Nuem Beach Indicates The Time Of The Year
Part One (the legend of the Seventh Wave)
Since I was born and brought up around the Arabian Sea on the west coast of
South Goa, in a village called Nuem which is in between Canaguinim and
Cabo-de-Rama about 24 Kms from Margao, I was and still am very much fascinated
by the sea, even though most of my life I have been away from my village, my
love for that shore hasn't in any way diminished, the more I see it the more I
love it.
Right from a very young age I was a better listener than a talker and it's the
same today, probably because of it, I have a better marriage than most ! Since
I was a good listener, I was indeed fortunate to listen to the talks of the
elder generations, mostly stories and myths of the sea, most of which I still
remember. A number of times I had heard the elderly people talking about the
sea in details and today I can confirm that they were right in their
assumptions.
Have you'll heard of something called the "Satollie" the seventh wave ? Is the
seventh wave a myth or a fact ? I had heard the elders talking, that while
taking a boat or a canoe out of the shore and into the sea the seventh wave has
to be always watched for, so also while coming ashore. Later I saw some
disasters on our small beach when anxious young men did not have the patience
to wait for the seventh wave to pass and learnt their lesson. As I observed and
understood, it is mostly believed to be the seventh wave that's why the term
"Satollie" but may or may not precisely be the seventh wave, the biggest wave
in the line of a few waves is the "Satollie" the seventh wave.
The sea is usually rough during the rainy season with strong undercurrents, but
at new-moon and full-moon too the sea surges with undercurrents and it is
during these times that one has to be careful, because at times the sea looks
calm but suddenly you see a huge wave come out of nowhere and surprise
everyone, that is actually the legend, mystery or the myth, as you like to take
it, of the seventh wave.
My fascination for the sea made me observe our beach intently, and I observed
that our beach gives different messages at different times, just as our elders
had said. In the months of April May we are usually greeted by strong
"westerly" winds, strong winds from the sea into the land, when the waves tear
off the algae, seaweeds and other sea plants (shello) from the rocks and the
seabed and wash them ashore, this is the sign that says the summer is ending
and rainy season is not far away, I had heard a few times some old fisher folks
telling their sons, "arre baba, shello veller poddlo ani tumi gharam ani ghotte
azun xinvonk nant" meaning the sea plants are washed ashore already and you'll
are yet to repair the roofs of your houses and cowsheds (palm leaf roofs)! At
this time the fisher folks would start pulling their boats to higher and safer
grounds
Then a few weeks later the systematic erosion of the grayish white sand off our
shore starts, it is not the usual golden sand that's found at other prominent
beaches even though Canaguinim and Rajbagh on either side have the golden sand.
Soon afterwards the shore is devoid of the beautiful rich sand and the ugly
rocks and stones which were buried in the sand stand out, looking hostile,
making the beach inaccessible and dangerous, the whole beach becomes full of
rubble and rocks, it is then we come to know that the rains are just round the
corner, and then just as the rains start the phenomena of the seventh wave gets
even more evident.
As the rains start the undercurrents start getting stronger and stronger and
the waves start hitting the shore with strength and vigor then recede a long
way off. During my childhood I use to watch other boys running down and the
rocky beach and then suddenly one of them would yell "Satollie yeta" meaning
"the seventh wave is coming" and they would all run back to safer ground before
the wave splashed high on the shore with full force. I use to envy all the kids
playing in the sea, I being the only son in the family was strictly forbidden
from going anywhere near the beach during this season or be reckless like the
other kids and being an obedient son I stayed away, but none the less envied
the others.
I remember an incident soon after my SSC, an old man from a neighbouring
village, a farmer happed to enter the sea on the far side of the beach at the
beginning of the rainy season, I and my friend were close by on safer ground
watching the ferocity of the sea and the surf that was sprayed high in the air
but did not see the old man going onto the beach, poor fellow seeing the water
receded thought it was low tide and started washing his feet in the pool of
water around a stone with his back to the sea (he told us later), suddenly we
heard a high pitched scream, I and my friend ran to the site and were horrified
at what we saw, the old man was taken out by the seventh wave but fortunately
the next big wave left him on the shore like a floating log of wood, the old
man was damned lucky to survive without a scratch on his body, yes ofcourse he
was badly shaken up and still shaking violently all over as he had already
swallowed a good amount of sea water. By then a lot of people
had gathered as the local bar was close by and helped him out and once the
water was out of his stomach, he was okay but then with a shot of the local
coconut fenni at the bar he was back to normal. With all the rocks and the
rough sea, to be pulled out and then brought back without a scratch was nothing
less than a miracle, mystery of the "Satollie"
We have an old abandoned mining dock, from where we fish and cast nets (pagger)
from a safer height, from where we get a lot of fish especially during the
rainy season, while throwing the net we mostly wait for the "Satollie", we have
been told by our elders that the "Satollie" brings a lot of fish with it and
more often then not we find it to be true as we cast the net on the back side
of the seventh wave. While casting the net from the shore too we wait for the
seventh wave. Here, I am sure people will wonder, do I know to cast a net ? Yes
I do and so do most of our boys; I had even weaved my own casting nets, two to
be precise. The people from my village have a passion for fishing and there was
a time when nearly every household had a net and a canoe (ponnel) of their own,
even though fishing was just our hobby and not our profession.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
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