Tiny Bits of Nature
Some of us do this routinely. I board the Metro at Connaught Place (CP) to go to NOIDA at 6 pm. The platforms at CP are very crowded. A train comes and leaves the platform. A few people from the crowded platform manage to board the already crowded Metro, more arrive. A constant flow of crowd is maintained on the platforms.
It reminds me of the floods in Yamuna after a point when the basin fills up, a constant flow of water continues to keep the river full and in motion. The four rakes of the Metro and the platforms are crowded.
What are the faces in this crowd? They are exactly like the draining of the Yamuna basin after the floods. Like the plants planted before the floods are completely wiped out, the basin is flattened and washed out. There is no freshness, no brightness, the faces all look drained out. These faces, after a hard days work, have no energy and enthusiasm. Some faces are staring in the blank and others talking on the cell phones, uninterrupted, almost afraid to stop and face the silence.
The trains are coming, the announcements are continuing, the crowds are swaying. While all this is in full swing and I have managed to be pushed into the Metro, suddenly, I don’t know how, a tiny moth with a brightly coloured blue circles on its wings flew into the compartment. It flew around for some time and then settled on the tube-light and the blue circles sparkled. After taking the rest, it swayed up and down in the crowd. At every station, it would disappear and then reappear as the crowd ebbed and flowed.
Then suddenly as it had managed to come in the rake, it managed to flow out on the platform, when the doors opened and perched itself on the brightly lit sign and the train pulled out. I am amused. I wonder how many from the crowd noticed this fun and are cheered by that tiny bit of nature?
