Nanowrimo # 1
HE avoids getting on to the 28 straightaway. It’s too short
a distance. Freeways seem a little too un-alive to him. Mundane. He likes to
take the longer route, the one that goes through the older part of town. Red
brick homes and old-world shops. Many of them seem to be on the verge of going
out of business. A Russian steak place.
An Italian joint. A watch store. Sort of a dilapidated gas station. A storage
warehouse, a bunch of u-hauls parked. A furniture store with eternal discounts.
He has been there once, rather he’s been wanting to visit all these places for
some time now. It might prove to be a good chore – replacing the inner views
with his usual, external grey ones. Who knows, the restaurants might be doing
good business. He’d be relieved if that were true. Dying businesses lead to
dying towns. Smaller towns in the vicinity of sprawling metros; so near the
gloss, yet so dark. Cold adds to the oldness of this area. It becomes a shroud,
a wrap of sorts. Being awake can be stingy – the shroud helps. Knowing is a
pain, part of the walk nonetheless. The less you know, the better. How does one
remain sane in this deluge of information flooding all around? By not knowing a
few things. Knowing less, lesser. He
buys coffee on his way. Three sugars, one cream. Sometimes whipped cream on
top. Another stop added to the route. Never in a hurry; and yes, age has got to
do nothing with it. Not being in a hurry is a trait, a state of mind that might
filter you away from the deluge of knowing.
There is a
thicket along the way. He often tries to gauge the age of the trees and the
bushes in between. Clumps of non-ornamentals, as real as they come. An exercise that proves futile more often
than not. A Sa’yee- e -Raayegaa.n, as they say it in Urdu. He likes the tone of
the pronunciation in his mind. His mind is a hodge-podge of phrases that peep
out now and then. Thoughts need some sort of upkeep and pruning. They tend to
jump around and wreak havoc – childhood, news , global warming, lust, internet,
money, cold, day jobs.
--
Anant Dhavale
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