Saturday, June 9, 2007

All Work...

... and no space to play
A life where there is no space to move one's limbs freely. Growing up in a city where there's absolutely no place for a cheerful game of hide and seek, catching, lock and key, kho kho, wild running, cycling without fear of being knocked down by a trailer or just walking briskly on the pavements without bumping on a tree trunk or a telephone pole or an electricity pillar box.
These situations are a luxury to dream of in Chennai, particularly a far fetched dream for residents of North Chennai.
The idea behind highlighting such issues in the newspaper is not because, the very next day, Governments will swing into action (I'll be only too happy if that is the case!) or because people will immediately realise the importance of happy feet, lithe bodies and a dynamic mind that sports, physical exercise and workouts can endow, but because - somewhere in the few minds that read this - the seeds of awareness will be sown and take its own time to germinate when the environment is conducive.
So I wait to see that day when I can walk on the road, as if it were my home, rest under the shade of a tree in a bench as if I were sitting down a while in my drawing room, walk without fear down the avenue with tree-lined pavements as if I were walking through a thicket in my own backyard and greet people on the road with a smile - as if I were meeting my own family, friends and relatives. Like James Michener said in his autobiography - I wait for the day the world sings along with me - The World is My Home.
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