the things i see

there was a time when i wouldn't step out of the house for 10 whole days... like literally not even out onto the corridor because i didn't need to step out and i am not one of those people who feels claustrophobic in their house... i love my house and i can stay in for weeks...

that was before Sage .... now with a dog to walk at least 5 times a day, i am compelled to go out... so i meet different people... see things i would not have otherwise...and even stop to chat....

the stuff so far....

scenes from the mornings.....

• some women are well dressed even at 7 a.m when i think of my spit stained tracks, scraggly hair and sometimes torn tees, i shudder
• 99% of the time, kids are dropped to their school buses by their mothers
• some of the younger children cry copiously as they beg not to be sent to school... my heart melts each time i see one like that
• almost everyone who walks alone is fiddling with the phone
• old ladies and men in the morning steal flowers from gardens of the apartments they do not live in
• there are atleast 80 maids who arrive to work in the homes.... the men (cooks mostly) come by cycles, but the maids always walk... some of them talking on phones as they rush to work... they begin to arrive at 6 a.m
• people still carry drinking water... there are two open plots where two families live... i know now that they do not have the luxury of running water
• the boys who deliver our milk and newspaper are all under 15
• i have never seen a lady maid/cook in a sweater, at best a flimsy shawl but never in a sweater

scenes from the afternoon

• not many people on the street except the chowkidars... they have their own gangs....
• the uniformed ones have their own group... they are mostly north indian / non locals
• the ones without uniform are local guys (directly employed and not through the agencies i was told) they hang out together
• flipkart is doing very well... their delivery guy comes everyday and stops at atleast 3 apartments
• courier delivery guys are friends with all the chowkidars

Scenes from the evening

• there are a LOT of young people who live in the 8 apartment buildings of our colony... (read young, slim, pretty and very fashionable young girls... and some random boys who's low hanging jeans would be a public obscenity case in the making if they did a survey)
• some of the young girls call me aunty (and i hate it... i mean c'mon how old are you? 20?) (actually on some days i want to cry)
• in the evenings, i see many couples / lovers reluctant to leave each other's presence for the day - reminds me of K dropping me home after work.... they hold hands, caress each other's faces and sadly say bye
• i overhear very emotional arguments... people walking up and down in agitation, arguing or fighting with whoever it is on the other end of the phone
• the wine shop nearby has HUGE clientele
• most of the bachelors walk home with a beer bottle in hand... especially on the weekend
• the transparent shopping bags of most single people contain combinations of the following:
• bread, eggs, milk packets, butter, onions, tomatoes, pudina and kotmir, potatoes, soap/ shampoo/washing powder, maggi, tomato sauce bottles, dvds
• i saw a guy rolling a joint and smoking it. ofcourse he thought he was being very discreet.... i had half a mind to go up and ask him where he scored!
• i saw a man running out of his house and trying to hit his wife with a chappal
• home delivery guys are in brisk business between 9-11 pm on weekends, it doubles
• men still stare at a woman walking on the colony road after 7 p.m, even if accompanied by a really large (if completely friendly) dog