Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Ma'am, you belong here?

She was walking up that Road,
and it was a trip down the memory lane
20 years earlier...
many hours were spending idling on the pavement
senior guys trying to rag first year girls
students just enjoying the sight of the Big Tree near the MB circle blossom in white,yellow and orange colours
watching friends bantering near the basketball court and first years skating,playing basketball as part of their OT
The road where she walked every day of her life for four years.
where they leisurely walked for sessionals or ran for classes to avoid attendance shortage
walking on the Road during the night enjoying the ambiance and staring at the starlit sky
where a 100 lamps lit up the pavement on Diwali night and the splendid lights adorned the trees
where crows would target them with shit bombs starting sharp at sunset
forcing them to use umbrellas all the seasons of the year
lots of laughter, friendship, love, tears and photos
the end of an era with a day long procession, trumpets and drums
Now all that remains is...
the Road sans all this. No one seems familiar,
buses ply the road taking students to and fro
students no longer spend time just idling, there's no life on the Road
gone were the days students would just sit on the pavement and enjoy the stillness of the moment
The old guard comes up to her, seeing her lost in a trance
He has a bewildered look on his face, not accustomed to people walking on the Road and asks "Ma'am, you belong here"
She replies "Yes, 20 years back" and walked back down to catch the bus to the City.
Maybe after five years when her batchmates come, if they come, they could relive those days
if only for a few hours