Monday, December 04, 2006

lite
2~
Evening settles to a blackgreen.calm A flock of white birds wheel over a field. Seagulls can’t be this far inland. Perhaps a migratory flock. Tripping in from who knows where, on an annual NRI ritual. A mango tree, splendid and majestic in the space it has to grow, reaches skywards. Intertwined branches lining the road form a filigreed canopy overhead. Palms stand tall, sharp profiled- origami craft. Past the chattering picnic area, the lane ambles and dips, meanders past the temple to the gaondevi on a densely wooded hill; “next time, we’ll pray-we live under her jurisdiction by the pincode, don’t we?” Even if sprawling residential complexes and glass chrome sharp-angled office buildings have replaced village clusters that once belonged to farmers and fishermen. In a few minutes the black green hill is outlined, shining sci-fi like, all glowing orange red by the setting sun. The undergrowth springs alive with the hum of umpteen insects. In the distance, the ratatat of a pump is interspersed by a birdcall or two, and with the sudden nip in the air one recalls strange tales of leopard sightings. A few miles beyond as the crow flies, cars zip by on the expressway, past flyovers, billboards and shiny malls.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loverly writing Austere, you are really in your element here. The time you allow us a peek into those cavernous and limbic folds are the best.

austere said...

e- thanks. the existence of this patch of green in the middle of the city is quite something, isn't it?

manuscrypts said...

where oh where?

austere said...

aarey colony.
need directions?

AmitL said...

Aah..that reminded me of Enid Blyton.:)

austere said...

Amit- BLYTON? gawd.
WHY? and HOW.
Total googly, this one.

sanguine said...

ya aarey colony is such a pleasant surprise in the middle of the concrete jungle ..wonder how long they wl let it be thr ?

austere said...

Not too long, Sanguine..that Royal Palms development is SOO awful, artificial, wannabe.
*ugh*

AmitL said...

Arre, Enid Blyton used to write thusly, na...all about the land,the area surrounding it, the shops in the area,etc?

AmitL said...

btw,that's me...AmitL

austere said...

thusly, did she?

dunno.
long time back, y'know.