The Afternoon thoughts!

December s gone and January is in with the heat of winter during the day and the slight cold and fog at night! The Palakkadan wind is blowing all through cooling the extra heat. But the sun is closing in. Or are we right to call it the climate change, the way the television channels call it?

Television channels! They have less time for the change as change overwhelms them. But, they keep trying – they have to tell the world, the story of what happened! When I listen to it, I forget what to do next. The I go to the filmy channels. Some are good, but too sad, some are ferocious with a lot of blood shed, the good ones with humour – the ones I want to see are few and far between. Science and discoveries are strewn in between. But this is not a college. One does not learn any thing by heart – all one can do is just watch. Watched it for a while and shut it down. Oh.what peace! When the blabber of too much wisdom and sale is over, what peace!

The birds and minahs are making their usual sounds and going around searching for their meals in the garden. People do not care for the birds of the air and there are far too less seeds in the soil for the to prey upon. The little rivulet near by is making a last gurgle before it dies off. A little white pelican is patiently waiting for its fish! Trying till the evening it earns something.

Had it been olden times I would have been in the capital among the hustle and bustle! The office I was working, the officers who bossed over me, the lower staff who assisted me all busy with work! Set systems, set agendas, set programs all going from time to time to help the largest mass of people! The capitral had huge wide roads with the stone palaces which we called the office. There were medows in the English style and water ways called boat club which was sparingly used. The fountains and the gladiola filled gardens gave a solace during our walk during the lunch hour!

The large post office became old and just disappeared. The huge jumbolana trees and peepul trees also became old and left the place for more sophisticated arrangements.

The old DTC buses changed colour first into red buses and then blue buses. They took rebirth as green buses and cherry buses! The old travellers left the town for new places in the villages! Times change! But the villages too had changed! The village anybody left was different! They had lost the earlier serenity and tranquility! Huge vehicles called tippers and many axled vehicles squeezed into the roads which earlier had only buses and few cars. Now all roads big and small had cars and trucks all the time with endless number of motor cycles and scooters. The old pulling rikshaws and their pullers are long gone and their place is taken by three wheeler autorikshaws.

Capital life is punctuated life, like a clock it ticks. Flock to office in the moring, settle down and do paper work, errant works and keep tab of endless office matters! Have teas in between and have a munch at lunch! Again over see the office works, continue to work with tea in between and take a break at five to have a stroll to energize and get back to complete the day's work and get out at nine to flock back again in the next moring. The great night comes down as a peace, the traffic die down and all are quiet! Reach home and refurbish, sleep and hop back! Days fly off.

No other programs, no functions in the village which all are thwarted off ' no, difficult to get leave' that one sentence saved and kept us off from all functions in the village for forty years. Now we are back. The village we left was different. The old 'Sreeramachandra' bus with the loose gear liver which a boy precariously kept holding for the driver to shift whenever he wanted is no more. The rythm of the old buses is not there. The present ones are new and they roar and overspeed with blaring air horns! If one is in front of it in his smaller vehicles do give way quickly or even stop on the side as the very young drivers at the wheels are far too impatient then the old drivers!

All people travelled by one or the other mode of motorised transport and walkers are too few. One really got frightened on the road for fear of whiffing motor cycles or cars! Buses ..oh..keep off and be watchful, to save yourself. The old bullock carts which made the length and breadth of all states are all almost gone and replaced by little mini trucks or autoriksha boxes.

The new transport mode went over our coconut trees. They contacted us with their sounds only. But that too has become far too many ..Flights, helicopters and such others. Once in a while we saw them as small steel pins in the air. But mostly in the mornings and evenings. Not now, in the hot sunny afternoon.This time, it is the solitary birds and squirrels and one or two workers here and there in the near by compounds.

Had to attend a function at noon. But not going though. It is good to relax at home to write a few lines on the blog or watch the movie on the box. Going is by the four wheeler which the young boys at home are happy to if they are available. Today the youngster was there. The four wheeler car was his choice. We earlier had the two wheeler. But with two children and husband and wife it became difficult as the children grew up. Four wheelers do not fall down like two wheelers. That is a great comfort. Plus they care covered equipments.

Earlier cars were only with the Government for officials. The while ambassadors. Outside generally people had yellow topped ambassadors. A gentleman had an ambassador if he was rich enough. The lesser rich had a fiat! The so and sos had a two wheeler and the poor had either a bicycle or nothing at all. All could in any case use the public buses which was better organized in those days.