The banyan and the wall...

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This banyan tree is growing right beside the compound wall in one of the old houses on U B Hill. It has gradually enveloped an entire portion of the wall with it's aerial roots.

When the banyan reached out the first time in a gesture of friendship, the wall excitedly said to the banyan, “Wow! I'm glad, you want to be friends with me! I've been standing here all alone all these days, with no one to talk to. I can't believe it! Now I have a friend!”

And then the banyan and the wall spent many a day chatting about the people in the lovely bungalow, gossiping about the passers by on the road outside, teasing and laughing at each others quirks, having lil friendly arguments, maybe even saying “chali thoo” and waiting for the other to utter the first word, crying over each others worries and hurts, sharing their deepest secrets, laughing their hearts out in times of happiness and comforting each other in times of sorrow...

As the banyan grew older and taller, it could now look far beyond the wall. And as the sun dipped beyond the horizon, the wall would gently coax the banyan to tell her stories of what he'd seen and heard in the world outside. And the banyan would very happily narrate to her fascinating stories of laughing kids, busy people, rushing vehicles, wandering animals and so much else as she listened in wide-eyed wonder. Sometimes they talked through the night, laughing away, only to snooze through the better part of the next day.

As the years passed and the seasons went through their well-oiled paces without missing a single entry or exit, the banyan and the compound wall grew from mere friends to buddies to soul-mates, unknowing to either of them, nature kept at her job relentlessly as is her nature... And the tender roots of friendship kept growing and growing... The banyan, in his new-found happiness had completely forgotten the eventuality of his getting so close to the wall. He had chanced to ignore the pace at which his arms were reaching out and enveloping his soul-mate, his world...

If the banyan had chanced to ignore the eventuality, the wall, knew all along, yet she chose to ignore the same for the sheer joy, the beauty, the magic that she experienced with the banyan. When she thought of how the banyan made her feel so special, how he waited for sundown to breathlessly narrate those stories to her, and how, though she was now old faded and crumbly in places, she still felt like the most beautiful wall in town, like she'd been erected just yesterday... nothing else mattered, nothing...!

Presenting, two heroes among many of Dharwad...

The lady in the foreground sweeps the winter leaves, piles them at various spots to later burn them. Her, I've been able to befriend within a few days of having come to this area and we exchange pleasantries from my balcony every morning. She inevitable ends up borrowing the matchbox from me as we have fun with her trying to toss it back up to me and me trying to catch it in vain!

I watch her every morning as she tirelessly sweeps every single fallen leaf and other trash ever so carefully. I've managed to speak to her about not burning plastic and today, she patiently keeps aside all plastic for her colleague with the wheel barrow to pick up!

The lady in yellow with the wheel barrow is a corporation worker too who comes to collect the garbage from Kalyan Nagar. She's kinda Kalyan Nagar's "Hema Malini" minus the profanities and wild attire. Pretty intimidating with a demeanor and stare to match. But, believe me, she does one mean job of cleaning up the ugly piles of trash that the cultured people of this area callously toss outside their own homes and on their own streets!

The people of this area, especially the guys on the street are suitably intimidated by her and thankfully keep a distance. You can see her every alternate day with her trademark wheel barrow and her faithful dog trotting beside her where ever she goes! Her dog is a character in himself. A tiger-striped deep sienna coat, a tail that's always upright and curled, and a scowl to match his mistress's...

If not on her rounds of the mains and crosses of Kalyan Nagar, you could find this lady and her tiger, oops! dog, sipping chaha outside the dabba angdi at the 6th cross bus stop! What a riveting pair they make!

To be frank, I too am properly intimidated by her and haven't attempted any kind of small-talk with her, like I have done with most of the other women workers on our area! Am hoping to risk it one day to find out her name and get friendly with her dog. I wonder what she calls him? For I've never heard her call out a name!

Let that happen in it's time, but till then a big salute to the quirky yet relentlessly hardworking spirit of these two heroes and I hope to add more to the list soon... :)