As i entered Baroda city, a sense of fear took over...i looked out of the window from the jeep and saw what id been dreading for for the past week..Death..of a different kind...hundreds of people on the roads just inches away from me..treading on my personal space...street lights , head lights, hoardings flashing in front of my eyes; blinding me..honking of vehicles, sirens of ambulances, people screaming on the phone, radios blasting from everywhere; deafened me..the stench of humanity,the filthy air,the smokey cars and bikes;suffocated me..beggars tapping at somebody's car window,a dog writhing in pain, a woman hitting her kid as they crossed the road, buildings cramped in every centimeter of open space;killed me..
I saw death staring at me...and it grinned in absolute pleasure..for he knew that id seen him..and id been expecting him..i gazed up at the skies and saw endless black sheets stretching as far as the eye could see..where had all the stars gone?a couple of hours ago id seen the lilac skies give way to a deep blue speckled with millions and millions of silver dots..i looked around me and saw not one tree when just a hundred kilometers ago the streets had been lined with lush green trees forming a canopy ahead of me..tall and majestic, with shades of lime, olive and bottle green all on the same colour pallet... the road ahead of me spoke nothing but of man's disgust for nature..where as the place i was in only yesterday spilled over with the glory and power of the Creator..mountains of incredible height and splendid beauty...skies of mist..breeze that touched your soul..smells of grass and soil that filled your being with contentment..it felt like heaven...but as my eyes desperately searched for those soothing sights, my heart sank as i realized that concrete was the only thing man had to show off..everywhere i looked i saw columns of gray boasting of civilization and urbanity.
Is this all man was proud of? open skies hiding behind skyscrapers..people sheltered behind the four walls of their home..animals caged behind high walls..? i needed to get out..to break free from this place that made my insides churn..that squeezed at my lungs making it difficult to breathe..that tugged at my heart causing me to rethink where my life was going..is this where i wanted to grow up? in a world that raced towards a finish line that no longer existed? in a world that judged a man on the basis of what he had rather than what he needed? i needed answers..and i needed them fast... and then....i heard a voice in my head....."...the answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind..."
