wow

The sky was light blue and calm. The streets were empty. A man in shalwaar kameez on a bicycle here or there. A rickshaw wandering around, seemingly aimlessly.  A man in a small cultus. But generally empty. The park was clean and  empty. Usually it was littered with empty soda bottles and crowded with skinny, lanky kids playing cricket. Now it was empty. It was too early for cricket. Though the weather was pretty nice. She drove on. The air conditioning was cool and heavy. The sweat was making her hair clump together. She brushed a hand through her scalp, hair locked together. Opening up those locks. She drove on. The air was chilly. Her clothes were drenched in sweat. The purple bag caught the light of the sun. The golden hues of the bag glimmered with light. The dark and black felt like shadows. Outside, the streets were empty. A dog sauntered here. Crows were more frequent. There was always something to nibble on. She drove on. The songs blaring from her speakers were catchy and unending. The vents blasted air near her ears, not quite her face. Her sweat had started to dry out. Her hair was still thick and heavy with all the moisture. The sun glimmered as she turned a corner, the light reflecting off her dashboard. She noticed a white police car by the side of the road, sitting leisurely idly. No, it wasn’t a police car. It was the security car of the neighborhood. A man was standing by it. As she drove by him, slowing down, watching him curiously, she noticed that he was polishing his car diligently.

And then she was past him. A lot of thoughts crossed her mind. Most of all, wow. There were still some people in this country who believed in hard work. This was probably an employee who barely made minimum wage. And yet here he was, at six in the morning, cleaning his car. By himself. Others would have left it dirty. It was beneath them to clean. They were hired to be guards. So was he. But here he was. In a few months he might not be doing this. This could just be the enthusiasm of a newly ordained police officer. She hoped it wasn’t just that. She hoped the culture was changing. She knew it was not. But hope she could. And hope she did. The sun moved on, higher and higher in the sky. She drove on. The man polished his security car. It gleamed white in the newborn light. The wind whistled softly through the virgin air. Dew hung on stalks of grass. The car hummed onwards. The city began to wake up. The roads were empty, and slowly filling. What even was a pandemic. Global crisis? We don’t know what that means. We never did. Cases decreasing day by day or delusion increasing day by day? The car rolled on. Up a bridge. Down a bridge. Then it turned into the area that would lead to the posh neighborhood. She drove silently.