Direct Observation.
Setting : The roof top/terrace.
Location : Pondicherry.
Date : 12th October, 2013.
Time : 18:00 to 18:30 hours.
Duration : 30 minutes of observation.
Observation of everything around me :-
- dragon flies flitting around.
- beeping sounds from vehicles, trumpeted honks from trucks and buses, from the distant highway road.
- the sound and sight of neighbouring children shouting in delight on the arrival of their father back from work.
- bicyclists, riders and drivers on bikes and cars respectively, passing by the common lane which commutes around in the residential colony.
- sight of a skinny street dog strolling and looking into the empty garbage can.
- people walking home or out, or strolling for their evening walks.
- sound of chirping birds from the distant trees.
- sound of the vehicles passing by.
- sound of utensils being washed from a distance.
- view of a clear violet like coloured sky with puffs of scattered cotton candy clouds. Some parts of the sky is shaded with a dash of soft-bright pink.
- a lone bird swiftly flew by above me.
- sometimes it's all very calm and despite the distant sounds, the ambience is still so peaceful to me.
- a boy walking slowly with his back pack. I think he is fidgeting with his celphone or opening a candy wrapper. He is occupied with his hands while walking. I can't see what it is from where I am.
- cars parked still and motionless in the open garage of some of the houses here.
- pretty blooms of yellow and pink flowers outside the lawn surrounding the porches of some of the houses.
- an elderly gentleman in his 'dhoti' ('lungi'-wrapped around cloth) and 'banyan' (sleeveless vest), walks slowly at pace towards his car that is parked in the garage of the empty house opposite his house. He ignites the engine and parks it in front of his house.
- some clothes on the clothes line on some of the neighbours' terrace.
- the sky gets a little darker.
- the half-lighted moon seems brighter with the night clouding the evening sky.
- the cotton candy clouds now turn grey in color amidst the dull blue sky. It sadly gives an appearance of polluted smoke in the sky.
- the elderly gentleman in his 'dhoti' and vest leave with his wife and grand draughter in the car.
- the arrival of hungry mosquitoes begining to bite me.
- the sight of distant house-lights, a kilometer away, begin to light. Even the nearby windows of the neighboring houses are now lit.
- the sound of the crickets is constant.
- weather is cool.
- it gets darker.
- and finally before I go in, the sound of frogs croaking in deep base.
My Reflection on my observation :-
'Dragon flies' always remind me of my grandfather. I still remember an incident with a dragon fly during one of our visits home in Imphal, during the summer holidays. To escape the harsh summers in Delhi, our hometown in the North East part of India, was always a heavenly escape. So on one fine day, to keep me occupied grandpa tied a thread around the tail of a dragon fly that he skillfully caught and handed it out to a terrified four year old me. We untied it free after much of my terrified shrieks and scurried escape each time the 'dragon' tried to fly off.
Possible to say it was my first pet?
Sad, the little creature was tied for a while. How would I or anyone feel if we were tied up, even for a short while?
I don't like caged or tied up animals, birds, reptile or any living being for that matter. I hate the thought and sight of a zoo. I have never visited a zoo in my life and would not want to even now, or ever. I remember hearing and reading disgusted veiws on the maintenance of a zoo in Calcutta's "Alipore Zoo". An adolescent at that time, it was probably then that I vowed never to visit a zoo (as I thought it would help to discourage the establishments of such zoos).
It is a weekend and yet from the sound of it, there is heavy traffic on the highway road, situated in the East from where I am, just about half a kilometer away. Nowadays, just like the wind, time moves at a quick pace and people are always very busy, always moving around. Coming to think of it in relation to the moving automobiles and traffic, with the increasing number of vehilces on the road, not only is it a concern to air pollution but to sound pollution as well.
Where are my oxygen mask and pair of ear plugs?
This makes me hum Michael Jackson's track, "Heal the world".
Just like how the neighbours' children shouting in delight on their father's return from work, as a child, me and my siblings similarly welcomed our father. Whether they were expressing in Tamil or any other language, was not a problem. From the behaviour of the children with their hands up with a gleeful expression on their face and happy go lucky jumps, were enough for me to have a smile on my face as well. This reminds me of my younger sister who would open up her arms as wide as she could to hug our father. She was probably about four years, with her big toothless smile and her adorably excited eyes beaming so bright as she ran towards dad.
Watching all the drivers in their four wheelers, I envied them for I miss driving. It has been over a year now since I landed in Pondicherry. With no car nor bike here and not even a bicycle, I depend on the public transport. I don't like being dependent, especially on the hired auto driver who is not always punctual and who only knows Tamil. But on the bright side, there is improvement in his basic grasp of the English language as well as my understanding of Tamil. Somehow we manage to communicate through actions, gestures, eye contact and facial expressions.
The sight of the skinny street dog looking into the garbage can, sadly reminded me of the beggars one may see while commuting in Kolkata (Calcutta), who hungrily rummage into the filthy, foul smelling, public waste bins. I remember, in my school going days, one fine morning seated on the second row, window-seat of the school bus, where at a traffic stop, I noticed a beggar man in torn, faded and soiled rags, hastily eating green chillies. That was the only edible item he could find in the garbage.
From the passersby, two men passed by, holding hand in hand. They weren't talking. My attention was on their hands, whether as friends, brotherly, or as a gay couple, I cannot guess. None the less, it seemed a very clam and beautiful relationship that they shared while strolling away.
I enjoy the view of the wide sky from the roof top. It always reminds me of how small we really are in this universe. This is the place which allows me to have my own solitary and recreational space. And, with the clouds in the picture, I thoroughly enjoy forming shapes of them with anything that comes to my mind and with which can be shaped into the momentum of the clouds. This creative activity from my childhood has never ceased.
Reflecting on it, I once had a wonderful experience, much like a dream. It was around past seven in the evening. I settled myself on a chair on the roof. As usual, I was with my cellphone busily engaged in textual chats with my loved ones. It was only to ease my eyes that I looked up for a quick and relaxed gaze. The weather was lovely with the cool breeze and the sky was navy dark. That was when I saw a bulky mass of grey, carried by the wind from the North East moving South West. That bulky mass looked to me as an exact from of a huge whale and I, underneath the dark ocean, looking up towards the surface of the water. I continued to gaze at that form of the gigantic whale as it flowed nearer and nearer at a slow pace, towards me. It is this magnificent whale(size of pondicherry university's 'silver jubilee campus'), descending towards me in the depth of the ocean. Just imagine it! My heart was literally beating and I felt scared at that moment but it was awesome. Something that I may actually not experience in reality. I hope I don't sound crazy!
When I'm lucky, I get to see thousands of shining stars and the view only gets better when there is a power cut. Last year we had really bad power cuts on a daily basis. It was difficult to bear the heat but the enjoyment of the cool breeze and the dreamy starry night sky was (sometimes) worth the power cuts. Now, the power cuts have reduced drastically, much to our happiness.
For the observation of the elderly gentleman, despite his age, he still continues to be the young energetic man by taking responsibilty to take his wife and his grand daughter out for an evening drive. (I'm only assuming it to be an evening drive). I had no clue that he was to start the engine of the car. Even at this age, he is still healthy and strong. It is wonderful to see families together. I come from a family of six members, currently all living in different locations. As I mention them, I miss them right now.
With regard to the neighbours here, they never take in their clothes after hanging it out the whole day. It is left out even at night. The next day I will see the same clothes hung on the clothes line as it were the other day. Even when it rains, they do not to take it in. Are these particular neightbours lazy? Or very dependent on maids/helpers who're under their service during the day alone?
When I go out to the roof, expecting the least, that is when I see the clothes no where in sight. I'm left puzzled on this.
Mosquitoes! I'm afraid of these tiny mosquiotes. Though so tiny, they are dangerous blood sucking vampires. Even a tiny being on earth such such as a mosquito can cause deadly diseases such as 'Malaria' and 'Dengue', so threatening to human life. So, 'size' certainly does not matter at all.
Without 'light' we are helpless to go about with our daily routine work. So dependent we have become on artificial light. The appreciation of the moon and stars at night are often forgotten or for that matter not even noticed. We are lucky we get to view them here. They are usually not in sight in densely pollluted places such as in the metropolitan cities. So I'm lucky right now.
The sounds of the crickets chirping and frogs croaking are quite pleasant to hear in the call of the night. However, if either entered my room, I won't like it. It is their time of the night for hunting food, mating and surviving in the wild. We, on the other hand, have drifted away from nature to living in concrete shelters in this fast pace, plastic-made lifestyle.
~x~
