Thursday, September 27, 2007

make way for the concrete jungle....













It had to happen…..someday the land sharks were bound to smell blood….infact I am surprised that it lasted this long…… what gibberish am I spouting?? The felling of the trees in my beloved forest, that’s going to make way for perhaps another specimen in this concrete jungle……. When K and I moved here 3 years ago, one of the things that attracted us to our “at the end of the corridor 4th floor apartment” was the open piece of land on the other side……it’s a wide expanse of land….about 8 acres…..in the most sought after business / residential area of Hyderabad….hitech city……it was just too much to last….many evenings have been spent standing at the balcony of our corridor, watching the rain come down…..feeling the breeze….watching the birds, butterflies and the dragon flies swarm up….and its all going to be in the past now….. just a few weeks ago K had taken some pictures of the greenery….all lush and rain washed ….it was too beautiful even for him to resist and he snapped up a few….and I think in a few months that will be all that will serve as a reminder of this green lung….there is an eucalyptus tree that comes all the way to the fourth floor and on windy rainy nights, sways to the rhythm of nature…a sight to behold….i guess it will take a few men and a couple of days to get the better of it…..like a little child, I hope against hope that some thing will happen to stop this imminent construction…..i’m also wondering if it is “nazar” or the evil eye…because there hasn’t been a single person who has visited our home and exclaimed how lucky we were to have a green space like that near us….. I wonder what’s going to be built…..an apartment complex or a commercial space….how close will it get to our home……how many matchboxes will be made….and how much of our privacy will we lose…..K is actually quite seriously thinking of giving up this house and going elsewhere…..but where does he have in mind is my question?? After all every nook and cranny of this city is being “developed”…..i know for sure, that I will not linger in the corridor anymore…I will unlock the door as quickly as I can and duck inside….shutting the gory scene happening outside…out of my sight…and hopefully out of my mind…

4 comments:

FH said...

It's so sad to see that every piece of greenery is going to be a concrete jungle!

sunita said...

I can understand that...we have a flat in Gurgaon, another so called 'fast growing','developing' city.As for the matchboxes, they are literally everywhere. After coming to the UK, the place that we are living is very close to nature with nice walks and cycle ways...we don't mind the extra mile that we have to take to the main town centre for necessities...at least we can wake up to the sound of chirping birds.

Swaruchy said...

Nice write-up...Interesting read....btw..Ur name is almost synonymous with Booker award winner Arundati Roy :-)

arundati said...

Asha: yes....we go farther and farther away, and destruct all that is around us....

Sunita: yes that it the same thought K and i had when we moved here.....construction has caught up with us....

Sirisha: thanks for the kind words....i have lost count of the number of times i have been told that i have a name 'almost' like Arundati Roy!! :)