Rapture, ecstacy, a moment of utter, speechless joy. Plain, unmixed, undiluted .
Once at a traffic light , I saw a beggar crouching in the semidarkness of the shade offered by a flyover . His eyes were closed as he focussed on a simple job at hand . Eating a mango. He had long ago eaten the flesh, and now was scraping the skin with his teeth and sucking at the seed with complete focus.
No amount of honking and screeches from tyre-treads could break that stupor of complete enjoyment. He had that look in his eyes that spoke of ecstasy.The word rapture evokes this very scene in front of my eyes , seen so many summers ago in an alien metropolis.
Another vignette from another time and place.This was a small town .We were waiting at the railway crossing,the barriers were down. Some daredevil bike riders continued to vroom across after some spectacular acrobatics at the entry and exit points ,eliciting some corrosive expletives from the guard . The guard stood with grimy green and red flags at his cemented platform, spat his red betel nut juice waiting impatiently for bikers to be gone , and for the train to arrive .He was longing to go back into his fan cooled cell , in semidarkness. It was only 9 am , but it was the peak of summer , and the sun was already blazing. Beads of perspiration appeared on his head and his shiny semi bald pate. The train hooted in the distance and he sighed audibly. Wiping his head with his dirty green flag , he suddenly froze . Two small girls were skipping merrily on the tracks. For a second , it seemed as if the world froze . The honking, revving crowds on both sides were silenced, the crows circling overhead froze and time stood with its mouth agape.The girls skipped happily, barefoot,holding hands, giggling and talking to each other , totally immersed in conversation. And totally unaware of the large , dark , shrieking shape of the train , getting closer every millisecond. It was a macabre disaster in waiting .
Next moment , the world erupted into warning shouts , from the crowd and the guard , who stood frantically waving his arms , like a crazy windmill. . Drivers poked their heads out of the automobiles to get a clearer view of things.The train was now hooting non-stop. The girls' reverie broken , they saw the speeding train and broke into a sprint. Being children of the bazaar , they cleared the tracks within moments of the train thundering past.
The train driver shook his fist at them as he sped past in an angry blur . The crowd sighed and shook their heads. The guard spat some more juice and shouted some more before opening the barrier.
Once at a traffic light , I saw a beggar crouching in the semidarkness of the shade offered by a flyover . His eyes were closed as he focussed on a simple job at hand . Eating a mango. He had long ago eaten the flesh, and now was scraping the skin with his teeth and sucking at the seed with complete focus.
No amount of honking and screeches from tyre-treads could break that stupor of complete enjoyment. He had that look in his eyes that spoke of ecstasy.The word rapture evokes this very scene in front of my eyes , seen so many summers ago in an alien metropolis.
Another vignette from another time and place.This was a small town .We were waiting at the railway crossing,the barriers were down. Some daredevil bike riders continued to vroom across after some spectacular acrobatics at the entry and exit points ,eliciting some corrosive expletives from the guard . The guard stood with grimy green and red flags at his cemented platform, spat his red betel nut juice waiting impatiently for bikers to be gone , and for the train to arrive .He was longing to go back into his fan cooled cell , in semidarkness. It was only 9 am , but it was the peak of summer , and the sun was already blazing. Beads of perspiration appeared on his head and his shiny semi bald pate. The train hooted in the distance and he sighed audibly. Wiping his head with his dirty green flag , he suddenly froze . Two small girls were skipping merrily on the tracks. For a second , it seemed as if the world froze . The honking, revving crowds on both sides were silenced, the crows circling overhead froze and time stood with its mouth agape.The girls skipped happily, barefoot,holding hands, giggling and talking to each other , totally immersed in conversation. And totally unaware of the large , dark , shrieking shape of the train , getting closer every millisecond. It was a macabre disaster in waiting .
Next moment , the world erupted into warning shouts , from the crowd and the guard , who stood frantically waving his arms , like a crazy windmill. . Drivers poked their heads out of the automobiles to get a clearer view of things.The train was now hooting non-stop. The girls' reverie broken , they saw the speeding train and broke into a sprint. Being children of the bazaar , they cleared the tracks within moments of the train thundering past.
The train driver shook his fist at them as he sped past in an angry blur . The crowd sighed and shook their heads. The guard spat some more juice and shouted some more before opening the barrier.