People at the lake in Unlock 1.0

The first whiff of freedom after a long confinement…smells of wet earth.

After almost 3 months, I stepped out of home for my routine walk at the lake. Before this viral pandemic stopped us all in our tracks and made us hunker down in the confines of our homes, I used to be a regular at the jogging track around the Mahadevapura lake. 

Well, truth be said, it’s not really a jogging track, just an unpaved, narrow meandering path around the lake. But, it is like a little watering hole in the concrete jungle around us. It draws walkers and joggers of all kinds, shapes and sizes. And, to my delight, they are mostly back in Unlock 1.0! On my first day back, it gave a semblance of normalcy. Like, nothing had changed. Except the ubiquitous masks.

There is the lanky old man who prefers to walk in a lungi and t-shirt. The words on his t-shirt are meant to reprimand you if you even think of smirking at his choice of attire.  They say in bold - ‘Old is Gold’.

There is the Gen Z youngster, who prefers his full-sleeved hoodie, even in summers. He runs like his life depends on it, easily finishing at least 5 rounds, even as the others are straggling along with one. Now that there is a mask under the hoodie, it’s really like watching a scarecrow on adrenaline.

Then, there is the uncles group and the aunties group. The former are currently vigorously discussing the Bihar Regiment and Sino-Indian geopolitical issues. The latter are definitely discussing something, given the gesturing, but I just cannot comprehend what, from under the layers of masking.

There’s the young woman in the lipstick and the all-black track suit. Her jog is a bit like a shuffle. But, I always admired her effort - she completes the whole round. She seemed in form, despite the 3 month hiatus. 

There’s the middle-aged couple, man and wife striding along in silence. They both will make eye contact as I pass, but the instant I smile back in greeting, they will avert their eyes and scurry along. I feel like a pariah, but I guess they are just intensely shy folks.

If the ‘Golden Flash’ had made his appearance today, it would have rounded up the outing very well. Before the lockdown, he would turn up, mostly on weekends, juiced-up and ready for his 200-meter Olympian dashes. Clad in neon or golden leotards and equally flashy vests, ipod strapped to biceps, smart watch on wrist, he would zip around the lake, in closely-monitored sprints. 

As you can guess, I didn’t exercise much today. I strolled, watched people, clicked plenty of pictures of a lake swollen by the monsoons and relished the ‘normalcy’. A passing cloud sent down a quick drizzle and the scent of wet earth suffused the lakeside for a few minutes.