Personal social responsibility

It was a lazy evening.I was getting back home after spending some fun time with my niece. I was just turning into our colony when I saw a small girl running here and there on the pavement and screaming non stop. No, nobody stopped to ask her or even look at her for a minute to assess if there is something that needs to be done. Cars and scooters and pedestrians carried on as if nothing has happened. The kid crossed a roadside vendor, an elderly lady who used to supply 'keerai' to my house.The old lady also did not bat an eyelid. I was going to cross the road when I saw three boys on bicycles passing by and they stopped and asked the girl what does she want. She was incoherent and inconsolable. By this time I crossed the road and her mother also came running and hugged the kid. The boys moved on. It appeared that the mother had just stepped into a roadside shop and the kid not realising that mom was not with her, walked up further and then hell broke loose.

I accosted the 'keerai' lady and gave her a bit of my mind. You are a woman and the kid was screaming in front of you and you were more keen on selling keerai than worry about the kid, I told her. She said she saw the mother and daughter pass her by hardly a few minutes back and did not think that there could be any the matter. She brushed it aside thinking that the kid was being adamant and making a fuss for getting some toy and stuff. By this time the mother and daughter had moved away, the mother tightly holding on to the kid.

Mothers should curb their basic instinct to shop anywhere and everywhere, I said to no one in particular and walked away.

But I was quite agitated that public just dont seem tuned into their surroundings and become deaf, mute and blind and uncaring about what happens on the road. Police maintaining law and order together with vigilant and responsible citizens can only make for a safe neighbourhood.

monsoon magic in maharashtra

It is sheer magic to do the Pune Mumbai trip during monsoon. It is wonderful to be in Pune during monsoon especially in a self contained campus on the outskirts of the city. It is enchanting to stay in the company guest house on the second floor overlooking oval maidan.
Normally when I go on business tours, the good part of the day is spent inside closed doors and travel is invariably during late evening night. It was different this time. We made the Pune mumbai trip in the evening and hence were mesmerised by the visual treat. Nature has no business to spread its wares so beautifully. I really wonder there are very many places where there are so many shades of green . I have not seen such shades in such abundance for the entire stretch of two hours by road. The cool weather and the continuous drizzle which was not dropping down but wafting in lazily onto our faces now and then.We will stop our gossip and sit still for a minute or two to praise nature. Beyond the lonavla/kandala hills were lush fields.The dark earthy brown and deep coffee brown fields freshly ploughed were sitting pretty next to lush green fields. It was a tapestry more beautiful and captivating than any words can explain.I remembered the quilt making taught to us during our school days. We used to have a tough time matching colours. But mother nature seems to do it so carelessly with such a flourish.There is no jarring note or mismatched colour in the entire quilt spanning few kilometres!
I reached my house in Pune late evening and it was drizzling. The smell of nithyamallis in full bloom and pavazhamalli again in full bloom and the lovely light orange colour roses gleaming in the pitch dark night brought such a pleasurable home coming, that I stayed for a full five minutes drinking in the sight and smell and capturing in my mind's eye.
In Mumbai oval maidan took a totally different look and feel. Gulmohars were in full bloom. A very imaginative architect had constructed the rooms such that it had windows on the entire wall structure facing the oval maidan. I lifted the curtains and opened all the windows and My God, the view was spectacular.The rain clouds were looming at a distance and now and then a spray would come into the room and wet the page of the novel I was reading. Yes, rains are beckoning me to shut the book and look at them, just like children want your undivided attention all the time. I shut the book and leaned out.The Mumbai court building on the other side of oval maidan was majestic in all its gothic spirals and clock tower. I am a sucker for these heritage structures and as the clock tolled every half hour I was transported to a bygone era where time was a abudant resource and people had time to stand and stare.Children and boys and girls were playing happily in the grounds with all the slush. Hindustan unilever must be happy! Daag acha hai they must be merrily saying to each other as the offtake of surf would skyrocket during this time!
Back from Maharashtra, I was taking my early morning walk on Besant nagar beach. I was stunned at the sky/skyline and waterfront. The sky was a very very light gray and the entire sky that i could see was of the same colour without any blemish whatsoever. No blue sky,no rainbearing clouds of dark grey, just one continuous light gray.And more surprise was the skyline touching the sea was such a thin line and the water was again the same colour. It was mesmerising and so unusual that I stood and watched and watched some more till I could fill myself in with the sheer beauty.I felt nature was like an artist sitting there and painting and for a moment had come out with the perfect texture and colour, so evenly spread and so beautiful.
Chennai too has its magic moments....