The day is sunny after the morning cold and slight breeze. The breeze in the early morning at the end of the winter season is normal. There will be due, fog and light wind. People come out still, the house maids come for their work covered in their woollens, the little cars and vans com to transport children to schools, the early office goers rush out and so on.
After that bustle, the old and elderly come out looking for a little sun light and warmth. They are people who have spent a life time doing their hard work in field or otherwise, now leading a little peaceful family life, if there is a family or else, they live with who so evcer is left behind!
When the family is mentioned, in the olden days, the families were larger, father, mother, the big brother, a lot of small brothers and sisters etc. and at times one or two reltives! Women were destined and took it upon themselves that they have to keep the house, cook and clean and play host to who so ever were there including all the children! Children on their part also did as much support to make the family life move in harmony!
Not any more. Now the family is generally husband, wife, and one or two children! Sometimes, there may be father and mother too, either of the wife or of the husband! In city houses, the father and mother is normally not needed except when they are useful in handling children by sending them to school and receiving them back etc. At other times, the work allotted or accepted is to fetch milk, look after ones own health check up and collection of medicines and walk around to have a glimpse of the sun!
I set out to collect milk. The milk shop closes by twelve thirty in the afternoon, before which I have to collect the milk. Milk is provided in polythene packs these days! Far back, it was in glass bottles of half a litre each! This was linked to the ration cards of those days! Two bottles of milk is the normal take of a family of four, including husband, wife, and two children. If elders are there, there will be four bottles making it two litres. I collected my polythene pack of one litre and strolled on in the sun enjoying the change in the climate. A small cell phone doing the additional work of the pocket radio was with me and the wires brought either songs of yester-years to my ears or advertisements for the Delhi elections, party by party! I wlaked on till I reached the complaint cell of the housing complex and there made a complaint for the leaking pipes and returned!
We have too many dogs and puppies in the compound! They are stray dogs, indeed, but well fed, from the left overs or residues ! A bunch of four puppies were under a lamp pole and I thought it is a good idea to take a snap of them! But once I stopped to take the snap, the little ones thought that I am going to give them some food and came around me sniffing me all over. Since they could not find any food, they slowly walked away. My idea of taking the photo was gone. I walked further on and there was a little girl playing with stone pebbles. She was a servant girl, in good clothes, and had to play alone. The game with pebbles can be played alone too as one has to put a stone up and catch as many stones on the ground quickly and lift the hand back and catch the stone one sent up too.Her loneliness among so many residents will make any body slightly sad!
Only the house women spoke to her that too commands only when she went to them for cleaning utensils or washing clothes if not to wipe and sweep floors. The house women always criticised those girls for being late or not doing the chores with extra cleanliness which they themselves did not want to do because of the cold!
Walking on I reached my block where I was waiting for the elevator to come down when my eyes grazed around the see the writings made on the walls! But nothing could be read as a very corrective authority had rubbed out the writings ! But the fire extinguisher was of course in doldrums. The glass in front of the stock of items for emergency was broken and gone like many others in other blocks also!
The elevator called the lift came. It is a self operated lift, the doors of which have to be slided to its closing place and a button to be pressed to take me to my level! Oh..then I remembered my friend! He was sitting in the park in the sun! I had to say helo to him as he is slightly elder to me and had retired much before me. He has got all his children settled and now is in prayers and treatment with the normal old age problems! He had his own stories which I have not enquired into to keep our respective privacies! He namasthed me with folded hands when I saluted him from a distance. Sat ith him for a few minutes, enquired his well being got satisfied then I walked back with my milk!
After that bustle, the old and elderly come out looking for a little sun light and warmth. They are people who have spent a life time doing their hard work in field or otherwise, now leading a little peaceful family life, if there is a family or else, they live with who so evcer is left behind!
When the family is mentioned, in the olden days, the families were larger, father, mother, the big brother, a lot of small brothers and sisters etc. and at times one or two reltives! Women were destined and took it upon themselves that they have to keep the house, cook and clean and play host to who so ever were there including all the children! Children on their part also did as much support to make the family life move in harmony!
Not any more. Now the family is generally husband, wife, and one or two children! Sometimes, there may be father and mother too, either of the wife or of the husband! In city houses, the father and mother is normally not needed except when they are useful in handling children by sending them to school and receiving them back etc. At other times, the work allotted or accepted is to fetch milk, look after ones own health check up and collection of medicines and walk around to have a glimpse of the sun!
I set out to collect milk. The milk shop closes by twelve thirty in the afternoon, before which I have to collect the milk. Milk is provided in polythene packs these days! Far back, it was in glass bottles of half a litre each! This was linked to the ration cards of those days! Two bottles of milk is the normal take of a family of four, including husband, wife, and two children. If elders are there, there will be four bottles making it two litres. I collected my polythene pack of one litre and strolled on in the sun enjoying the change in the climate. A small cell phone doing the additional work of the pocket radio was with me and the wires brought either songs of yester-years to my ears or advertisements for the Delhi elections, party by party! I wlaked on till I reached the complaint cell of the housing complex and there made a complaint for the leaking pipes and returned!
We have too many dogs and puppies in the compound! They are stray dogs, indeed, but well fed, from the left overs or residues ! A bunch of four puppies were under a lamp pole and I thought it is a good idea to take a snap of them! But once I stopped to take the snap, the little ones thought that I am going to give them some food and came around me sniffing me all over. Since they could not find any food, they slowly walked away. My idea of taking the photo was gone. I walked further on and there was a little girl playing with stone pebbles. She was a servant girl, in good clothes, and had to play alone. The game with pebbles can be played alone too as one has to put a stone up and catch as many stones on the ground quickly and lift the hand back and catch the stone one sent up too.Her loneliness among so many residents will make any body slightly sad!
Only the house women spoke to her that too commands only when she went to them for cleaning utensils or washing clothes if not to wipe and sweep floors. The house women always criticised those girls for being late or not doing the chores with extra cleanliness which they themselves did not want to do because of the cold!
Walking on I reached my block where I was waiting for the elevator to come down when my eyes grazed around the see the writings made on the walls! But nothing could be read as a very corrective authority had rubbed out the writings ! But the fire extinguisher was of course in doldrums. The glass in front of the stock of items for emergency was broken and gone like many others in other blocks also!
The elevator called the lift came. It is a self operated lift, the doors of which have to be slided to its closing place and a button to be pressed to take me to my level! Oh..then I remembered my friend! He was sitting in the park in the sun! I had to say helo to him as he is slightly elder to me and had retired much before me. He has got all his children settled and now is in prayers and treatment with the normal old age problems! He had his own stories which I have not enquired into to keep our respective privacies! He namasthed me with folded hands when I saluted him from a distance. Sat ith him for a few minutes, enquired his well being got satisfied then I walked back with my milk!
No comments:
Post a Comment