Yet again I discovered how I could just live such a blinkered life. Carrying on with the new policy that no old path should be tread on the morning walk I suddenly veered off into the small lane that leads from Model Colony to the slum behind and onwards. It is a small uninteresting road and one that I had never gone on in the past 25 years though it is barely 100 metres from my house. Suddenly I spotted a fine little garden with a fragrance of eucalyptus, a well laid maintained lawn in the middle, tall Ashoka trees surrounding it on all sides, a huge eucalyptus or maybe more, well kept sidewalks, flowers, a gazebo, places to sit and most importantly a small gate that was wide open. I had heard about this park a few years ago but I never got here. I jumped right in and walked around, there was no one there, took of my shoes and walked on the grass, dragged my feet, sat on the benches, drew in fresh air and enjoyed the solitude for longer than I thought I could.
How blind can we get? How much of life do we miss by taking the same road? I keep telling everyone about getting out of the comfort zone and then I realise how powerful it can get. I walked on after a while, towards the slum. The entire road can be no more than 100 metres end to end, mind you, but there are another two small open spaces that can be called parks. The slum is a revelation with 25 sft plots of even 50 sft plots and a large low cost building. I smelt morning breakfast smells and walked slowly past the main road. I remembered Rajan Bala telling me that you get great food in the slums; maybe I should eat a meal with Ramu tata and his family one day. But I need to explore the inside roads, there are three lanes in all in that slum. I wonder why I feel apprehensive about it. Is if because it took me so long to go there? Or is difficult to accept life in its many forms?
And all this within 100 metres of me. Tomorrow, I cannot wait to find out what lies anew.
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