I think I might have dozed off for a while. I was sitting silently and got lost in random thoughts. I cannot point out what they were. They were random and jumbled up. Very dreamy. I am capable of doing it involuntarily.

Once I dozed off in my workplace while having our morning meeting. It was a slow week. Work was hampered due to the unavailability of materials and manpower. The previous day I had slept really late. I was hooked on a series and was at the end of it. I saw it through and only then did I go to sleep. When I woke up my sleep was not complete. Still, I dragged my lazy ass to the worksite and sat down for the meeting with the chiefs of the various departments. Work-related discussions hardly lasted for some minutes. After that, a lot of other things were discussed. Gossip was shared between the two senior people. I was mum the whole time. I listened to all that they had to say and nodded from time to time to acknowledge that I was listening to whatever they were saying. In between, the discussion went on another plane to which I didn’t have anything to contribute. I remember feeling all drowsy and unable to control my eyes. I dozed off for like a minute or maybe less than that. I know this because my colleague who was sitting opposite me told me after we were done with the meeting. That too twice. I smiled at him.

The time is almost ten thirty. I wonder if I missed something. The scooter remains as it is in front of me. There is a slight shade on the road. A cloud must have covered the sun for the moment. The dogs are gone. I see a cat near where the dogs were. I hear the loud cawing of a couple of crows. One of them flies past me onto a coconut tree in the distance. The wind makes a sudden cameo appearance. It caresses the bushy tree diagonally opposite to where I sit, making the small flowers swirl in unison.

I pick up the mobile and shove it into my pocket. Then I pick up the walkie-talkie and put it into the bag after which I get up. I take out the bottle of water and have some quick gulps. I walk to the scooter and put the bag in front. I take a good 360-degree look at my surroundings. It is the same as it was. It is as if there will never be a change to how it was yesterday. Like a photograph.

But that is not true. Nature is alive. It will bring about a change over a period of time. Nature will thrive now. Trees and plants would take over everything mankind has built. It will take over the wonders of the world, the tallest buildings, the majestic palaces, and the engineering marvels. Everything will see itself bending to the will of nature. It will take a lot of time. Years probably. I won’t be there to see it. I don’t think any human would be alive then. Our race could be extinct. Like the dinosaurs.

The thought of it makes me a bit uneasy. As a member of this species, I don't want us to go extinct. Not so soon. Maybe after we have discovered the mysteries of the universe and answered all the questions regarding life and its purpose and the meaning of it all. This will only lead to more and more questions. But I hope we get an answer we can all agree on and accept, whatever it might be. After that, I think we can fade away in peace. We don't know where we stand in the grand cosmological timeline. We don't even know if we are alone. The universe is so vast. We are nothing compared to its vastness.

I decide to leave. It's been sometime now. I need to get going. I start the scooter and take the road toward Kesavadasapuram.

I reach Kesavadasapuram within minutes. It takes more time normally. Also, I was driving at a constant pace, on the lookout. Still, it is much earlier than usual. There are sections of the road where you are bound to get traffic. It is good I don't have to wait for anything on the road now. Empty roads are always a great feeling.

The tree that stands out at Kesavadasapuram junction offers me some cool shade. I come to a halt right next to it. I look at my surroundings. It has the same story to tell. I look at the buildings with a sharper eye. Yesterday I was coming to terms with what had happened. I am yet to fully acknowledge it. But now I know what has happened. I am looking at my surroundings with a specific purpose. I didn’t have that yesterday. Today it is what I need to do. It can give me something that might just help me.

All the shops are closed. A few dogs come running from the road that forks away from the city. They stand at a distance and bark at me. I stay still in the scooter. I let them bark. They keep on barking for some time. Then they cool down. They didn’t come near though. Barking dogs seldom bite is how the saying goes.

I take out my mobile and open google maps. As it loads up I press the location GPS button. It takes a moment to point me out on the map. It points me very close to where I am standing. I move it in a figure-of-eight motion to recalibrate the sensors. It is still pointing at the same location. If there was a network it would have taken the help of the towers to provide me with a much more accurate location.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Oh, wait. Now it is showing almost the exact location I am in. It is also showing the road and the small buildings beside it. I zoom in. The maps stop loading. I guess I need the internet for that. At least it is showing the basic map and the roads. This is more than enough for me. It has all to do with the concurrent use of maps in the city. It must have cached away data of the city which is being accessed now. I should make it a point to not clear away the cache data from google maps. I zoom out. I turn the phone to see if it can correlate. It does. Very nice.

I put back the phone in my pocket. I start the scooter, take the roundabout and take the second exit towards Pattom. My new route starts from Pattom junction. Till there I will be on the lookout for any change. I know there won’t be any. Sometimes even having hope can be difficult.

There is something I need to tell you. I have imagined a similar setting from time to time. Not like this, but similar in theme. One of them was a dream. In it, I go along with my friends to a remote location for a couple of days to unwind and on returning find ourselves in a world that is different from how we left it. There wasn’t anyone below sixty. It took us some time to realize it. The moment we figure it out and think of what to do next, I woke up. I couldn’t resume the dream after that.

The above one remained with me. There are many other instances where I have completely forgotten the premise of the dream. In most of them, I am with someone else. Only on rare occasions do I find myself all alone. Guess what, I don't remember the ones in which I was all alone. I really can't recollect any of them. Also, it has been some time since I have had any dreams of this sort.

In most of the dreams, I haven’t gone past a day or two. I wake up before it can proceed any further. It pans out for a couple of hours in most cases. At least that is how I remember it. It might have been longer, but I can't recollect it. I remember the tail end better.

There are dreams of recreating my childhood in a different setting. Like the one in which we go on a tour and find the teachers who accompanied us missing along with everyone in the hotel. This is a dream I had after I passed out of college. I wonder about it from time to time. I do dream back in time. I visit my childhood days and live them through my dreams. But this one seemed a bit odd.

Has my dream come true? Like is the great swipe an amalgamation of all the being alone kind of dreams I have had till now? In that case, there must be someone with me. It has mostly been like that. Is there someone that I need to find? I haven't had such a dream before. A dream where I am all alone and go on to find someone out there.

The road is empty except for the crashed vehicles I came across. They don't seem odd at all. In fact, they seem to have blended with their surroundings. Within a day. I wonder if it is the absence of any other elements that make them blend so quickly. I mean if people or things were happening, the crashes would have stood out. I would have probably seen them in that regard - a crash that hasn’t been resolved it. It would kick my curiosity and prick me to find the reason behind it. Basically to mind my own business. I would have been forced by others around me even if I wanted to walk away from it. A crowd is powerful. It can influence you in subtle ways beyond your comprehension.

I like to mind my own business and go along with what I have to do. I try to ignore an incident that doesn’t affect me and go along. If it affects me it will get my attention. There is nothing to influence me now. Nothing. I wish there was. For the simple reason of being able to meet someone.

You know what. It is not true. I mind my business at certain times only, when it is important for me to focus. Otherwise, I don't mind hearing a gossip or two. If I get comfortable with the company then I will even share some of the stories and gossip I have regarding that subject. I don't think I ever want to escape from it. Gossiping is not that great. But it is fun - if it is kept in that way and doesn’t get too personal or scathing. Gossip is said to be something that brought our ancestors together and made them stick together, thereby leading our species to be what we are.

When I call her from my workplace sometimes I really want to hear her gossip about something. Anything will do. Good gossip really can make you feel normal. Not great or euphoric but normal. Also gossiping comes naturally to us. It is something that is embedded in our DNA. For that reason, I don't think we will be able to turn a deaf ear to it. We will listen to gossip whenever we can and also spread some if given the chance.

I am approaching the LIC bus stop. It brings in a certain calmness in me. The building sits in a lush big plot. There is a garden in front of it. It somehow adds charm to the otherwise concrete atmosphere along the road. The trees and the greenery inside the plot and the old-school architecture divert my attention for a second from the mundaneness of the modern structures beside it. The KSRTC bus that has smashed into its wall remains as it is. Yesterday I stopped to check it out. Today I breeze past it.

One of the reasons I haven't come across many buses on the road is the time period in which the great swipe happened. They are odd hours. These premises would see the least amount of buses during that time. If I go to the bypass or take the highway, I will find more buses. KSRTC and tourist ones. Trucks and trailers too. I will have to go through those roads after I have covered the city. Or maybe I should go there tomorrow. What if I find something out there? To be honest, there are infinite possibilities in front of me. And there is nothing to tell me if I am taking the right path or not.