Pipe dreams

What brings joy to one's soul depends on one's age.

The simplest of things would brighten up the day when I was a kid. Joy and happiness had nothing to do with long term plans. Everything was about the current moment. What mattered was what I could do now, at this very moment.

What prompted this reflection about good old times?

It was all thanks to a civic agency who decided to leave concrete pipes occupying the pavement (side walk). There was no room for the pedestrian to walk. With vehicles occupying the entire road due to choc-a-bloc traffic, the option of bypassing the pipes by using the road was negated

 While I was contemplating various options, a young pedestrian hopped onto one of the pipes. He walked on the concrete cylindrical body of one pipe and then hopped on to another one. Finally, he jumped down on the other end to continue walking on the pavement. 

Meanwhile, I was cursing the civic agency for creating an obstruction. As usual I thought of the poor planning and co-ordination that the agencies exhibit. One agency covers a pothole and another digs up the entire road within a week. Having seen such things in the past, I began to blame the agencies once again.

However, I couldn't afford to stand rooted to the spot as my workplace beckoned. Hence, I climbed the first concrete pipe and walked along its back. It was not much of a balancing act since these pipes were quite large diametrically. I covered pipe one with great ease and then hopped onto another pipe.

This one was slightly higher than the previous one as it was stacked on top of another one. I jumped onto it and ran along its back to take the final leap to the pavement.

Suddenly, I felt childhood had returned. It was a small moment of happiness which brought back memories. If I were in school, probably I would have gone back on the journey along the pipes and tried a different route. But then, I have grown up and have a job to do.

I thanked the agency who allowed me my 'pipe dreams'.