A few loyalists asked me, separately, “How come Uncle we don’t see your post, of late?” I smiled it away. The real reason is that I have a new Mac Mini desktop. It has TextEdit rather than a Microsoft Word that I am used to. The font proves a strain on my eyes, and I have not been able to fix it at a default setting with a larger font. Believe me, I have even attempted it at different times of the day. Anyway, not your problem. (This is when I remember Siva Paturi (702), now in California. He would just fix it in a jiffy. “Remembering us for a selfish reason, Uncle,” I hear you mutter, Prashanti. No, not at all. Far from it.)
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These days the day starts in B Block with your being woken up by the rhythmic sound of a new Yoga teacher, “Ek…, Do…, Teen…, Char…,” as he guides his adult students in the Basketball court at 5 am to synchronize various steps. Or, occasionally by the commotion of cricket., basketball or any other game children choose to begin the day with. Which of the two cracks it depends on what time you regained your sleep after the 2.30 am wake-up call of the stray dogs heading home after a prowl.
It is summer vacation, and children have a gala time playing various games at all conceivable vacant spots. Skateboard seems the ‘in’ thing this season where an instructor guides children of all ages the nuances, as their parents or grandparents keep a concerned vigil for any mishap. The hitherto deserted swimming pool is in full splash. The easy-going seniors (and not the so aged as well) continue to relax with their select groups at the bench in the toddlers’ play area, watching the young ones enjoy the swing, see-saw, or merry-go-round. Simultaneously these elders engage themselves in conversations on a wide range of topics. The group is getting popular by the day, so much so that each one makes it five minutes earlier to grab a seat before his/her friend does. Their present demand is to uproot the solitary bench in the car-park area of B Block and install it in the park. “In that God-forsaken car-park area,” they argue, “you get no more than the smell of what is cooking in the adjoining first-floor flat”.
This is also the time when ceremonies are planned that involve children. Rightly so, Dr Satpathy and Jayashree of A Block performed the Upanayan of their son, Aryaman (Sun), in their home town in Odissa. (The elder son is Chirag (Light). Very thoughtful of you Satpathy to name them after sources of energy. Yes, no doubt children ARE a source of energy.) Back in Bangalore they held a reception in Malleswaram which was well attended. The menu aside, the star attraction of the event was the sooo cute Aryaman with a tonsured head sporting a two-strand of hair as tuft that the occasion demanded. Did someone whisper into Satpathy’s ears suggesting something for nazar na lage? Anyway, Aryaman that evening could easily have passed a screen test for a child artist for Sant Gyaneswar, Tukaram, Kabir, Tulsi Das, or who have you.
In sharp contrast to all this merriment, alas there are some children who are burning their midnight oil preparing for a host of All India entrance exams. One of my morning walk friends’ daughter is right now busy shuttling between various cities to appear in X number of tests in Y number of days. “Is it a record?” I asked. “No, hers is for Medical. It is more for the Engineering stream,” he clarified.
The city’s garbage collection centre seems to have resurfaced at its old place - this time with a vengeance. Those who go out to fetch milk early morning would seem the most affected. That probably is the time when sorting job is at its peak.
The long-awaited suspense is over. The shopping cum residential building completed opposite our back-gate will have two shops - a Chicken Blast and an Iyengar Bakery. The liquor shop patrons will now have a wider choice for a bite - the usual pakodas from the old shop, or chicken pieces from the new one.
V.V. Sundaram
B-703
13 May 2015
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