Chapter 19: Big City's Sleep ...

Time: 2:00 AM
Place: Guindy, Kathipara Bridge

Pale and pleasant moonlight, kind touch of a gentle breeze, quite and peaceful night made me to write a song, the thing which I haven't done in a very long time.


This is one of the advantages of working in an evening shift. Others include a free meal and a free ride back home. I always wanted to work in an evening shift which is not a common thing among the corporate companies. There are only two kinds of shift. Morning shift and night shift. Former is your regular company timing and the later is about working all night and reaching home by six in the morning. But the timing of an evening shift is weird. It's starts at 4:30 PM and ends at 1:30 AM, midnight (for most of us). I feel that this is an interesting timing as I get to watch the peaceful sound sleep of a magnificent city.


At the very first day, I was so excited for the experience I was about to have. Busy office hours started at 5PM and time raced in its course. In no time a short break, a small meeting and a delicious dinner passed away. We got out for our 11:30PM break which I totally enjoyed. I came out of the glass doors and air conditioned space to drink some coffee and I watched the day, slowly coming to an end. A hot coffee in a cold night tasted too good. The ten minutes break ended and again I got back to my work. The moment when the clock struck 1:30, I shut down my computer, got my cab's number and went down to the car park along with all the other staffs. The parking lot was super-busy. People ran back and forth to find their respective cabs. The word people was so generous to include me to its list. Finally I found the cab and I was so happy to find my old friend, 'The window seat.'


The cab started to depart from the parking lot after six of my cab mates got into it. Everyone had their headsets plugged into their ears. By the time when the cab hit the road I gazed out of the window to find some beautiful sight. A 'two minute rain' had already soaked the road. The wet and empty road, chill and howling wind, closed stores and restaurants added their beauty to that silent night. I found it surprising to spot the moon in a rainy night. The cab dropped three of my cab mates and raced into the night. That's when the most exciting thing happened!

Time: 2:00 AM
Place: Guindy, Kathipara Bridge

We were travelling on the top of the Kathipara, a fascinating high bridge in Chennai. The car stopped moving suddenly. Driver turned back and said "Flat tire!!!"
That was the most happening night of my life. I came out of the car which was parked in the left corner of the bridge. I never imagined that I would stand on the top of an empty bridge in the middle of a night. I watched the entire city, sleeping like a tired baby after some long hours of playing. I can't stand at the same place in daylight, where I stood that night. The place would be filled with smoking bikes, noisy auto rickshaws, racing city buses carrying people who would do anything to reach their respective offices in time.

KATHIPARA BRIDGE - DAYLIGHT VIEW


But now, it's just an empty bridge with a lonely man standing on it's top. Of course, the driver! But he's replacing the tire. The night had everything. I enjoyed each and everything I saw, but somehow it made me feel lonely. A melancholic mood, I guess!
I thought about someone who left me for no reason, I thought about my only best friend who passed away years back. I don't know why? It may be because of the pale and pleasant moonlight, kind touch of a gentle breeze, quite and peaceful night. But something made me to write a song, the thing which I haven't done in a very long time.
Driver replaced the tire, the car moved from that place, but my song stayed there.
I wrote the song and threw it out of the window. The gentle breeze, I told, took it away ...