The Park is Romantic in the Hot Afternoons.
I am normally a late evening walker, walking for an hour or so in the Fragrance Garden of Sector 36 Chandigarh on weekends or when on leave. Now a days the heat and humidity result in all walkers looking alike, whether old, young, male or female, heavy set or thin. The common look is sweaty, reddish faces, handkerchiefs in hand, shirts drenched in sweat, faces grim and eyes focused on getting the walk done with. Not a pleasant spectacle, this is for sure.
Last weekend, guests phoned that they would be coming over in the evening. Scared of my doctor and his advise to control my weight and blood pressure, I wondered about the fate of my walk, specially as I knew I would not be able to resist the eats. The better half was sure to be grim faced about the lack of exercise on my part while I enjoyed the snacks. So on a sudden thought while driving by the park during noon, I decided to undertake a walk, the primary motivation being fear of the doctor and the better half!!
It was hot; the sun was shining through the monsoon clouds as I started the walk. I decided to take a detour through the shaded pathways and trails. Voila, there were lovebirds in the bushes, trees and bamboo enclosures. Not the winged variety but the human variety. A sudden turn, a young girl jumped out of the lap of a guy! A few more yards, a couple hastily disengaged from what appeared to be a warm embrace. Some more distance covered saw a lady or girl cosily burying her face in the lap of her lover while seated on a bench. By now I was feeling a bit like a voyeur, but then the doctor and wife lurking grimly in my sub conscious motivated me to walk on. I tried vainly to acquire a tunnel vision, so that I saw only the path or trail ahead, but then the eyes have a habit of sweeping all that pleasantly passes around them even on a periphery !!. One guy muttered loudly as I passed in Punjabi that uncleji seemed to have lost his mind. But I walked on, fixed on the positive thought that the body was shaping up and I could eat and drink without guilt in the evening.
Now I knew where the love birds had migrated, initially crowding the park in the evenings, they were driven out by soured up soulless walkers, maybe envious or maybe distracted by the young couples sitting as close as possible in public!! I still believe it was more envy than distraction but that’s another story. Not every love torn couple can afford the cafes and cosy restaurants, I often wondered where they went. Well, the couples had simply changed their timings, but then I had to turn up today!!. Even if tried to pretend that I was not noticing them, I was still distracting them. I was the disturbing element in the conducive environment of love and so I drifted back to the main path, but the hot sun drove me back to the trails. As I finished my walk, I realized that I must have brought relief too many lovebirds nestling in the bushes and trees. Well, Good Luck to them, you live only once, you really love only once, they deserved to enjoy while they had the chance, even in the heat. Me, well the snacks beckoned, now I was guilt free, the walk was over!!. Would I walk again on a hot afternoon, well cannot say for now!
=====================================================================
I am normally a late evening walker, walking for an hour or so in the Fragrance Garden of Sector 36 Chandigarh on weekends or when on leave. Now a days the heat and humidity result in all walkers looking alike, whether old, young, male or female, heavy set or thin. The common look is sweaty, reddish faces, handkerchiefs in hand, shirts drenched in sweat, faces grim and eyes focused on getting the walk done with. Not a pleasant spectacle, this is for sure.
Last weekend, guests phoned that they would be coming over in the evening. Scared of my doctor and his advise to control my weight and blood pressure, I wondered about the fate of my walk, specially as I knew I would not be able to resist the eats. The better half was sure to be grim faced about the lack of exercise on my part while I enjoyed the snacks. So on a sudden thought while driving by the park during noon, I decided to undertake a walk, the primary motivation being fear of the doctor and the better half!!
It was hot; the sun was shining through the monsoon clouds as I started the walk. I decided to take a detour through the shaded pathways and trails. Voila, there were lovebirds in the bushes, trees and bamboo enclosures. Not the winged variety but the human variety. A sudden turn, a young girl jumped out of the lap of a guy! A few more yards, a couple hastily disengaged from what appeared to be a warm embrace. Some more distance covered saw a lady or girl cosily burying her face in the lap of her lover while seated on a bench. By now I was feeling a bit like a voyeur, but then the doctor and wife lurking grimly in my sub conscious motivated me to walk on. I tried vainly to acquire a tunnel vision, so that I saw only the path or trail ahead, but then the eyes have a habit of sweeping all that pleasantly passes around them even on a periphery !!. One guy muttered loudly as I passed in Punjabi that uncleji seemed to have lost his mind. But I walked on, fixed on the positive thought that the body was shaping up and I could eat and drink without guilt in the evening.
Now I knew where the love birds had migrated, initially crowding the park in the evenings, they were driven out by soured up soulless walkers, maybe envious or maybe distracted by the young couples sitting as close as possible in public!! I still believe it was more envy than distraction but that’s another story. Not every love torn couple can afford the cafes and cosy restaurants, I often wondered where they went. Well, the couples had simply changed their timings, but then I had to turn up today!!. Even if tried to pretend that I was not noticing them, I was still distracting them. I was the disturbing element in the conducive environment of love and so I drifted back to the main path, but the hot sun drove me back to the trails. As I finished my walk, I realized that I must have brought relief too many lovebirds nestling in the bushes and trees. Well, Good Luck to them, you live only once, you really love only once, they deserved to enjoy while they had the chance, even in the heat. Me, well the snacks beckoned, now I was guilt free, the walk was over!!. Would I walk again on a hot afternoon, well cannot say for now!
=====================================================================
Heh Heh !
You surely have
A Roving Eye,
A perceptive mind,
A sharp turn of the Phrase !
Soured up
Souless Walkers ,
conveys volumes !
Though I hope ,
As an evening walker myself,
I don't qualify for that
Pungent Phrase !
And
Love Torn Lovers
is an Apt new twist on
Love Lorn Lovers !
Now I shall be doubly careful
Not to Be
An uncleji
Treading on
Tender Lovers,
Nestling
Not Nesting
in the
Bushes !!
👌👍🙂
Comments
Post a Comment