Almost 3 years ago I decided to buy an apartment in Bangalore. The search led to an apartment complex under construction just behind where we were staying. But (and it is a big but) there was an issue - the approach road to the apartment complex was not a road at all. It was just a stretch of mud and dust where the plants did not grow because garbage trucks, cars and cows plied on it.
The builder promised us that by the time the apartment complex is complete in 2013, the road would have come. The road has not come yet and the builder is going at a pace of one brick a day to fulfill his promise. The politicians from the hand and the lotus (no broom then) promised us last year that the road will come 2 months after the local elections and the only pre-requisite was that they should get elected. One guy disappeared because the pre-requisite was not met and the other guy disappeared because the pre-requisite was met. The road never appeared.
But I have noticed some curious cases on this road (I will continue to use the word "road" because Shakespeare did not foresee the existence of such a stretch of land on Earth). I will explain some of the cases and I will leave it to you to decipher them.
The Curious Case of the solitary slipper
It was a rainy evening and a gentleman was walking on the road. He had just crossed the Arayamma boards which stood in a pool of muddy water and what not. He had just finished his last working day at office and was looking forward to a happy retired life with his son. Miles to go before he sleeps but still a mile to go before he reached his house. For him, the second solitary mile looked more bleak than the sleepless miles. Just then his leg slipped into a pool of water and his slipper got stuck. He received endless useless gifts on his last day at work. No one bothered to give him a pair of slippers. He had no patience to bend down and take the slipper. He threw away his other slipper and walked ahead. The slipper still lays in the middle of the road. A hundred legs, a thousand wheels and a doggy nose have gone around the slipper but it has not left its place. It stood as a testimonial to the state of the road - the untouchable.
The Curious Case of the missing tyre
The sun was beating hard on a hot summer day and the road was getting dry and dusty as ever. A car was parked further down the road from the solitary slipper. A middle aged lady was standing right next to that. You might not find anything wrong with this picture if you hadn't noticed that the car had a problem - a major one. The guideline for cars is to have 4 tyres but this one had 3. The middle aged lady was stylish and she lived in an apartment further down the road. Months of rumbling on the road had it's toll on the tyres and finally one decided to go boom. On it's place stood a temporary stand waiting for it's rightful replacement. You might still think that there is nothing wrong with this picture if you hadn't seen the expression in the middle aged lady's face. She was a picture of poise and she had a gentle smile behind the heavy make-up. A representative figure of all the people who gave up hope and resigned to the sorry state of the road and it's impact.
The Curious Case of the midnight lamp
The area has lots of PGs (Paying Guest Accomodation) and some more are coming up like fungus in stale bread. Speaking of PGs and bread, further down the road there is a bakery with a PG on the upper floors. The PG for gents was occupied mostly by guys (sorry, that was obvious but I had to mention it) who had just joined the IT bandwagon and were looking forward to a fruitful career. Not to mention the painful backaches as well. For some reason, the guys hardly slept. The bakery owner fueled the sleepless odyssey by serving them a smooth mallu chai. The lights and music were always on. Very frequently, you can hear the karaoke effect with a loud exuberant but completely out of tune noise joining the voice of the song. Maybe the stench and smoke from the burning garbage from the vacant plots keep the bachelors and the mosquitoes awake.
The Curious Case of the bouncing ball
The apartments further down the road are home to a number of families. Just like any apartment, the complex comes alive with kids letting out their spare energy by running around and playing whatever games they can invent. Every now and then you can see a teenage boy or girl kicking a football around. Sometimes a stray ball could land on the road and the stray dogs which own half the road have an amused look when this happens - "should I chase it or should I not" - that is the question on their mind. Of course, you can find such teenagers only when they are not busy doing the extremes - tuitions to guide their future or games where the future is guided by them. Also the romantic ones on the phones sometimes bounce on to the road as well.
The Curious Case of the curious eyes
A school near the end of the road ends the story of the road. I have no idea why someone chose this location but they definitely had the noble cause of imparting practical knowledge in their mind. Tiny kids come in vehicles of all shapes and sizes to the school. The kids who live in the lap of luxury get a feel of the "real" India when the bigs holes in the ground toss their big vehicles and them around. You can always see a couple of small curious eyes peeping out of the tint-removed glasses trying to figure out what is happening. The obvious question on their mind is "the teacher told me that there are white and black clouds in the sky but they never told me about the yellow cloud in this road".
What is the lesson we are teaching our kids today? To live on as if a muddy road is the most natural thing to happen or fight for our right for a better road. It is and should be the second option and we are hoping that we will have a proper road soon.
But why the curious cases and a strange title for something about a road. Two clues - first one is the story of Benjamin Button and the second one is to read the blog from top to bottom with time in mind.
The builder promised us that by the time the apartment complex is complete in 2013, the road would have come. The road has not come yet and the builder is going at a pace of one brick a day to fulfill his promise. The politicians from the hand and the lotus (no broom then) promised us last year that the road will come 2 months after the local elections and the only pre-requisite was that they should get elected. One guy disappeared because the pre-requisite was not met and the other guy disappeared because the pre-requisite was met. The road never appeared.
But I have noticed some curious cases on this road (I will continue to use the word "road" because Shakespeare did not foresee the existence of such a stretch of land on Earth). I will explain some of the cases and I will leave it to you to decipher them.
The Curious Case of Arayamma
At the beginning of the road (as you leave the main road which is actually a road), you will see a sign or two saying very clearly that this is a private land belonging to Arayamma and not a public road. Legend says that Arayamma is an old lady determined to fight a legal battle or two. But I believe that this name is an invention of a sick guy who wants to get some sympathy like those psychopaths in the social world masquearading as the opposite sex. But whoever it is, they have taken their name too seriously and filled half ("aray") of the road with the board leaving the other half for vehicles and human water waste to pass (road or not, nature always calls). Arayamma definitely knows the value of holding on to a useless piece of land. Or Arayamma sees gold where I see dog waste or two. Curious indeed.
At the beginning of the road (as you leave the main road which is actually a road), you will see a sign or two saying very clearly that this is a private land belonging to Arayamma and not a public road. Legend says that Arayamma is an old lady determined to fight a legal battle or two. But I believe that this name is an invention of a sick guy who wants to get some sympathy like those psychopaths in the social world masquearading as the opposite sex. But whoever it is, they have taken their name too seriously and filled half ("aray") of the road with the board leaving the other half for vehicles and human water waste to pass (road or not, nature always calls). Arayamma definitely knows the value of holding on to a useless piece of land. Or Arayamma sees gold where I see dog waste or two. Curious indeed.
It was a rainy evening and a gentleman was walking on the road. He had just crossed the Arayamma boards which stood in a pool of muddy water and what not. He had just finished his last working day at office and was looking forward to a happy retired life with his son. Miles to go before he sleeps but still a mile to go before he reached his house. For him, the second solitary mile looked more bleak than the sleepless miles. Just then his leg slipped into a pool of water and his slipper got stuck. He received endless useless gifts on his last day at work. No one bothered to give him a pair of slippers. He had no patience to bend down and take the slipper. He threw away his other slipper and walked ahead. The slipper still lays in the middle of the road. A hundred legs, a thousand wheels and a doggy nose have gone around the slipper but it has not left its place. It stood as a testimonial to the state of the road - the untouchable.
The Curious Case of the missing tyre
The sun was beating hard on a hot summer day and the road was getting dry and dusty as ever. A car was parked further down the road from the solitary slipper. A middle aged lady was standing right next to that. You might not find anything wrong with this picture if you hadn't noticed that the car had a problem - a major one. The guideline for cars is to have 4 tyres but this one had 3. The middle aged lady was stylish and she lived in an apartment further down the road. Months of rumbling on the road had it's toll on the tyres and finally one decided to go boom. On it's place stood a temporary stand waiting for it's rightful replacement. You might still think that there is nothing wrong with this picture if you hadn't seen the expression in the middle aged lady's face. She was a picture of poise and she had a gentle smile behind the heavy make-up. A representative figure of all the people who gave up hope and resigned to the sorry state of the road and it's impact.
The Curious Case of the midnight lamp
The area has lots of PGs (Paying Guest Accomodation) and some more are coming up like fungus in stale bread. Speaking of PGs and bread, further down the road there is a bakery with a PG on the upper floors. The PG for gents was occupied mostly by guys (sorry, that was obvious but I had to mention it) who had just joined the IT bandwagon and were looking forward to a fruitful career. Not to mention the painful backaches as well. For some reason, the guys hardly slept. The bakery owner fueled the sleepless odyssey by serving them a smooth mallu chai. The lights and music were always on. Very frequently, you can hear the karaoke effect with a loud exuberant but completely out of tune noise joining the voice of the song. Maybe the stench and smoke from the burning garbage from the vacant plots keep the bachelors and the mosquitoes awake.
The Curious Case of the bouncing ball
The apartments further down the road are home to a number of families. Just like any apartment, the complex comes alive with kids letting out their spare energy by running around and playing whatever games they can invent. Every now and then you can see a teenage boy or girl kicking a football around. Sometimes a stray ball could land on the road and the stray dogs which own half the road have an amused look when this happens - "should I chase it or should I not" - that is the question on their mind. Of course, you can find such teenagers only when they are not busy doing the extremes - tuitions to guide their future or games where the future is guided by them. Also the romantic ones on the phones sometimes bounce on to the road as well.
The Curious Case of the curious eyes
A school near the end of the road ends the story of the road. I have no idea why someone chose this location but they definitely had the noble cause of imparting practical knowledge in their mind. Tiny kids come in vehicles of all shapes and sizes to the school. The kids who live in the lap of luxury get a feel of the "real" India when the bigs holes in the ground toss their big vehicles and them around. You can always see a couple of small curious eyes peeping out of the tint-removed glasses trying to figure out what is happening. The obvious question on their mind is "the teacher told me that there are white and black clouds in the sky but they never told me about the yellow cloud in this road".
What is the lesson we are teaching our kids today? To live on as if a muddy road is the most natural thing to happen or fight for our right for a better road. It is and should be the second option and we are hoping that we will have a proper road soon.
But why the curious cases and a strange title for something about a road. Two clues - first one is the story of Benjamin Button and the second one is to read the blog from top to bottom with time in mind.
2 comments:
Hilarious.. Very well written Santo. I liked the last part , why u thought u need to explain the thought behind this title :P
Ha Ha Ha :D Super likes :)
Post a Comment