Mr Mohan Diwedi is unvarying about his morning walks. He is a senior citizen, he is tall and heftily built. He is a widower who misses the presence of a companion. The walk has been a ritual for him, it brings him close to the world that he aspires to be in. He begins his walk from Golden Tower located in Chinchwad and walks to the Ganapati Temple, which is located in the village of Chinchwad. The walk is almost 3 kilometres long. It leads him to the housing arenas, shopping hubs, and narrow lanes lined with houses that have blossoms of Jasmine, Rose and Hibiscus outside their homes. On returning he walks on to the opposite end where there is a children’s park, it has a walking track that runs along the boundary and a central green lawn. There are numerous flowering plants around and all along the walk.
The unprecedented lockdown in the month of March 2020 owing to the pandemic brought in fear, anxiety and antipathy towards fellow human beings. The changes that set in made life chaotic, there was general unrest felt. Initially, families rejoiced to spend their valuable time together. Professionals could now work from home, kids saw their parents multitasking household chores along with their office jobs. The laptop and desktop seemed to the highest aspiration for the kids, it certainly made a place when the online classes for students began with a fervour. Children had to remain locked inside their homes. The distress found comfort with rich food that was prepared in celebration of being together, and of being alive. There were numerous messages on WhatsApp regarding safety measures during the pandemic that was circulated amongst the members of society. The maids in the housing complex had a long meeting as they squat squarely on the lawns of the building. The discussions led them to retaliate the next morning, they threw their jobs and said that they were on leave for the next fifteen days.
There was an initial welcome to the lockdown as people were waiting for a pause in their hectic schedules but as weeks slipped by the emptiness and the excessive richness of food brought in lethargy. One could watch people gossip lengthily about the pandemic, the coronavirus and the deaths. The anxiety turned into desperation when they read about people going out of the building complex for their morning walks, it was assumed that they would walk back wearing coronavirus on their sleeves. There were heated discussions inside homes forgetting the social distancing to stop morning walkers. The policemen looked out for morning walkers. They began using humiliating means of harassing the people on their morning walks by posting their photographs with a placard in their hands which carried the message, ‘I am not a COVID 19 patient but an enthusiastic morning walker’. These incidents were filmed and the videos were shared on the WhatsApp to frighten netizens.
Mr Diwedi would watch the news on the television and update himself to the happenings. He would converse for long with his son and his choicest neighbours to know about the statistics of COVID cases. He had stopped moving out of the house in the evenings but in the morning it was unavoidable. He started carrying a tiny bag on his morning walks like everyone else. In the initial stages, people felt that Mr Diwedi was going to buy milk from the vendor. Mr Diwedi would not buy milk but he started collecting flowers to worship the Lord.
When the police began its hunt for morning walkers, Mr Diwedi refrained himself from going out, and so he started walking in the premises of the building. He would hang the tiny bag on the stump of a stout plumeria tree that stood in the corner near the gate of the building. The tree had grown on a small patch of soil, and its roots and the surroundings had been plastered with tiles. It was a wonder to see it grow and flower. The Plumeria tree was filled with beautiful maroon Lei flowers. One usually sees white flowers on Plumeria but this plant bore deep maroon flowers with a touch of yellow in this centre. Mr Diwedi used to collect flowers from various plants on his walk, but the pandemic forced him to gather flowers that grew in the housing society. The premises had palm trees and other trees with green foliage, but they weren’t the flowering kind. The Plumeria tree was the only tree filled with flowers. The adjacent housing society had Hibiscus and Double Hollyhock plants that jounced their heads across the wall. There were other elderly ladies in the building who wanted to pluck these flowers. Mr Diwedi was earlier than others. He had discovered a wooden-staff which was used by these elderly ladies to pull the far-off branches.
Mr Diwedi would wake up earlier than usual and grab the wooden-staff that was kept hidden in one of the hollows on the boundary wall. He would gently pluck all the flowers that he got while walking in the premises, yet his favourite flowers were the Lei flowers borne by the Plumeria plant.
When the Lei flowers on lower branches had been plucked, Mr Diwedi tried to reach the higher ones. He felt he could sway the tree. He was well built, and he would hold the neck of the tree and wobble it vigorously. The flowers would fall out in large numbers. Sometimes there were ten flowers and many times it was more than that as the Plumeria flowered well. Then one day, no amount swaying toppled any flowers. Mr Diwedi looked up at the Plumeria tree. He saw that there were no flowers on the ground, but he wanted a few flowers to worship God. He angrily swayed the wooden-staff and gave a stinging blow to the plant, but none of the flowers fell.
He yelled at the security guard saying,’Bring the plastic chair, I want to pluck flowers from the tree’. The security guard meekly gave him the chair and stood watching him. Mr Diwedi stood on the chair and hit the plant with a wooden-staff. It was gently at first, and then it became harsher when the flowers did not fall off. After a long time, a branch got hurt and had scars soon exposed its wood. There were two flowers on the ground. Mr Diwedi picked the flowers and went home. The next morning and the mornings that followed, the Plumeria plant did not bear any flowers. Mr Diwedi looked at the plant in askance, but he did not get any flowers thereafter. It seemed that the plant refused to bloom. It has been more than a month, despite the best sunshine and bountiful rains, the Plumeria plant stands without flowers. Mr Diwedi has located another plant in the neighbouring building. He stands on his toes and plucks the flowers, but for the Plumeria tree, the lockdown continues.
“I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some.” ― Herbert Rappaport
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