I have lived in Bangalore a couple of years back. It was my lonely days. I loved Bangalore mainly for its small parks in some nooks and corners. After work, while I return to my room, I used to go to some park and spend some time there. People come there for evening walks. I go there with a book and read it. Those were some serene moments in my life. I remember reading Kafka, Sartre, etc. in parks in Bangalore. That was an exciting feeling. Exciting times too.
Chennai has less parks. But there are a few. There's one near my apartment in Kotturpuram: The Kotturpuram Tree park. The place was a waste yard a couple of years back and an organization, Nizhal, in collaboration with the Chennai Metro Corporation built this amazing park by planting trees and nurturing them systematically. Now it has a lot of trees and walkways for morning or evening walks. You can go and sit there and forget that you are in Chennai. The breeze coming from the nearby Adyar river cools down your body as soon as you enter the park.
I go there in the evenings for a walk or just to sit and look at the river to ponder upon the existential aspect of everyday life. There will be boats in the river rowed by people. Possibly they are from the Adyar boat club. Sometimes, I take some book with me to read. I'm reminded by those Bangalore days. Today, while I was reading, I took an occasional glance at the river. I felt that the top edge of the wall between me and the river was moving. Was it some kind of an optical illusion? I looked again. There you are! A snake slowly advancing along the net tied above the wall. My immediate reaction was, naturally, fear! Now I am not a child, but a grownup adult. I said to myself, calm down, it is just a snake and sits a few meters away from me. Instinctively, I looked around me, on the stone chair I was sitting and under it, to check whether there was a snake lurking around near me. Because I was so lost in my reading!
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