Shivaji Nagaram
Second week in bangalore....It was Friday evening. I was walking my way to the bus stop as usual...
The bus stop was unusually crowded and I asked for the auto rickshaw driver there to drop me to where I was headed.He said a flat No and would not even stop for a second. Then came the next stream of autos and everytime I stopped one, I had to either hear a "No" or "Nahi" or "Illai" or "Ledhu" or "Hogathilla".....
Finally as it was getting very late, I started walking to the nearest bus station , Shivaji nagar terminus, where I was sure I would find a bus to reach home.
Five minutes of musing about where is the crowd beside me heading to, why is every Muslim more prayerful than me, what is the point in being dressed in white to attend a prayer meeting, and i realised that i was also in white salwar kameez that day.... coincidentally... and that I seemed to be walking at the tail end of a procession....
Now, since school, i have hated processions whatever be the cause of the procession. To me always, processions meant protest and i am not very much for it...
So, without any idea of the scenario there, I had accidentally gotten myself into a major procession. Thanks to whoever was responsible for the construction of roads in those days...I quickly had the presence of mind to step on to the pavement. I would have stood there watching the procession for about a few minutes when I realised that I should be heading home fast.
I quickened my pace when i slipped on to something that felt warm on my toes. I looked down to see ash all over and remains of something still red hot. I did not waste a second trying to figure out what it was , all i could conclude was that something is or was or would be seriously wrong....
Dropped the idea of bus and took an immediate left.. God knows where this left turn was heading toward... I started walking fast..( one of the very few times when you walk fast in bangalore i guess.. to me it was the first time i was walking fast in say fifteen days' time... :)
I saw autos that were properly lined up on both sides of the road and to me it seemed like I was a top star receiving 'Guard of Honor'. Never would you have seen autos so neatly parked with equal space between each of them. At the moment, this observation should have been of least priority in my mind, but then, sometimes your mind notices intricacies in the most serious moments... and mine did.
I walked on and the five-minute walk seemed to be taking very long before the road hit a bylane where a police constable was trying to regulate the traffic. I walked up to him and told in all languages I knew,that I wanted to reach a specific area in the city. He simply said, 'Walk over to the main road and take a bus'. What he did'nt know was I had taken an hour to reach this place from the same main road that he was talking about. End of day, except getting home safe, nothing else was on my mind, but surely I was not going to go over to the main road again.....
Finally, a lady officer stopped her auto and I hopped in to reach home without any problem.
:)
As I write this, news channels are flashing news on the probable riot this evening related to the Kauveri water tribunal....... I hope people don't burn things this time.... and care for lives and understand that water is a natural resource and not a point to be debated on...
Well, there is always the proverb.. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.. i want to hope for the best but i am not prepared to handle the worst... I wish Bengalooru tides through this verdict without any noise.
The bus stop was unusually crowded and I asked for the auto rickshaw driver there to drop me to where I was headed.He said a flat No and would not even stop for a second. Then came the next stream of autos and everytime I stopped one, I had to either hear a "No" or "Nahi" or "Illai" or "Ledhu" or "Hogathilla".....
Finally as it was getting very late, I started walking to the nearest bus station , Shivaji nagar terminus, where I was sure I would find a bus to reach home.
Five minutes of musing about where is the crowd beside me heading to, why is every Muslim more prayerful than me, what is the point in being dressed in white to attend a prayer meeting, and i realised that i was also in white salwar kameez that day.... coincidentally... and that I seemed to be walking at the tail end of a procession....
Now, since school, i have hated processions whatever be the cause of the procession. To me always, processions meant protest and i am not very much for it...
So, without any idea of the scenario there, I had accidentally gotten myself into a major procession. Thanks to whoever was responsible for the construction of roads in those days...I quickly had the presence of mind to step on to the pavement. I would have stood there watching the procession for about a few minutes when I realised that I should be heading home fast.
I quickened my pace when i slipped on to something that felt warm on my toes. I looked down to see ash all over and remains of something still red hot. I did not waste a second trying to figure out what it was , all i could conclude was that something is or was or would be seriously wrong....
Dropped the idea of bus and took an immediate left.. God knows where this left turn was heading toward... I started walking fast..( one of the very few times when you walk fast in bangalore i guess.. to me it was the first time i was walking fast in say fifteen days' time... :)
I saw autos that were properly lined up on both sides of the road and to me it seemed like I was a top star receiving 'Guard of Honor'. Never would you have seen autos so neatly parked with equal space between each of them. At the moment, this observation should have been of least priority in my mind, but then, sometimes your mind notices intricacies in the most serious moments... and mine did.
I walked on and the five-minute walk seemed to be taking very long before the road hit a bylane where a police constable was trying to regulate the traffic. I walked up to him and told in all languages I knew,that I wanted to reach a specific area in the city. He simply said, 'Walk over to the main road and take a bus'. What he did'nt know was I had taken an hour to reach this place from the same main road that he was talking about. End of day, except getting home safe, nothing else was on my mind, but surely I was not going to go over to the main road again.....
Finally, a lady officer stopped her auto and I hopped in to reach home without any problem.
:)
As I write this, news channels are flashing news on the probable riot this evening related to the Kauveri water tribunal....... I hope people don't burn things this time.... and care for lives and understand that water is a natural resource and not a point to be debated on...
Well, there is always the proverb.. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.. i want to hope for the best but i am not prepared to handle the worst... I wish Bengalooru tides through this verdict without any noise.
Comments
U tamilians have this penchant to add "um" to every other word.