Dilemma of living in a City, yet a Village

Woken by the effect of the belting sun, I realise that the Air-conditioner is switched off and neither is the fan on. Disgruntled I get up cursing the Gods, "Why?? Why on earth should I be amongst the dissatisfied youth, who never manages to complete his sleep?"

From the other room I hear a squeal followed by a clamour. I witness my grandparents exchanging their little valuable thoughts that they have about their surroundings.

Get down the stairs to see that life had already started for many in the same world that I'm part of. Sister busy packing her bag for college, Dad already left for work, and Mom out to temple. I feel as if a cuckoo in midst of a family of sparrows. I still ponder over what went wrong in my DNA composition. Yet, somewhere some stones have to be moved to start building a monument. Every step that I took seemed to weigh heavily.

Yawn. And there it goes. I need to start my day and switch on the lights as I make my way into the restroom. It's a reminder. The power is'nt there, and I suppose that's the sole purpose of me waking up. I stumble my way in and refresh myself.

Now rejuvenated, I grope the newspaper on one hand and cold milk as beverage to start the day. For a change I plan to read all the news in detail. Well, I've got all the time on earth to do that. "Its the same old news," and I flip to the next page.

The second page of TOI is always the best to read from both knowledge and literature point of view. To my horror the headlines read "Statewide Power shutdowns." This is the second time in the day that the divine Gods are remembered for, well, cursed. I am facing the brunt of the self procalimed road to development by the pundits at the helm of affairs presiding at the Secretariat. With thoughts dancing ballets and bhangra, I try to assimilate as much as I can about the issue.

I'm the most favourite of the victims for Uncle Murphy. Yes, my eye catches on the line which says "....... though the authorities have been lenient to allow the shutdown in areas inside the City Corporation limits to be one hour and the outskirts of the city being 3 hours......" The fact is we live about 8 km outside the city limits. The Holy Spirit makes his presence felt again. I look at the clock as it struck half past eight. An hour without the power is definitely excruciating, to top it all it's early in the month of June in a tropical region, where the seasons are defined as the Hot, Hotter and Hottest.

Another hour lapses, and I'm still glued at the very place engrossed at what I'm reading. Now the tranquility in the air is suddenly disturbed by the clank of the gates. The First Lady of the house arrives after her holy visit.

Surprised by my early presence at the drawing room, she made a gullible enquiry about 'Why has the Sun risen from West?' I evade any further devolopment of this statement into an arguement with a coy smile.

There is still 3600 seconds to tick by before i do something fruitful. I climb up the stairs, and the conversation of squeals and clamours is now turning into a squabble for the amount that needs to be given as a gift for a function at a nearby relation.

Finally, I move into my abode and decide to clean up the mess i had made. And by the time I complete this task (yes, it indeed was a task as you can imagine how a bachelor's room would look), the pain and agony experienced over the past 3 hours gets over. The power is back.

Its quite into the day and I do need to bring sanctity to myself, by cleansing off the sweat that has formed a layer as thick as my own skink over those period of 3 hours. But the essence of the bath was lost soon after, as this city a.k.a village is famous for its high humidity. Pah, a sigh of both relief and agony grips me.

Our sweet First Lady had completed her cooking, and that was smelling delicious. I hogged over as I had hardly eaten anything since morning. I usually eat by a morcel, but this day was one of those unusuals to come by. My mom remarked that only a characteristic burp was missing which generally indicates that a food is good. Well, I reserve that for another day. For the first time in the day His Holiness was remembered for something good.

I plan to venture out to see the world around me. On my way out I notice the squeals and clamours are still on. The bus stop is a good 2-3 min walk from my place. Either side of the road that leads to the bus stop has rows and rows of hutments. Scenically, this pathway gives u a plethora of emotions: happy, sad, bliss, depression, ecstasy, heart-breaks.

Screening my way through the cacophony caused from these emotions, I finally make it through to the bus stop. Well, I guess the wait is going to be long enough. The fact is that during non-peak hours at this place intra-city transports run at a frequency of once every 20 minutes. But, peak hours never seem to exist. The only pastime by the bus stop is looking at the natures pets. Sacred animal, the cow, grazes its way through the grass that is sprinkled across the upcoming development areas. If you are lucky you may also stand to witness them ending their digestion process on the roads.

After a while your prayers are answered and bus enroute to the city halts to take in the sophisticated villagers. I make myself comfortable at a window seat. The person next to me turns out a one chewing a paan and in the process exercising all possible muscles in the face. The scent of this paan combined with the stink from his clothes drove the vacuum out of the bus and filled with a vibrant fragrance. To top it all, the bus journey started as a rickety one. It manoeuvred through the roads which are under construction since the days of Moghul Empire setting foot in India, and giving the passengers multiple disorders.

I finally reach my destination and breathe in the fresh air of the city, of which I was a resident once. But the dilemma still continues to be behind me.