Nocturnal Wanderings

Nocturnal Wanderings

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.”
Said Vincent van Gogh, a Dutch Painter

To many of us Night is the time to enjoy the god given boon “ Sleep “.but what does the whole world do at nights ? Do they all sleep?

Here I go on my journey to Discover “The Night “. And what better place to do it than Chennai -the city of activities. It was 11 Pm. The last of the shops on the streets where slowly closing down. The shrieking shutters coming down was a signaling the close of the day.

The streets were peaceful, except for the few cries by the dogs. Walking deeper into the streets I found more dogs. The number of stray dogs that Chennai boasts is seriously large; I thought .There were dogs everywhere. It seemed as if men roamed the streets in the day and the dogs at night. Their barks grew louder when I approached, but when I didn’t disturb their chores they didn’t bother me. I moved on.

Next on the street I met the archetypical watchman, a man in his sixties .He had a radio tuned in near him, not because he liked songs, but it was his only companion through the night. I have always felt the job as a watchman as the most grueling in the world, you stay awake all night to make others sleep pleasant. Is this service or a punishment? Be whatever this man earns a living out of it. And he does justice to his job perched on his chair looking for any abnormality. I moved on.

Not far on the street there was this rag-picker, fighting it out amidst the Garbage trying to figure out rags and plastics which can earn him his next day’s bread. He waits for the activities on the street to die down so he can carryout his job peacefully. His tattered clothes and the big bag of rags that lay Un- proportionately on his shoulders tell a tale on its own.”India Shining “is still a gimmick.

At 1am the main road was still studded with life, a few night service busses ran helping the cause of people who worked on night shifts. The place which amazed me the most was the 24 hour tea shop that was buzzing with activity. Operating with the same swiftness that they do in the day, these shops were certainly making life easier for the world that was still awake.

Travelling by the main road, I met a group of laborers embarked with the task of laying a stretch of the road which hosts heavy traffic during the day .The workers fight it out against time to complete the job before the day breaks. The arduous task of laying a tar road, clubbed with staying awake when they’re destined to sleep makes their task nothing short of extraordinary.

It was 3 pm when a group of sweepers were all over the road .After all Chennai’s roads are being cleaned everyday .But we litter it to that extent to make it look as if it wasn’t cleaned for aeons.

4pm and it was time for the milk van to arrive. The milk vendors were all geared up to discharge their roles to perfection. Chennai is waking up with those traditional “Kolams “adoring the houses welcoming the new day.

There were the chatter of the birds that signaled the start of the day. Maybe we are so mechanized all these days to miss these wonderful sounds that nature has bestowed us with. Probably this was what Gandhiji meant when he said “all we need is to be industrious not like a machine, but like honeybees”.

The streets were soon starting to fill up with people and prominent amongst them were the newspaper wallas. Their busy acts of set the ball rolling for the day’s activities.

After all Chennai wasn’t fully asleep at nights, there are a whole world of people awake and doing their duties profoundly to make the day pleasant for others. Kudos !!!!