ORDINARITY

Where are the mad men and women with the warm smile and sunlit eyes gone?

Yesterday evening, I went for a walk in the forest, by night actually, long after the sun had set. When I walk at night, I do hold a torch-light in my right hand, not so much to find my way — for there is usually enough residual light — but primarily to look for snakes on the path.

Just like Indiana Jones, I have a phobia for snakes, to the extent that, like him, I call them “ropes” to avoid the S word. Then “why do you go out there in the night,” one might ask ? This is an entirely different question altogether, and here is the answer: I go out to walk in the jungle at night, just to make sure I encounter the least possible number of humans on the path. Cos frankly, if I have to chose, despite my phobia for S, I prefer to risk encountering ropes rather than humans. Ropes are ropes and, after all, they mostly do mind their own business, busy tracking the odd frog or rat, in fact not at all interested in me. Whereas humans? Don’t ask!

There are many different categories of walking humans. Those who walk the dog on a leach, those who walk the dog without a leach; there are those who walk only themselves (on a virtual, invisible leach) with the gaze firmly fixed on a point straight ahead on the far off horizon. They walk past you, but don’t see you. They pretend to be in deep meditation when, in fact, they are too afraid to cross gaze with you. Or simply despising you — another category.

There are those who say “hello”, those who say “hi”, those who say “good evening” and last, those who say nothing, just nod with a smile.

Among all categories, the latter is definitely the most convivial, acknowledging your presence with respect and the least interference. This is where, personally, I belong.

But then, why am I even writing about this? For this all seems very ordinary and not even worth to be mentioned. Precisely! Ordinary is the word.

The City of Dawn used to be “not ordinary”.

The City of Dawn used to be “special”, populated by “special” humans — some of them real assholes, sure, but “special” nevertheless.

The word which comes to mind now to define both the place and the individuals is: ORDINARY. Is it not pathetic? Where are the mad men and women with the warm smile and sunlit eyes gone? Where, the humans burning in the fire of Aspiration ? Where is the Divine Anarchy gone?