Written By Harshikaa Khanna (Grade 7)
The Radhanagar Beach in Andaman was a major part of my childhood. Both my parents were scuba divers, and we went to the beach often. But one day, as my grandparents and I were waiting for them to come back, they never did. They had taken more time than usual. We were petrified.
It was starting to get dark. Eventually, we gave up, and I buried my face in my grandmother’s hands and began sobbing. We walked to the car, still weeping. Our minds were full of questions, with no one to answer them. Even though they were acting brave and said that everything would be okay, I could see tears trickling down their faces.
They tried to make us feel better, but it never worked. I started going on scuba diving expeditions alone to collect my thoughts. It reminded me of my parents, and it was exquisite. But I noticed something: the beach was becoming more polluted by the day. The worst part was that the pollution was not only restricted to Radhanagar Beach but was spreading across the entire world. People did not seem to care about their surroundings.
They disposed of all waste material into the vast, mighty ocean. So, my grandparents and us sisters decided to make sure that the Radhanagar Beach remained clean. After brainstorming, we decided to make pamphlets for a beach cleanup. After no progress, we found out that TeamSeas had seen our post and wanted to help. We were ecstatic that our plan was coming together.
On the day of the beach cleanup, we got all our supplies ready. I was happy that I was doing something to make this world a better place to live in. A voice in my head spoke, “Your parents would have been proud.” I looked over the coast, feeling proud, when I noticed a green blob near the waters.
As I came closer, it was more visible what it was. A turtle was choking on a plastic bottle. I threw my trash bag down on the sand and ran to help it. As I walked over to my trash bag, a feeble voice spoke, “Thank you.” I stopped dead in my tracks and whirled around. I was in utter shock—did the turtle talk?
I gathered up the courage to ask, “How are you—”
“Talking?” the turtle interrupted. “Oh, I could always talk and was only heard by humans who were willing to listen,” said the turtle wearily. The turtle looked old—it had scratches all over its body and weird-shaped lumps near its neck and stomach.
“You humans have to stop! We are thriving off of the last of our Olive Ridley turtles! We are all experiencing deep suffering. Our habitat, it—it’s surrounded with trash,” said the turtle, his voice breaking with every word.
“Mali, you aren’t the only one able to talk to us sea creatures; your parents were too.” When the old turtle started talking about my parents, I started welling up. I was still very sensitive about the topic.
“We sea creatures approached your parents while they were on one of their scuba diving expeditions. We told them about the pain humans were causing us, and they asked if there was any way they could help. There was one way, the only way to continue the sustainability of the beach: it was to sacrifice themselves.”
“They could not bear the destruction of the beach and the ocean. They thought about it a lot and decided to sacrifice themselves to save the beach. The entire island is their soul,” said the turtle.
Angry tears streamed down my face. It was us humans’ fault that they sacrificed their lives to save the beach. At the same time, I felt that my parents were very brave to sacrifice their lives. I wanted to complete the beach cleanup in their honor and the sacrifice they made for the beach.
I decided that after the sacrifice my parents made for the island, we would hold beach cleanups every week and warn people about the death and destruction of the sea world. Even though it is a small step and there are people unwilling to listen, we remain undefeated. Now, Radhanagar Beach in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is one of the cleanest beaches in India.
Featured Image Courtesy – Tripadvisor
