OS - A Walk in the Park
Ananya's POV
It is cold. Not the freezing, sweater wearing cold, but pleasantly chilly and aromatic! I always loved this weather in Bangalore. One of the RJs, I think on Radio One, was blabbering something about the cyclists happy on the road, people in the park walking with arms swinging wider, everyone with a smile etc etc.
True that. Bangalore, was one city, that had pleasant weather throughout the year, and most evenings, it rained. Of late, in the past four or five years, pollution and global warming, the ULTIMATE causes of anything that happens around us nowadays, took toll and the heat here became unbearable.
In fact, until two days ago, everyone was complaining - maid, milkman, drivers, shopkeepers, everybody! But, finally, it rained today. Heavily, for our standards and as usual electricity started playing games with us.
Roads are slushy, traffic is crazy, and tomorrow being a festival here, the market place is more like a fish market.
But, in here, just a few metres from the market, in the park, there is nothing from the outside world.
There is greenery all around, even in the boundaries, and they are so thick, you can hardly see the cars and scooters moving outside. There are no horns here, no headlights, nothing at all.
It is wet, places here, in the park are watery, making it impossible for brisk walk. There are hardly any people here compared to the normal strength. Ten to fifteen max.
Still, it is so, NICE! Sometimes, external stimuli affect you in ways you can't even imagine and this was one of those. I had been so cranky all evening with the coverage of some news, and now, I am smiling as if I am the happiest woman on the planet!
I am supposed to cover up for the thirty minutes I missed in the morning, and I am here, strolling as if I am on holiday.
I know, I am not going to burn even five calories this way, but, frankly, today, now, it doesn't matter.
Ever since, I started walking, I have always wondered about this whole system of a park and everyone coming in there and walking. There are so many philosophies that you learn from a walk.
One of the main principles of management, unity of direction, is followed in here, despite there being no uniformity of goals. All of us, how many ever come in here, walk in the same direction, anticlockwise is something they don't encourage. We walk in a circular path, it is paved that way. People go out after they are done, new people join. But, the circular movement keeps going on and on.
It doesn't stop for anyone. If I am late tomorrow, no one is going to wait for me. If I don't go, they won't shut the park. Yet, there is a sense of unity amongst all of us, unconsciously, inadvertently.
I listen to music as I walk, and busy myself in observing the various people who throng the park. Well, I am running the entire day, I meet thousands of people daily, but it is in here, when I actually notice everyone.
Ah, there she is. That old lady, correction, FUNNY old lady, with a blue shawl and school shoes, she must be like sixty and I am guessing she wears her grandchild's shoes to walk. What is hilarious about her is that, she feels she is the master of the universe, I mean, she LOOKS like she does, with that royal frown on her face, and how she walks! She holds on to the railing that encloses the plants and shrubs and walks in any way she wants, not following the others. She walks anticlockwise most times!
It is surprising and clear at the same time as to what kind of a person she would be. Who knew what she had? Whether, she wanted to escape from home for a while, or more likely, she had some illness.
There are some young people, who jog/walk usually, and do exercises on the benches provided.
Some old people, most likely to be ill, I mean, that's what you conclude right, do pranayama, some even indulge in doing bastrika actually!
As I walk in, I find some old uncles waving to each other, saying Namaste to each other. What are the odds, they were family friends or were acquainted with each other for a while? Very low perhaps. These were people who come in here, and meet new people and start talking.
The other day, as I sat on the bench after my walk, there were two people, an uncle and an auntie, they were conversing about some family where there was a discord because the first son's marriage got lesser gold than the other. God knows, what they meant. Only, I now understand, every house has issues.
Everyone who comes there, has some difficulty in life. There is a very, very old man, who walks with a hump. He still comes in for a walk there.
Old people listen to music on smartphones, who said India isn't progressing?
There were grandmoms who came with their grandkids. Lucky people. How many grandmothers actually take care of their grandchildren? Not many.
There is this old man, short, he walks curvy, can't explain how he walks, it is laughable, but he walks so fast, he overtakes me most of the times!
People sit and talk. Some people come in for the sole purpose of gossiping. Not bad. Not bad at all. Some people read the newspaper. A very nice thing to do in the morning, when everything is just beginning.
Oh, and there are cats. There are like three to four cats, very cute to watch but troublesome when they keep scurrying around. This guy, actually stopped walking and went back to observe the black cat. Damn cute.
But right now, in the evening, there are like ten people. Two of them sitting somewhere and chatting. There were a couple of guys talking on the phone, when I went for the previous round.
And, there is this utterly conspicuous yet ignorant couple, obviously, young guy and girl, who think by sitting where there are no lights, no one's going to see them. If my parents would have been here, they would have turned their nose up in distaste. Funny, this generation gap.
Ya, coming back to what I was saying, it is here, that I learn some lessons every day. People walk in with a smile, leave with the same smile. It doesn't mean they don't have issues in life.
It just means, they are just like us, trying to fight with all our issues with a smile, and fighting with the world each day.
A/N - Ya, I have gone mad. Two OSes in a day.
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