When there was internet - which was just twenty-four hours ago - everyone had a presence in it. It took you to a virtual space, an intangible place. The likes and comments that you got were all virtual. They might be getting stored in some random hard disk in a server in a storage farm somewhere in the world. To trace it would be a herculean task. Why would you? You need to be just concerned with the thumbs-up symbol that flashes in your feed from time to time. You need not know if they even exist if they were not thrown up by an algorithm. That is not at all your concern.
In that context, I am back in time. Back when the internet was being thought of by its creators. But there is a disparity. I have access to all the modern gadgets. These couldn’t have been imagined back then. A mobile phone the size of your palm that has a slim display that is made up of LED lights and can facilitate face-to-face conversations with people poles apart is something from a future civilization. Fifty years down the line we are that civilization. Our humankind has reached that state.
This is a disparity of sorts. I have tech but can't use them to the fullest without the worldwide web. I am stuck with what I have and what I will find in my vicinity. If I can't provide it power, it will also die on me. I will be left with a paperweight. This is also intangible. Anything that works with power is intangible - if you extend it to the family of electronic and electrical devices.
The only tangible stuff that I have with me are the things that do not require electrical power to operate. I don't know if I can classify motor vehicles as electrically dependent. Their initial versions that ran purely on IC engines didn’t have much electronics. The first one might not have had any at all. But electronics did refine them and made them what they are today.
Bicycles are purely mechanical. They have no electrical part in them, thereby making them wholly tangible. Even if I run out of fuel to power my vehicles, having a cycle would get me from point a to point b. It would take time and effort but it will get the job done. I don't have a cycle at home. I have one in my hometown. They are in a rusted condition having not been used for years now. I can get a cycle from Decathlon in Ulloor. Or any other cycle shop in the city. I think there is one in Pattom-Kesavadasapuram stretch too. If I have to get one, I don't have to go hunting for it.
When it comes to information keeping and transfer, books are the sole tangible things remaining. Even the CDs and DVDs I talked about will be of no use if I can't read the information contained in them. I am in a pre-tech, pre-silicon era.
The realization is a harsh one. I don't have a choice though. This is what I find myself in. I must make use of the things I have with me and go forward. Right now I restart my scooter as it comes to a stop following the downhill stretch and resume my journey.
A small stretch of straight road ends with a gradual incline all the way to the Kowdiar junction. I rev up a bit to keep up with the increasing gradient.
Big houses and apartments line up on either side of the road. Restaurants and fancy bakeries have found spaces to operate and cater to the needs of the people of the vicinity and the city. I always feel some new shop has sprung up every time I take this road. A salon, a bakery, a cafe, or even a food cart, something or the other is always happening here. I reach a section of the road that sees the most traffic. It is due to the cafes and restaurants that populate this small space. It was all started by a bakery.
The bakery started in a small complex. It soon expanded itself to a casual cafe on the first floor followed by a proper restaurant on the second floor. The bakery was a direct concern of a well-known bread manufacturer. You could find all kinds of their stuff lining the shelves along with a lot of other stuff. The quality was good and consistent. I love it. I just need a reason to go and visit it when I was staying in Trivandrum previously. I loved their fresh cream pastries. They were really good and reasonably priced.
Their cafe was a place we used to mark out for small get-togethers. I can't say they had a signature style or specialty to their offerings. Whatever they had was consistently good. The pricing was also on spot. This attracted us to it during our final year of college. When you have limited money to spend, you would always be on the lookout for such value-for-money places. This was one of them.
Soon they launched a much more upbeat restaurant in the adjacent building. Its styling screamed out its richness. I have always wanted to give it a try. I have heard that the desserts they offer are top-of-the-line. I have seen it being listed in the food ordering apps. I want to experience it there.
Over the last five to six years, the place saw a couple of cafes open in its vicinity. They had the added advantage of being situated in a neighborhood that saw a constant stream of people come and go. They banked on this and I guess they have succeeded to a good level. People will want to try out something different once in a while. This will prompt them to visit these new places. It has also attracted a lot of people from various parts of the city. This one place can offer them multiple choices. If one fails the other can make up for it.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
This is the story till the Kowdiar junction. You will find a lot of food joints along this stretch. As the sun sets, the food carts come to life. When the sun is down and the moon shines high, the place lits up to the twinkling fairy lights and aromatic flavors from around the world.
There is a supermarket of sorts opposite the bakery. It sells all kinds of organic stuff. It has been here for a long time now. I remember this place because of its name. The name is familiar to anyone who has watched video cassettes. This would be during my childhood days. They were a production house or something like that. Their name would be present as a watermark on all the Malayalam movies we used to rent and watch at home. I think it is their own shop. They might be out of the whole video cassette and movie production business when times changed, but that hasn’t stopped them from doing something of their own. It is a place that has tempted me to go in and check out. I haven't. Something always holds me back. Is it the price? I don't know that. Maybe I am assuming since it is selling organic stuff and the like, the price should be on the higher side. I won't be shelling out that amount of cash. The speculative pricing in my head is a reason.
The whole organic thing has become a rage in the market in recent years. Everywhere you go, you will find a section dedicated to them. They are like a cut above the rest, an elitist version of the normal stuff. They advertise being all natural and pesticide free. That is good. The stuff we get nowadays is all doused with all kinds of chemicals to keep them as it is. We can't go back on that. We have to use them to protect our crops and to ensure that they deliver a good yield. There are a lot of mouths to feed too, which is increasing at an exponential rate. All of these factors compel the farmers to adopt means that might not be good but gives the result. They too have mouths to feed.
If you are from a rural area and if you have some area for yourself, I think you can grow your own veggies and fruits. They will be the most freshest produce you can get, grown with whatever you have fed it. It will be healthy and good for your health. Besides that, I think it is the psychological effect it will have in your head that makes them more valuable and awesome. It is a thing you have put effort into consistently. When you finally reap its rewards it ought to trigger a feeling of accomplishing a task that has gone well.
I have this idea of using our terrace and the adjacent land to cultivate fruits and vegetables for our use. The soil is good, there is plenty of water and there is good sunlight. The conditions are perfect. But it will take time. I wish my parents would do something like this. They want to. In fact, mom and dad are pro for it. The thing is they have plans to travel in the coming few years when their health permits. They feel as if they can't do that after two or three years. I didn’t comment on this. They have worked hard their whole lives. Now they need some well-deserved rest. They should do whatever they feel like. If they want to travel, then let them. Farming and all can be done later. Also, it is more like a fancy thing. Yeah, it is. Having a good vegetable garden on your terrace is great and functional. At the same time, it projects your house in the vicinity. People look up to you and your efforts. I know you might not be doing it for this recognition, but it is bound to create a good feeling. We, humans, love to be cared for and recognized.
I think of it as having a good green cover in your home. Green plants are essential in your homes and your neighborhood. They instantly lift your mood and bring about peace and serenity. The color green is the reason behind this.
Once I was working in a very remote place. It was really dry. The place got rainfall for like a month. The farmers were dependent on underground water for their every need. They had adapted to using them judiciously and making their ends meet with the scarce quantity. The surroundings too adapted to the environment. The shrubs were thorny and had little pointed leaves to them. The trees were mostly palm trees. Cactuses grew in good numbers. The land remained brown and parched for the majority of the year.
Working here was difficult for me. My assignment would last for three months. By the end of it, I felt a little bit depressed and dejected. The feeling hung around me no matter what I did. I could only shake it off for a while. It would return after some time. I didn’t know what to do.
When I left it, I had a long bus journey in front of me. I took a window seat, put on some music through my earphones, and let the wind beat on my face as the bus cruised along the highway. The first half of the journey had a similar scenery to my workplace. The dryness extended to the horizon. Very little green was to be seen on the roads. Plus the sun was high up in the sky. The intense heat coupled with the arid surroundings was depressing. But the wind on my face made it bearable. After some time I fell asleep.
When I woke up I was nearing the ghat section. The surroundings had changed. There was greenery all around me. I could see farms of corn, sunflower, and vegetables stretching out on either side of the road. It was a great feeling. I felt energized and happy. The depressing feeling that hung around me was gone. Even the sun felt bearable. I soaked it all in. It felt so great.
When I got down at the bus stand in the evening, there was a spring in my feet. I was feeling happy going back home. But more than that I think it was the green surroundings that scintillated me and pulled me back. Later, I stumbled upon color theory. It told me the effect each color has on the human psyche. It was a great revelation. We all go through it daily but we hardly ever notice it or the effect it has on us. Green is associated with life, growth, prosperity, and harmony. No wonder I felt so happy and rejuvenated on seeing Mother Nature.