Traffic jams are nothing new for any city
dweller. Nor is the mundane life that wakes up every morning and engulfs over
the city. You’re a housewife- you devote your mornings without thinking much to
prep for others’ school/office/any-thing-on-earth schedule; you’re
a student- the mornings are all about finding the right stuff lost at the wrong
time just before you are getting pathetically late for your class; you’re an employee- your weekday mornings are consumed in making it to office on
time while making plans for the weekend. And amidst all this chaos, when you
see something that is beautifully meaningful, a life affirming presence is
felt.
Like the little wench did, this morning! Typically
crowded bus on office hours, crossing the borders (Well technically, it’s
Delhi/NCR- so yes!) and various stories standing close to her, producing a squirming
urge to run away instantly- the pretty girl constantly talking to her boyfriend for a ‘quick’
morning chat; the working auntie who started by asking a ‘little’ space to rest
her weak ankle and now sharing shopping tips candidly to fellow passenger, having
more than half of the space on the seating area; and the uncle who expertly
shuffles between dozing off and secretly staring at you in a typical skeptical
way.
And then you saw it. Nothing that lasted
more than 5-6 seconds. But the effect was such that you instantly know life is
still around, living cozily, turning into a warm smile on your face.
At the underpass, amidst the chaotic
traffic, the screaming honking cars and the silent, victimized traffic lights-
there is a huge work at play! At the numerous drainpipes embedded in the wall
of the underpass on each side, most of the drainpipes have now become sweet,
cozy home for birds! While one of them sit and checks the comfort of the so-far-built
nest, the other one skilfully collects twigs and pebbles to complete the home!
They seem to pass a look to each other, a
look of hope, argument and approval- all at the same time. Some home are
already done, with two of them perfectly settled together in the front of that
tiny drainpipe- a tiny drainpipe which now holds twigs, pebbles, two birds, and
now a home!
