For the last few days he was drawing my
attention, restlessly roaming around near the edges of the slip road near the
power sub-station. His demeanour was not at all striking, middle aged with a
lean frame, dressed in a crumpled white shirt, baggy black pants, a yellow cap
on his head and nude pumps in his feet. He would be visible for a few seconds
and then mysteriously disappear from view, mingling with the crowd of passer
bys on the busy road. The windows of my room perhaps had sensed my curiosity
towards the fellow and were somehow able to telepathically communicate with my
mind, forcing me to throw a quick glance outside whenever he was in the range
of my vision......
My educated mind, would always dive into the
ocean of probabilities....to find out one that would fit into his innocuous
ways......did he work in the huge sawmill across the road, did he own a teashop
near the pavement, was he employed in the power sub- station.........But his
carefree ways ruled out him being an employee anywhere, for he never looked
enslaved to the watch. He could be seen, merrily pacing up and down, near the
slip road any time of the day he felt his limbs needed to stretch.....but it
was only his looks that were slightly confusing as he appeared to gaze at
something distant rather forlornly. A girl....I chuckled and hurriedly scanned
around, only to find two dogs lazily enjoying their afternoon siesta under the
electric tower nearby. Humans in the vicinity were visible only on two
wheelers, three wheelers and four wheelers racing away to their destinations,
speedily and single mindedly,........ leaving me downcast, at the likeliest of
the probabilities being shot down without a warning.
The fellow too disappeared and I allowed my
thoughts to gather and compose themselves and not rush to irrational
conclusions. An hour passed by and I felt relaxed and calmed, when suddenly he
made a fleeting appearance again, this time hurriedly running across the road
and disappearing into thin air. My mind was again active, this time it worked
like that of an educated citizen....is he surveying something, the important
office buildings located nearby, the bus stop, the sub-station....conducting an
organised recce, noting down every detail in his cunning mind for
something......I shuddered at the thought of a terror incident in the vicinity
of my office...was a proactive decision from myside the need of the hour, my
mind was totally cluttered and in no position to take any intelligent decision.
So I relied to retreat into a state of blissful ignorance for
sometime...perhaps a cool mind coupled with a state of inertness was the
pressing need of the hour.
I pulled my chair near the window and looked at
the sky and the slight drizzle. The water in the temporary pond (on the
adjacent plot) had receded and was now only ankle deep. A drongo was enjoying
her bath right in the centre, with a pair of red wattled lapwings, hurriedly
wading through towards the shade of the overarching branches of the enormous
neem tree. As I watched them disappear, three buffaloes entered the arena,
enormous creatures, black and shiny from a recent scrub bath, they were
gingerly standing near the edge of the water, along with their faithful
escorts, three white herons, tugging at their heels, not willing to risk their
security, even for a minute.! The huge creatures looked as indecisive as my
mind, whether they wanted to crossover to the other side through the muddy
waters or they could take a slight detour and cross the hundred odd meters
through the muck, onto the relative safety of the road. The biggest one in the
centre seemed to have made her mind, and was gingerly stepping into the waters,
when......appeared the
prime suspect....with a stick in his hands.....tactfully
withdrawing the three erring animals....and hurriedly leading them diagonally
onto the road. All my near inferences and lopsided conclusions,that were on the
verge of crystalising had crumbled in the two minutes he took in taking control
of his animals. He could not wait for the signal to turn green...for the men
behind the wheels had control over the brakes......he had only his stick and
commands at his disposal...so the traffic waited, and he and his illustrious
companions were given the privileged right of way! My eyes followed them as if
in a trance...... they crossed and reached the edge of the park, where a cart
and a horse too were waiting. The poor fellow hurriedly tried to put the
harness and the horse together, when the rain came thumping down, blinding my
vision through the windows. I pulled my chair back towards my table, and
laughed silently at all the foolish thoughts I had harboured about the fellow
and wondered if the cart he was harnessing, was to be used for ferrying the
three buffaloes home? I quickly imagined the sight it would present and allowed
myself a hearty laugh before the more serious office files on the table, nudged
all the childish thoughts away!!!!
