Then and Now...Now and Then...

Now and then, I look out of the window. It's the same quiet, silent street, hour after hour, day after day...Day 7 of the Lockdown and this seems to be the new normal. A few days back, the bustling streets I used to see having my first cup of coffee, used to chide me sometimes, as it were, for lingering over the coffee while everyone on the street seemed to be bustling about quite hurriedly.
The tea vendor used to be the focal point, where many regulars and passersby stopped to have a cup of tea and discuss the morning newspapers. Leaning against the bikes, the day's paper would be quickly distributed between the group of the regulars. The agitated conversations of the sanitation workers sweeping the roads noisily, the barking dogs frolicking and hoping for a bite of the biscuits that the tea drinkers would throw their way...all painted the picture of a noisy neighbourhood. Behind the tea vendor, a little to the left was a hair salon, he was usually the next guy to open the shutters on the street. The transport services office was on the other side of the tea vendor. Green shutters...in fact the company seems to own two, i notice that today. The cleaner would usually come in about this time and draw up the noisy shutters and would start sweeping the platform in front with a vigour and vengeance of some pent-up anger. The people at the adjacent tea stall would shout at him for raking up all the dust...this was a daily routine.
The pigeons would start fluttering near the shutters avoiding the sweeping movements of the cleaner while trying to pick at whatever grains had fallen from the bags that the transport vehicles brought. The dogs, meanwhile, would bark and chase each other before settling down near the tea vendor quietly wagging their tails.
Then, the yellow school buses would honk and make a noisy stop near the Neem tree which was their designated bus stop. The friendly greetings of the kids could be heard even up to the 4th floor window from where I stood and glanced down with the cup of coffee in my hand. While some school kids got in with some reluctance, others would scramble up ready to catch up with their friends. The conductor would loudly tap on the bus door and the school bus would move jauntily on with the noisy, giggly bunch of kids. As the bus left, there would be another gaggle of school children, slightly older who would start walking down the streets swinging their water bottles and merrily making fun of each other.
Two wheelers, cars and even the big vehicles for the Transport company would vie with each other on the potholed road. Slowly as the day progressed, other shutters would be opened. The airtel guy, the small eatery, the mobile repair shop, etc. It was a different day, then...now it's a different day...
Today, day 7 of the lockdown, the streets are deserted, the tea vendor's stall which I had never seen closed is closed shut for the 7th day in a row...14 more to go, maybe? I'm no longer sure about anything now…. I wonder how he's making ends meet. The shutters of all the shops are down. There's no sight of anyone having tea and discussing the morning papers. The pigeons land almost gingerly and try to peck around the familiar surroundings. I wonder if there are still any grains left over. The stray dogs now move purposefully in a pack, looking for some food I suppose. The playful banter among them is saved for another day...for now, finding some food seems to be the only priority. A man on a scooter comes and stops near the tea stall. I'm intrigued...is he the tea stall owner or a customer, who came out to buy essentials and stopped out of force of habit at the tea stall? He gets down. The dogs start wagging their tails, a familiar person at last, they think I suppose. He takes out something from a plastic cover and tears it purposefully and scatters it on the small stone slab near the tea stall. Chapathis, I guess. The dogs hungrily eat every last morsel. He drives off before the policemen take their regular rounds. He must have been one of the regular visitors to the tea stall or a passerby or the tea stall owner...who knows? A few days back, he was one of the many in that area, a faceless person among many. Today, he stands out for his kindness and concern.
I'm at the window with my coffee again today. Now, the silence is deafening, the quiet streets bear testimony to our collective, silent fight against the invisible enemy. Who would have thought we will see a pause button pressed on our lives? The birds sing and we listen, the skies are bluer than ever before and we notice, the air seems cooler and fresh blowing through the windows and we enjoy it's cool and gentle caress. Nature is healing herself and ensuring we pause and ponder and mend our ways. Teaching us to reflect on our actions and be mindful of all living beings around us. We all learn our own lessons during crises like these and we will all emerge from this as definitively better people. Whatever doesn't kill us will only make us better and stronger. We will learn to listen more, empathize more, reflect more, introspect more,value more and respect more, about all the things that actually matter.