It is a truth, possibly universally true, that when we are young we try and indulge in many things, and later on looking back, always wonder how we actually did so. That's the beauty of the Mind.
Bozo, Mumbai's only dog-with-his-own-blog is becoming philosophical as he grows older. He spends a lot of time in the balcony, this Mumbai summer, and often sees these huge planes, roaring down to land, as they pass low over his building. He wonders if he has missed out on something, and whether it is possible for fellows like him to fly.
His mentor and chronicler , Magiceye, found him in one of his semi-aviator moods, and clicked this.
from the balcony,
these massive things
that come in through the sky
making a huge racket
as they pass over our building terrace.
I hear you can sit inside them,
and
actually see movies
and eat meals,
and even sleep
(though I hear the bathrooms are claustrophobic)...
And then I think
of the
sparrows,
crows and pigeons,
egrets and parrots,
and so many ,
who silently glide around,
researching a tree here,
navigating a branch ,
crunching into a guava there,
occasionally twittering
about
a mango they bit into,
as they play house-house
with twigs
up in a tree.
As a kid,
I wanted to fly.
And I actually did-
with my ears
pricked up.....
Flying down the stairs
when I heard someone come home from work;
Flying and Rushing across the garden
behind the young man
and his friends;
And sometimes,
I would hear the purr of a car
in the garage,
and there would be
a great flying leap
to meet
the young lady
returning to her old home....
And then I heard
that us fellows
need to travel in cages
in these huge contraptions i see in the sky.
No way.
These days,
I don't leap around and fly too much,
but there are these
amazing flights of imagination.
No cages,
no noisy rackets,
no exhaust pollution,
no cost,
no crowds,
no checking,
but just
a cool floor,
a nuzzle at some one's feet,
a leisurely trip to the kitchen door
to check out seafood smells,
smiling at visiting folks
I have met
in my younger salad days,
who come and rub my neck,
and occasionally
sniffing and sneezing at a ball
that has missed me.....
And sometimes,
just sometimes,
I let fly my imagination
and
think of Luci
in Thiruvanantapuram,
Gabbar and Mutt
in Gurgaon,
and Lindy and Sam
in Bo's Obamaland.
Yes,
I can fly ,
Free and open,
in the Sky of my Mind !
