early morning train

In the first rays of the sun, whatever darkness it dispels, saw a range of trees, a forest aflame. (Flame of the forest is a kind tree that blooms red flower). This bitter cold morning brings me to Bangalore on a journey wherever the path leads.

Thick granite structures, erstwhile repair yards and gang rooms, flank both our sides. Ruins mostly, but caused not just by elements and Time but the human hand and the ceaseless machinations of his mind.

The first few steps seem to have taken me into a century or two pasts- when the Army in India sought refuge from heat, among other things. (Even Churchill, it is believed)- Not for long .The advertisement board “everyone is invited” with flickering bulbs and a policeman clearing the night squatters “it care of life flimsy”

The pillars that supported the roofs were thicker than the average railway toilet and cleaner. The exit was a choke point as if they expected to defend it again the hordes with one man. In a way they try to with the ticket collector.

Now that...

I was planning to do another blog called 19BSrevisited to explain all the stories written here.Most Banglorians who read the earlier post should be able to recognize 19,berlie street. It now lies on a busy road, a one way too.I think it called the Housur road extension coming in from Fourm just before the Military police officer's mess a turn to left which passes through all the places i mentioned in the story .The St .Patrick cemetery, the Hindoo(as spelled on the board) and Muslim burial ground with a shortcut to Wilson Gardens.

Unlike the other houses that i am planning to talk about in this blog this house don't have any kind of major charm or architectural design interest, except for maybe that the older part of the house has granite ceiling which is not really concreted. This meant, more than a few butterflies in the stomach when someone walks overhead.

Sleep Walking

“I had a friend who used to sleepwalk well; he didn’t do it after started sitting up at the time he normally does it. A year had passed since we joined college and he just moved into my room, he used to stay down the road near the cemetery and Hindu burial grounds. On a Thursday morning found him out of bed. The next day morning there was a stink in the room, this continued for sometime, every Thursdays until one day when I came back to the room around 3 in the morning. He got up from the bed and instead of greeting me, just walked out of room. Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts he started walking down the road, bare foot. Me calling out didn’t seem to have any effect. Running after him, heard him murmuring something. It was very cold but he was sweating, I still don’t remember if his eyes were open but he seems to be speaking Tamil! There were always a lot of stray dogs in our area and it was not safe to go out at night, dogs being just one of the worries. There was a pack of dogs behind us but they kept their distance, following. He entered the cemetery and sat down on a bench near the crucifix and started saying Ave Maria loudly in Tamil. After what felt like infinity he got up and walked back to the house.

The next morning he didn’t mention anything about the incident and didn’t respond to any of my hints. On being blunt about it denied everything and said he doesn’t speak Tamil well enough even to have a proper conversation. I am sure about Tamil and Ave marias, courtesy the Tamil church behind our house which conducts rosary over a public announcement system every Saturday evening. From the next week used to wake him up around 2.30 and he never sleep walked, also never used to complain on begin woken up other than initial few weeks”

I quote the above from my room mate’s diary, from over a period of time. The diary was his parting gift and I carried it all this while.