[Some snippets of (non) happenings in my society, which I jotted down to divert my mind from the news headlines]
* The isolation of human beings have made the birds happier, chirpier and louder. But the dogs look sad, be they of roadside variety or the gentle old Golden Retriever in our block. The big guy is missing his daily walk in the park. The commoners are not getting enough food. It's a lot like the human society.
After a posse of policemen in full battle gear marched through our lane yesterday morning, the jhola-carrying shoppers and the loiterers mostly disappeared. But in the sleepy afternoon hours, the Retriver's owners came out. The lady tiptoed into the park with him. The guy, wrapping a towel all over his face except his nose (!) stood in attention outside, ready to sound an warning in case a law enforcer arrives. The roadetians resting here and there barked a few times, but sans their usual energy.
Someone has locked the park gate today. Now only the neighbourhood cat can go in.
* The non-arrival of garbage van for last two days has caused anxiety among neighbours. A few are contemplating a journey to the dumpyard. Angry words were heard this morning as they discovered that someone have kept a garbage bag in the narrow passageway. Hearing phrases like "singles staying here", I poked my head through the door and enquired about the trash collectors, to give a hint that I am not the culprit. It was a man from another floor, they later found out.
* Three boys walked through the street with a fat bunch of black cotton masks, shouting "tees ke ek, pachas ke do". There were no takers. By now, most people have collected enough masks, I thought, even though PPEs for healthcare professionals are in short supply all over the world.
* The otherwise bustling locality is so silent that even the sound of a bus passing by can be noticed. The shouts of children can be faintly heard from the slum along the railway track. The slum-dwellers are now more aware of the problem than the "educated" lot, thanks to internet.
But Social distancing is a word too big for those small hutments.
* The isolation of human beings have made the birds happier, chirpier and louder. But the dogs look sad, be they of roadside variety or the gentle old Golden Retriever in our block. The big guy is missing his daily walk in the park. The commoners are not getting enough food. It's a lot like the human society.
After a posse of policemen in full battle gear marched through our lane yesterday morning, the jhola-carrying shoppers and the loiterers mostly disappeared. But in the sleepy afternoon hours, the Retriver's owners came out. The lady tiptoed into the park with him. The guy, wrapping a towel all over his face except his nose (!) stood in attention outside, ready to sound an warning in case a law enforcer arrives. The roadetians resting here and there barked a few times, but sans their usual energy.
Someone has locked the park gate today. Now only the neighbourhood cat can go in.
* The non-arrival of garbage van for last two days has caused anxiety among neighbours. A few are contemplating a journey to the dumpyard. Angry words were heard this morning as they discovered that someone have kept a garbage bag in the narrow passageway. Hearing phrases like "singles staying here", I poked my head through the door and enquired about the trash collectors, to give a hint that I am not the culprit. It was a man from another floor, they later found out.
* Three boys walked through the street with a fat bunch of black cotton masks, shouting "tees ke ek, pachas ke do". There were no takers. By now, most people have collected enough masks, I thought, even though PPEs for healthcare professionals are in short supply all over the world.
* The otherwise bustling locality is so silent that even the sound of a bus passing by can be noticed. The shouts of children can be faintly heard from the slum along the railway track. The slum-dwellers are now more aware of the problem than the "educated" lot, thanks to internet.
But Social distancing is a word too big for those small hutments.
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