The Dust and the Heat

The Heat and the Dust

Through the haze

The weather was turning hot and hotter. The gods had decided to sleep it off and left the humans to the mercy of the elements, in this case the sun. The humidity added to man’s woes. Even the wind was heated as if it had had an argument with the sun and lost….it blew hot, and whirled the grains of sand around the campus. The nose, the ears and the mouth (if u happened to open it) was filled with the nitty gritty sand particles, being pushed as farther into every crevice it could find, being pushed by the strong wind. It grazed over the skin like sandpaper. It was rough for us puny human beings. 

The HOT sun...

The minute I left the school building, I (and many others less vocal) was hit by the unmerciful sun, but stood up to the sun god by not retreating and moved forward to the residence. The searing
wind blew so strong that I was bent like the bow of Lord Rama; somehow I managed to reach the cool (somewhat) comforts of the residence building. Having entered the flat, I realized that things were even worse here. The sun beat down mercilessly onto the front of the flat and the walls had heated up so that the tandoor could be put to shame! Anyway, I stripped down to the bare minimums and tried to get relief, but no. The gods would not be satisfied. I spread myself flat on my stomach….no relief; turned and twisted…no relief. 

By this time it was past 5pm. I mustered up enough courage and went out (not in bare minimums; I would have liked to though) and walked to Babupur turning, braving the heat and taking maximum advantage offered by the trees. By this time the sun had set and the heat started waning, slow for my choice. Reaching the corner, I was made aware of a new kiosk selling chilled aerated drinks! Aerated drinks! Viola! Relief spurted out of every pore in my body which seemed to scream (Scream4 !) for a chilled Sprite.

The Honey-Comb tiles

My legs wouldn’t turn in anywhere else. I zoomed in onto the thatch-roofed kiosk dodging the free flowing traffic like a cowboy guiding his horse through the thronging cattle and OMG! A small fridge…I rasped out for the man to give me a chilled sprite…..no !? I had no choice but to do the dew and the dew I did…..My parched throat sang a song of relief for the drink was chilled just right. Seldom does one get what one wants (here in Bhagalpur)…and this was one of those seldoms. Looking around after the cooling down, I realised that the man had set it up like a saloon in one of the westerns where the thirsty cowboy crawls into the cool of the saloon, slaps the counter with a gold dollar and tips the glass of hooch and then glances around; his mind and eyes taking in the scene.

On the way back, I realised that the tile kilns were working full swing. The heat from their furnaces was awesome. On the road one could feel the heat. Both sides of this path (leading to the school) were spread with drying unbaked tiles. I happened to have my camera and clicked a shot. (My brains and body was cooled enough to receive senses and register images worthwhile. The wind by this time had lost the heat, turning into a softly blowing reliever, cooler than earlier. There I waited for some time, taking in the beauty of the unbaked tiles spread like honeycombs on either side of the path.

With the soft cool breeze blowing through my hair and cooling the system, I trudged along and got back to the school premises. Wondering……..

The Decked-up School

The next day was very hectic. The founder’s day celebrations were on. The heat was as usual…. No relief. The participants had assembled since the afternoon and the heat was at its height. The little kids with their mentor teachers were at the brunt…yet excitement was in the air, for nothing could dampen their spirits: neither the heat nor the dust. Come evening, the whole school was decked up, like an expectant bride, in lights of green, white and blue. Even the trees were garlanded with lit bulbs in shades of reds, pinks, blues and greens (Much like the northern lights at the poles). The stage was set up at one end of the cricket/football field, the audio and visual equipment was in place and the show was finally ready to start. Begin the program did, though about two and half hours late as the chief guest (in this case the DM of Bhagalpur range arrived late. The fact being that he had been held up because of the impending elections the next day. But this did not go down well with the waiting parents and their wards. The whole spirit of the program was however dampened by the late beginning. But the event continued, attended by the powers-that-be and the minions: the foot soldiers doing their best to impress despite the heat and the dust of angry parents
.

The Beauty & the Beast

Amid the glare of neon and arc lights the stage lit up and the kids came out with their best. Colossal flexi-posters dotted the main sitting area, well lit and magnifying the achievements of the school, in terms of academics, extra-curricular activities, athletics and sports, both intra-school and inter school. This was quite a feast for the eyes not only for the parents but also for the students as well as their mentor-teachers. Overall, the show was something to write back home about.

Anyhow, the hot and dusty day ended on a not very fine note. The dinner with the guest of the evening and other dignitaries pushed everything else to the background. Talking about backgrounds, I happened to snap a foto of a lovely hand on which the other hand has made a stunning etching like figurine which beats a lot of others. This is one which speaks volumes about the untapped talent just lying around to be discovered. This is a common factor in every school. 

Well till next time........remember: "We are what we repeatedly do.Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit"