Saturday, February 06, 2010

A walk in the morning in Bangalore

My ever increasing weight has one day forced me to think and in a way forced me to restart sthin that I havent done in a long time -- Take a walk in the morning. It is unfortunate that I got this idea towards the end of December 2009 ; Bangalore turning to be as cold as it can get. I struggled with a bit of inertia but these walks turned out to be more frequent (almost daily). I started liking them not only for the exercise that I am getting and the reduction in my weight but also for the glimpse they provide me of Bangalore. On one such errand today , I involuntarily noticed that I am looking at a microcosm of India. Not that I didnt know , just that I never looked at it the way I did today.

In the cold early morning , things were just running as they have been any other day. I just started appreciating the sceen and the actors much better. A milk vendor carrying nearly 200 packs on a luna (for the uninitiated it is a small scooter barely 60cc) , the sweeper without a sweater or a muffler going about her job of keeping the roads clean , school children shivering yet still keeping up the spring in their steps, the vegetable vendors, the chai-wala with his dexetrous ways of mixing chai (tea) from one glass to the other; and the best of all - a woman holding a kid in one hand , a laptop in the other and advising her husband about some things at home (kind of eavesdropped on the conversation :-) ). The early morning sun rays provided the perfect background ; it is sad that I wasnt carrying my camera. A collage on Indian life could have been made in a span of an hour. Was sheerly mesmerized by the colour , energy and the hustle and bustle at 7 in the morning.