Of Rains and the man-under-the-peepal-tree!

I stood on my 1st floor balcony gazing out in the empty horizon. The sun was beating down with all its might. It had been a usual sight for the past three months – with every inch of the earth waiting for a drop of nectar from heaven. But it had been evading us. Suddenly, I turned myself towards a strange but familiar voice – of a man I had been watching since I was a kid. Never had someone been more punctual than he was! He was here for his 1 pm shift.

As he walked, a drop of sweat dropped from his brow - as he mercilessly killed his larynx shouting for a penny. Walking amidst an endless sea of people, he walked on zombie-like, unknown of his surroundings and state. He, however, continued to pitch his sufferings to the people around him, as if his brain had been internally hard-wired

A school kid saw him, as he walked past him. Taking pity on his age, the kid dropped a coin. And he graciously thanked him with a smile. There was indeed something strange with empathy – he seemed to wonder!! The coin was hardly something that would change his earnings for the day, but he had seen some genuine care in that kid's eyes – something he had not seen that in people for the whole day. And that made him happy.

Every time during the day, when a kid would drop by, he seemed to lament at himself and his helplessness. Dejected - he sat down by the peepal tree - he had made his home for quite some months now. Given the auspicious nature of the tree, none of the Indian populace dared to remove him from there.

He seated himself by the huge tree - towering over the children's park nearby. He opened his bag and counted his earnings for the day. It had not been great, but sufficient for a hot summer day. His earnings depended to a huge extent on the weather. All through his month, people had been wretched by the horrible summer around - to care only about their own pitiful state - so even looking at his state and dolling out alms was a farfetched thought. For all his age and seemingly cynical view of the world, he had beautifully grasped the nuances of the world and its cruel workings. ‘For all that man has achieved and progressed, he is - still - so much a slave to the mighty powers of nature’, he thought with a slight grin on his face. As if to suggest - I may not be powerful enough to change things around me, but neither are you.

As he was brooding in self-introspection, he happened to glance upon the kid who had dropped that coin on his plate. The kids enthusiasm seemed to be palpable and had a bought a smile on his face for the second time during the day. It was these little moments which lit up his rather tumultuous days.

As a part of his mundane routine, he sat under the tree for hours – oblivious to people around him. Sadly, so were the people around him. He always fancied himself to be a hermit or a sage, leading a rather “pious” life. And then laughed at the ludicrous thought!

As moments passed by, there was a sudden thunder! And the heavens came down with a sudden outpour of rain. It was as if the Gods had struck a magic wand on the city. Rains pouring down - Beautiful and sublime - a lovely combination indeed – suddenly trees seemed to be at their greenest - Frogs crackling everywhere. It was a time when nature swells up to cuddle you. It was when the city had suddenly transformed itself. It was the first rain of the season!!

In this momentary hustle, I had forgotten about the man-under-the-peepal-tree. My probing eyes found him, sitting happily under the bus-stop shade. He seemed to be happy in the company of people around him. Strange I thought! But the rains had definitely bought something for everyone.