May 7, 2007

People 4 : Unwind

A Rickety Truck. The Cargo – Human. Migratory workers. Crossing borders. Packed like sardines.
A woman past her prime, eyes abalze with the fire within. Standing steady as the vehicle coughs and splutters in the traffic. Inches from her feet, playful youngsters chitter away, perched precariously on a ledge. One lad turns with a sudden jerk.

His gaze falls upon the plush air-bus of an IT company. He scans every single passenger, reclined in varying degrees - dozing, fretting, and relaxing after a ‘tiring’ day. His face contorts. As his eyes meet mine, in the last seat, I search for my feet, fleeing from an inexplicable guilt.

His jolly companion taps him on the shoulder, realising his friend’s silence. The contortion breaks into a loud laugh. He points out to each one of his ‘specimens’. Fun and merry continues. Unwinding, after a ‘tiring’ day.

3 comments:

Rashmi Kantharaja said...

"search for my feet, fleeing from an inexplicable guilt"
Well.. that was so very well said.
So was the post. Very touchy. So true that we find all lame excuses to say that we are exhausted , while sometimes all we would have done would be checking a couple of mails and having tea-breaks!!!

HaRi pRaSaD said...

That was a beauty Soli! ( or is it Suchitra?!)

It is really sad to see many poor people living a hard life. But it really surprises me that they don't seem to realise how hard it is..it is only we, who have got accustomed to all the comforts in life who feel so. ..

I used to walk to the library near my home. One particular stretch is filled with people literally living on the roadsides. Babies, hardly a few weeks old lie in the cradles made of saris in the shades of the trees, while their mum cooks something nearby. Old men, lie on the roads and soon doze off listening to old melodies coming out of the transistor, unmindful of the speeding vehicles on the road.

~SuCh~ said...

@Rashmi : Thanks ..:-)
@hari:Yes.. Looking at them sometimes helps to reduce my complaints with life...