Guntur was a small town in those days. Tobacco business was the biggest commercial activity. It was also famous on account of two other activities. It was an educational center. In fact, it was in this town that the Coaching Class culture to train young students for medical and engineering course entrance exams started originally. Ravi college was started in Guntur by CVN Dhan, considered as the Czar of Coaching Class culture of India. Vignan college was another from this town which in later years became a deemed University. Medical Care is the third most important activity of this town. A Medical College, a Govt General Hospital and scores of private hospitals helped to cater to the health care needs of the vast population of central coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. In view of the third factor, many pharmaceutical companies stationed their medical representatives in Guntur. There were about 70-80 representatives working in Guntur in the seventies. Medical representatives in Guntur had an Association which provided for social interaction and exchange of views amongst our members and on a few occasions for our families. We had rented a building where we used to meet. We had a hall in it for playing table tennis. We also had a cricket team which participated in the local league with distinction. I have spoken quite extensively in my earlier articles about Shuttle Badminton being played by us. We also used to plan and conduct Vanabhojanam (garden party) for members' families. In 1974, we planned an outing to Vadarevu Beach, a quiet place about 72 km from Guntur and about 6 km from Chirala located on the coastline of Bay of Bengal in the adjoining district of Prakasam. Chirala is a rich town and tobacco was a major commercial crop and it was a major center for Indian Leaf Tobacco Division. Vadarevu is a beach with a difference, where you can hear the song of the sea and the song of those whose lives revolve around it. It is a charming and scenic beach, a popular weekend get away for those wanting a break from the routine. These days, there are several accommodation facilities near Vadarevu beach. The Sip and Dip Cottages, situated on the Vadarevu Beach Road is equipped with all basic amenities. Also, the nearby Jolley Home Resort and Ramapuram Beach Resort are also good options. The serene setting of the beach can make you forget the world around. Walking on the beach, beautiful sunsets and sunrises are just exciting to watch. But back in seventies, there were only rudimentary facilities that were available with one ILTD guest house just on the beach in Vadarevu. We managed to get it for our use on one weekend.
In 1974, a few of us (representatives based in Guntur) decided to spend a weekend at Vadarevu and let our hair down to recharge our batteries and forget the tensions associated with the hurly-burly sales job we chose as our way of life. About a dozen of us reached Vadarevu on the fore noon of a Saturday while a few followed us in Mr.Perraju's (our colleague from Lederle) car with 'essentials' (beer and light snacks)
We were on the beach immediately after moving into the ILTD guest house. The sea was calm at that hour. Three of us, Sundaram, Baji and I changed into our shorts and got into water. We walked upto a place where water was upto my chest level. Baji was the tallest and Sundaram was slightly taller than me. We three were gossiping without any care in the world. Probably we spent a good one hour chatting like that. Unnoticed by us, a slow moving under current existed in the sea raising the sea level taking it to my chin level. We heard our friends shouting from the Guest House portico asking us to come back to join them for lunch. Baji immediately went back while Sundaram and I continued with our chat in the sea waters for another 15-20 minutes. It was then that I felt the sand under my feet in the sea suddenly started to slip away due to a strong under current. I lost my balance all of a sudden. I went down into the sea the next moment. I was in water for what looked like an eternal period. Sundaram who was standing about 3-4 feet from me noticed that I was going down in water, suddenly lunged for me trying to hold me. He, fortunately for me, was able to get a hold of tuft of my hair. He held on to it and tried to pull me towards him. In the meantime, the under current which removed sand from under my feet, moved in the opposite direction restoring the sand. As suddenly as I lost, I got back my foot hold due to the effort of Sundaram and change in the direction of the under current. Being a litter taller than me, Sundaram was able to see me going down in the water, he himself being upto cheek level in water at that moment. He saved me on that day helping me to tell that story today. I am ever grateful to him for saving me. He had saved me but his gold ring slipped into the sea from his finger while he struggled to hold my hair. I always wondered and tried to recollect what I felt during that short period of my being inside water and being at the edge of my life. When the sand under my feet slipped due to an under current, I knew that I was slipping into the proverbial "abyssal depths" of the ocean as I didn't know to swim and knew that my time was up in this world. At that moment did my life's pleasant events flashed in my mind? Or my failures haunted me? Or did I expect a miracle in that fleeting moment that remained with me? Come to think of it, I had just a blank mind. I am ever grateful to the Almighty for giving me an opportunity to taste that moment no mortal ever has a chance to experience and live to retell. It was just a sweet empty mind.
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