The Ride....

I sweated as i made my way through the crowd on some unidentified street in Jabalpur. The yellow of the whitewash and the sultry sun scorched the eyes and made me more aware of the heat around. The formal shirt didnt help a lot, though it did help in stopping me from tanning me. I hate to wear shades at such times. Once you remove them you just have two circles around your eyes and the rest of the face is dark. Almost makes you look like a human panda!

The streets were broad and the traffic was steady. A few hand rickshaws and scooters frolicked here and there. Coming straight from Mumbai, this felt as if i had stepped in a place still living its past. You could see the top of all the shops as they flashed their tacky signboards of some dull colors. The only bright ones were of the hotels, which were plenty. No wonder here everyone seemed short and stout. Eating jalebi and kachori's doesnt exactly make you a very thin person. People stood in groups of two or three chatting away and smirking. They didn't think twice about whiling away their time. If you had to walk through such groups it would be as difficult as Teju (http://jaswandi.blogspot.com/)must have felt while walking in thane. People scowl at you as if you are crossing their territory. I could see the dust on the road flying around. It circled around taking people and their dhoti's in its grasp, playing shamelessly. People didn't care. In a town of dhoti's and pyjama's, i felt like an outsider!

Someone told me that internet cafe was at the other side of the town. Actually they meant the place where you have lot of computers. No one knew what a internet cafe is. They knew that there was something called a computer. But cafe, internet and email seemed alien to them. The sun would shift its course by hiding behind the clouds sometimes. Then after hiding it would surprise you by suddenly showing up. I looked around for a hand rickshaw.

Sitting in a hand rickshaw is a unique experience. It doesn't go fast, not to slow. You cant get down from it when it is moving. Another advantage is that you can see everything in detail happening around you. My rickshaw wallah was a old man. He must be in his fifties but the cords on his back and his muscles denied that. I could hear him huffing and puffing to keep his mechanical beast in control as it sped along on slopes. Then he would continue with his huffing while going up the slope. I realised about the slope after i sat in the rickshaw.

The breeze swept through my hair gently and the scene around me showed a plethora of events going around and away from me. Like scenes from a movie. I was suddenly one of the high status people who could take the pleasure ride. I wondered what would happen if the people around ever saw a Lamborghini or Chevrolet passing through. Probably they wont know how to react. Probably they would ignore it with their egoistic ignorance. I finally reached the computer shop which turned out to be the one which sold computers. I could see the owner pleading through his expressions, requesting me to come in and at least look around. I denied him the pleasure.

I took the same rickshaw back, the man seemed happy to be chosen by a seth. I didnt get what i wanted but i was happy for that joy ride itself. The man finally stopped near the place where i had started my journey and i gave him thirty rupees. Thirty Ruppes for a half an hour ride, of sitting comfortably and looking around. I started making my way back to where i was staying. I was lost in my thoughts when the old man came after me. "Babu, bahut bhuk lagi hai, kuch khila doge toh meherbaani hogi..." I looked around and saw a fruit shop and bought him bananas. I wondered when he had last eaten. The sun was again on my head, the roads again dusty and the walls parched yellow. The old man was enjoying his banana's in a corner as i made my way back to my house.