The water will take you away in a second

Cops and lifeguards stand guard amid high tide at Juhu beach a day after four teens drowned while swimming in big waves created by Cyclone Biparjoy. Pic/Shadab Khan

After two decades of working to rescue persons from drowning, I thought I had seen it all. Then comes something like manic Monday evening when four boys were washed away in the waters at Juhu beach.

I have worked at this beach as a volunteer lifeguard for nearly two decades. I am 38 today. I came to the city as a young boy from my home in Jharkhand, Jamshedpur.

I came to Mumbai when I was a teenager, after I lost my parents, with advice that visiting Juhu beach is worth it as it is very beautiful. Like they say, I came, I saw and it conquered my heart. I did some odd jobs around Juhu to survive. I always tried to help in rescue operations though. I had lived very close to water bodies in my childhood and have been a strong swimmer.

From generally helping out, to becoming part of Baywatch Lifeguards Association, it has been such a Mumbai journey for me. These four boys who lost their lives on Monday were sitting on a jetty. A wave washed over the jetty, and took them.

The many openings make Juhu impossible to secure in an absolutely foolproof manner. It was high tide, the sea was rough and water was moving very fast. Even when deceptively calm, water can overpower you and take you away in a second.

Just a few days before this incident, I saw a teenager clad in jeans, a jacket and shoes sprinting into Juhu beach waters on a ‘dare' from a friend. He started struggling in a minute with the jacket, his shoes weighing him down. I went into the water though I was not on rescue duty and managed to bring him out. He said he had entered the sea on a ‘challenge'. He gave his name as Tushar and actually apologised for going in. Yet, this is the inanity we contend with.

As monsoon rolls in, people actually flock to the beach because the waves are high. The ultimate is to experience a wave wash over them. They are in the water at times when the sky is dark, thunder is rolling and there is lightning. It is for thrills they tell us. I will not even go into the responses we get when we try to stop people. From taking abuse, to answers like: I have lived here longer than you, what authority do you have to stop me from entering the water? the list is long. A recent comment I heard is: ‘You are a lifeguard, you cannot stop me from entering the water. Your duty is to save me if I am in trouble!' I tell these persons that we are people who put our lives at risk too trying to save you.

Meanwhile, even as this is being written, I hear the sound of a search and rescue chopper in the air. Many years doing this work and still these scenes haunt me. The crashing of the waves, the whirr of a chopper's blades, the howling of winds picking up tempo, the shouting when a body is spotted and the sounds of sobbing from loved ones… continue to rattle. Do not ‘dare' the ocean. Do not let your life slip away like grains of beach sand.

As told to Hemal Ashar

D Bunty Rao is vice-president, Baywatch Lifeguards Association