A Quiet Lane

Today I took a walk down a quiet, shady lane, and went back in time.

I had not taken my car today, and after class at Besant Nagar, thought I would walk up to the nearest ATM. I walked down a lane that I must have zipped through numerous times, and only today I really saw it. Intent on driving safely, I had not noticed the old genteel houses, or the apartments built to blend into the greenery. Lovely old trees spread their branches across the road, diffusing the sunlight. It reminded me of the lovely lanes of my childhood in Madurai and Coimbatore, when life was still simple, and it was safe to play on the streets.

The silence was soothing, broken only gently by the conversation of the ironing man on the roadside with the maid who had just come to dump the garbage. I walked down, enjoying the sights and sounds (or lack of them).

Further down the street, I was surprised to see an old house had been pulled down. I had not come here for a month, and in that time, the house had been reduced to dust, the aluminium sheets had been put up around the plot, and a sign board announced the launching of a new housing project.

Each house that is pulled down takes with it memories of a different era, when we had the time and inclination to build houses not just to live in, but to bequeath to our children. They were big, not to impress the neighbours (well,maybe!), but also to house our large extended families. Soon, a large apartment complex will come up, and new cars will zip up and down this quiet lane. And it will not be quiet anymore.

Ah, such is life!