Lock-down stillness

The stillness is astounding, abnormal but not unwelcome. Sometimes the stillness is so complete that there is a feeling of the absence of air around me and I feel baffled when I am able to inhale air. We are perpetually surrounded by sound and when that is absent, we feel lost. In India there is always a crowd around us, a moving, living entity and that is missing now.

Our house is near a temple. If you look out of the window, men and women hurry towards the temple carrying hope in their eyes and purpose in their strides. It is only when they come out that they look around relaxed, with the certainty of those who have surrendered their sorrows and hopes to a higher being. Kids in their uniforms are dragged along by their mothers to and from schools. Now the road looks like a still from a doomsday movie when the world has been destroyed and abandoned by humanity.

Our compound is a mini ecosystem in itself. Birds, squirrels, mongoose, peahens play, tumble, chat and hum to their own musical tunes. For some days, the birds found this desolation surprising and decided to make the most of it by flying all around, chattering among themselves noisily amidst the sudden freedom. Today, however, they too seemed to be under lock-down as not many took the trouble to appear. Either they were bored of too much silence or tired of the heat radiating from earth in waves.