, whose waves glistened white in light of the gibbous moon. There were also an arc of ships to my left that were sparkling in a myriad combination of colours and their staticness in the sea seemed strange to me, as though they were observing the uninvited visitor to the beach.

Finally, I had made my way with all the courage that it had taken me, to the edge of the beach. I stood there, partly apprehensive and partly in awe of the ocean. The fishermen's boats that were parked on the sand, near where I stood, didn't help reduce my tense demeanour. Two minutes, my mind told me..Not more than two minutes and you are out of here. I didn't wear a watch. I didn't need one, for the very sound of a motorised boat that was running parallel to the beach around 50 metres away, made my imagination run amok. I had had enough. I was off the beach in no time.
Looking back, I think I was a little too paranoid and imagining things but then you never know!