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Priceless Bond

 After eleven long years we finally purchased an apartment in Pune. The edifice is actually multifaceted, a cluster of four smaller structures and a few row houses nestled in a colony called Rajyog Marg; however the lane has no resemblance to a stately street. Its narrow and the situation of this street is dismal with potholes. It is a worn out lane as there are quite a few new apartments being built and people proudly compliment the area calling it mini Mumbai. When we enter an adjoining lane through this lane the view is overwhelming. Close at hand stands a spacious and majestic complex .The name board of the building has not been put up as the completion is yet to be assessed by the municipal authorities. Each block has seven floors with five flats on each floor.


There is an office which will be used as a club house later with green lawn in the garden lined  by palm and other fast growing trees. There is sufficient space for walking, playing and chatting and above all a good parking space for all the vehicles’. Everyday grandparents, mothers with little children, adults and many more people can be seen sitting near this lawn on the paved periphery at various places surrounding the lawn. Each day at 12.30p.m I hear voices of little children who come back from play school accompanied by their youthful mothers. The kids are probably two to two and a half years old. The mothers take the weight off their feet on the paved path and let the kids play on the grass. They are so engrossed in their talks that only a wail of the child or a whimper disturbs their talk. One scorching day the kids found the garden being watered by one of the labourers. This manual worker does a variety of jobs; he sweeps, lays the tiles in the new houses, mixes paints for painting the walls or waters the garden. He is a typical Maharashtrian as he wears a white kurta and pyjama. The kurta is a long one which gets soiled due to his work.  He sports a Nehru cap occasionally. He is tall, heavily built and is over fifty years of age with a huge tummy protruding which makes him look gigantic. In spite of his appearance there is a tenderness in him. After watering the lawn the worker began pulling back the huge water pipe. Those little children held the  garden pipe in their hands and gave a tug, still later the gardener gave a tug followed by the kids tug. The kids began enjoying the tug and shove. A strong pull resulted in the fall of one of the kids. The kid screamed and started howling. The other kids left the pipe and ran to their mothers: who looked at the old man resentfully. The poor man was astounded at this behaviour. He sadly turned to go on with his work as he glanced at the kid one last time; the kid from his mother’s arms was showering flying kisses at the old man making the whole incident a memorable one. Regardless of all the anguish the bond of love holds us together , guiding us to a better world.


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