All the ‘panchatatvas’ of Nature ( Fire, Water, Air, Sky & Earth) have got this mysterious quality to them. No wonder then that nature has always been the playground for the mystics around the world. For me it’s always been the sky that captures my imagination among all the five. Of course Fire comes a close second.
That Sunday when I stepped out of the train at Chennai station, I was a bit different from all the other passengers who were also alighting. I was not in a hurry at all. Leisurely I walked down the platform while the rest were jostling and hustling to get their luggage and kids in order. All of them had a place to go to…. I didn’t ! at 4:30 am when you land up in a city where you do not have any place to go to, then its not the best of situations that you are in and it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure that out.
Anyways. I made my way to the outside and immediately the familiar, damp & warm air of the city filled my nostrils. I inhaled the air that had filled every pore of my body for two months when I was there a couple of years back. The city had helped me realize some truths about life and had seen my transformation.
Whenever I come to Chennai I pay a visit to the beach – either Marina or Elliot's. So where did this vagabond land up when he had no place else to go to at that early hour? – yes, the beach. Took a bus and was on my way to the beach. Travelling in the bus you can see the ‘gallis’ of Chennai where the womenfolk would be drawing the ‘kalams’ with the rice batter early in the mornings. The grayish-orangish light streams of the dawn, performing a tango ( tamilian version ) with the ‘Vishnu sahastranamam’ chants wafting seamlessly in the atmosphere. The ‘mullapoov’ (jasmine) adorning the women in their just washed hair… with even the water drops still sparkling from their lovely mane and once in a while dropping on to the back of their blouses, dampening the cloth and mixing with the sweat of Chennai, creating a smell that just is intoxicating !
I get down mid-way and decide to walk. That’s much better. This way I can observe each and every detail. There are some men who are up ( Chennai is a city of early risers) and are getting ready for their morning walks. I thought to myself “Aaah, now I can see something different too” . Then I could see the women all sitting near the door of their houses and sipping their coffee, taking small break from the back-breaking work that they need to get back to in a short while. Have ever noticed women closely while they are sipping their teas/coffees? I always do. There is a serenity that envelopes them, their faces lose their wrinkles, the eyes become more expressive and soft, the eye-lashes blink less and there are long periods of ‘staring into nothingness’. Its the quality that the women have, of prioritizing their thoughts, unlike us men who never seem to switch off. Even in college, sitting in the canteen, sipping our teas, I would stare at those ‘pauses’- if only one could read into those ‘pauses’ !!
Anyways, we are digressing… hmmm… so taking this cue from them, I move on to my destination, ready to submit myself to the forces or the lack of it !
The Marina beach in the mornings – a sight worthy of the trip. I had expected to see the vast sand since I assumed it wont be crowded at 5 am. But then in this country, it would be only a fool who would make such assumptions ! The beach was crowded. No, not with the usual families and children running around enjoying the beach, but with the homeless. To wherever my eyes could scan, there were people who were sleeping on the sand, some covering themselves in blankets and some without. They were sleeping in ones, twos and threes. This is not the sight that I was expecting. These days I have sometimes got this calmness around me when I am confronted with such sights. I instead of feeling all worked up, started to slowly weave my way in between the bodies scattered on the sand. An old man sleeping alone clutching his tattered bag, a well dressed man who had just woken up and was arranging his ‘bed’, three women maybe from the same family lying together – all three are lying with their backs down and are wide awake, talking something like those girls who have slumber parties when they crash at one of their friends’ place and giggle, chatter or sob late into the night. Also small kids sleeping in between their parents, and surprisingly a young couple, deep in sleep in each other’s arms. But the single men outnumbered the rest. These must be typically migrants from neighbouring towns and villages who in the day time make their living in & around the beach and crash on the sand-bed in the night. What a life ! I wonder and plug in the i-pod into my ears. Thank god Golu lent it to me for the trip !
I am listening to Eagles and make my way into the water. Like they show in the movies… I walk across the waterfront, leaving my footprints over the wet sand, only to see the water come and wash them away. The water lashed on to my feet and for once my ‘strong footballer feet’ act like a grandmom’s. The feet jump, scream and flinch at the touch of the water…. I let my feet play with the water and the sand and divert my eyes at the skyline. The sky !
Usually all of us associate the term – ‘vast’ with the sky. We say, “Look, how vast the sky is!!” I always blurt out…. “Look, how ‘paavam’ the sky is !!” I don’t know why I feel like that. I have yet to figure it out. I started to feel like this about the sky when I used to stare at the western sky in Ettimadai campus of Amrita School of Business – when I used to stand on the topmost floor of the building and stare at the sky while taking a break from some work that I was doing.
The sky over the waters, was starting to turn orange, pink and violet mixed with the grey. I was tempted to read the shapes that were being formed by the clouds. Dragons, ships, tiger, axe etc etc are the shapes that we all usually make out of the clouds… isn’t it? Well, all I could see was clouds… no shapes, no meaning…. I have always lacked the ability to read the skies, read the clouds and make a story out of it. Maybe that’s why the sky has always been so mysterious to me. I see Mr. Shivamani , the acclaimed drummer from Chennai, squatting on the water while the camera was taking shots of him. He was playing on the water, patting the water when it came in waves, and creating some musical effect from it. Maybe he was shooting for a video or for a commercial … I just like a man in a daze walk right in between him and the camera. He stares at me, but does not say anything… he just looks at me curiously. The camera man also does not say any expletives as I had thought he would. But just stands there waiting for me to move away. I start to wonder…. “ Am I looking like a ghost to them ?”
Anyways I move away, find an empty boat and plonk myself on to its edge. Sitting there I stare at the ocean, the sun slowly rising, the sky turning into orange, the ‘sleepers of the sand’ slowly waking up, the drummer trying to invoke his creativity, the joggers exercising their muscles, the salty air turning more and more warm and the vagabond sitting on the boat, smiling as he listens to the Eagles crooning “ Tequila Sunrise”….
Its another tequila sunrise
Starin slowly cross the sky, said goodbye
He was just a hired hand
Workin on the dreams he planned to try
The days go by
Evry night when the sun goes down
Just another lonely boy in town
And shes out runnin round
She wasnt just another woman
And I couldnt keep from comin on
Its been so long
Oh, and its a hollow feelin when
It comes down to dealin friends
It never ends
Take another shot of courage
Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb
Its another tequila sunrise,this old world
Still looks the same,
Another frame, mm...
No comments:
Post a Comment