MISPLACED JUDGEMENT

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!!!!