The reflection of sun rays from the water made an illusion of gems in the river . The wildflowers tilted slowly with the breeze. I sat in the shade reading peacefully. Except for the chirping of the birds , everything was silent.....Everything was silent until my mother shouted ..." Vidhya ..get up ..just because you don't have class today doesn't mean that you can sleep all day ..." And that marked the end of a pretty good dream.
I got up from bed ,not because I wanted to . The clock told me that it was 9 . My sister and dad had already left for class and work respectively and mom had to leave for her office in half an hour . After my morning rituals, I helped her pack her lunch and soon waved her goodbye. Then , like all other class-free days , I was home ,alone .
Exams were around the corner, but I've been working on my canvas for the past few days. So as soon as she left , I grabbed my stuffs and went to the upstair-balcony to finish my latest painting.The sun had already begun his summer brutality. Working indoors was more comfortable. But i had the habit of taking short breaks while painting and looking at the green garden in the next yard . That garden was a soothing sight and was the only sign of nature in our urban neighborhood. I live in a large house with very little yard , surrounded on all sides with houses of similar size . These concrete giants are so closely placed that a skilled acrobatic dancer could jump from one terrace to another with ease. There are trees around , but very few and very isolated. I wished I could return to my morning dream.
Minutes later the mobile phone vibrated. It was a forwarded message from my cousin that had caused the vibration. That was odd cause he usually messages in the evening , so I replied " Y so early 2day??" and he answered "no classes ,chechi :) & no mood 2 study ..plannin on goin 2 our old yard ..havnt been der 4 a long tym"..
"Our old yard ".. Those words brought a lot of memories . When I was a child , I often spend vacations at my aunt's house and used to go play in this yard with my little cousin( Well at that time he was little , now he's thrice my size).A part of the Periyar river flows a few blocks away from this yard. His village is just a couple of hours journey from my city . It is strange how different two places can be despite being just "few hours"apart.
I messaged him " Kanaa...Don't go now. I'll be there before noon. We'll go together, wait till then :)"...
Within no time I called and told dad , locked the house and boarded Aluva bus. Later walked into aunts house and after a 15 minutes walk from there ,found myself at our old yard.
It was not the first time that I've seen this scenery , but well this time it made me think. " You know something Kanna... May be I should settle in a village someday. The climate and the greenery ..its perfect "
"Are you sure that your gonna be happy with just that "..he asked .
"Well ..no ...I'd like to make a few changed here " I replied " It would be nice if there was a shopping complex near by and an art store where i could get my canvas ,paint and brushes. May be a Library , a few boutiques and more buses on roads . And yeah a good cafe where I could hang out with my friends..and..."
"And how about a branch of KFC or McDonald's" he asked and laughed .
"Yeah that too....wait a minute was that a sarcasum??.." I asked. He laughed more loudly.
Well I guess different places are meant for different things.
Often the villages are praised for their beauty and the peace they provide and metros get blamed for very many reasons.People migrate in bulks to cities every year and still blame them. None can deny the fact that there are more jobs available in the urban land . As a matter of fact they provide great opportunities for everything , be it bad or good. One can't fearlessly traverse village roads during late hours.As for cities that never sleep ,when sun goes down the streets turn more beautiful with artificial light and life moves on smoothly.
The urban culture has its ups and downs. On one side there is freedom . Freedom to do anything and everything , freedom to talk to anyone , freedom to be anywhere , freedom of choice and freedom of opinions. Some people do misuse the freedom. Well people who are meant to be bad will be bad be it a village or city , it's not due of the things that cities offer . Then there is not much of gender biasing in cities. A surprising fact that i came across during my initial college year at the village of Kalady is the mental images some villages have about 'how a girl should be ' and 'how a guy should be'. Now when i say 'villagers i meet at Kalady; i am not talking about the local citizens but rather about some of my fellow college mates . I do not agree that all villagers are this way , but a lot of them are. "Educated " , they are termed. But education that doesn't open up ones mind , is just a waste of time and money.
Often the villages are praised for their beauty and the peace they provide and metros get blamed for very many reasons.People migrate in bulks to cities every year and still blame them. None can deny the fact that there are more jobs available in the urban land . As a matter of fact they provide great opportunities for everything , be it bad or good. One can't fearlessly traverse village roads during late hours.As for cities that never sleep ,when sun goes down the streets turn more beautiful with artificial light and life moves on smoothly.
The urban culture has its ups and downs. On one side there is freedom . Freedom to do anything and everything , freedom to talk to anyone , freedom to be anywhere , freedom of choice and freedom of opinions. Some people do misuse the freedom. Well people who are meant to be bad will be bad be it a village or city , it's not due of the things that cities offer . Then there is not much of gender biasing in cities. A surprising fact that i came across during my initial college year at the village of Kalady is the mental images some villages have about 'how a girl should be ' and 'how a guy should be'. Now when i say 'villagers i meet at Kalady; i am not talking about the local citizens but rather about some of my fellow college mates . I do not agree that all villagers are this way , but a lot of them are. "Educated " , they are termed. But education that doesn't open up ones mind , is just a waste of time and money.
And for the pollution and stuffs like that ...there are more people here and little land hence more pollution. In villages at least each house has some yard to dispose the wastes.
The cacophony of the city , one will love it when one gets used to it.
On certain days any city-dweller might wish to fade away to the silence of the green lands. But once he/she has spend some time there, their soul start missing the gifts of urban world.
Birds don't survive for long once they have been misplaced in a different habitat. For a city bird like me ,the Concrete Jungle is where i belong......
The cacophony of the city , one will love it when one gets used to it.
On certain days any city-dweller might wish to fade away to the silence of the green lands. But once he/she has spend some time there, their soul start missing the gifts of urban world.
Birds don't survive for long once they have been misplaced in a different habitat. For a city bird like me ,the Concrete Jungle is where i belong......
