Yah! Time To Go Home!




It was late afternoon.

The construction workers had stopped working....

They had packed their bags with their tools and equipments....

They had bought provisions for the family....

And the various gifts and requests....

"It is time to go home." They slowly told themselves.

Dragging their tired body, they approached their age-old motorbike....

Starting the engine, sometimes waiting for a friend as pillion rider....

Blowing the engine, they went slowly and carefully on their way home....

*******

Then came a raging thunderstorm.

The rain was pouring cats and dogs.

The lightning flashed incessantly and the thunder cracked and rumbled very loudly and continuously.

They had to stop and looked for shelter....

Then they sat, crouched, squatted, stood... in bus station or outside a building, shivering cold, waiting for the rain to stop.

*******

Some were puffing sticks of cigarettes.

They were seen chattering away with many stories and tales....

Then they smiled away and laughed aloud.

Some stayed in a corner, staring at the dark sky and stormy clouds.... sometimes talking to themselves, mumbling, grumbling, singing, praying (I presumed)....

Then I noticed some older folks looking very worried, frustrated, anxious, angry and sad....

It could be because of some celebrations in the family or village....

It could be because of the children waiting for their birthday cake, their gifts and requests....

It could be because of the worrying look on the wife's face who was deeply concerned about them....

Then they sighed.... and sighed.... Shaking their heads.

*******

It is a long journey from village to town / city.

Rain or shine, there will always be that few hours trip to travel.

They have to leave the wife and children when they are sound asleep....

They have to leave the village when it is still dark, cold and quiet....

And when they come home....

The wife and children will be waiting....

And the village is again dark, cold and quiet....

*******

Then with the economic crisis....

With the heavier workload....

The meager pay....

The poor and risky working conditions....

Then the price hikes on goods....

The higher cost of living....

And... the heavy rains and thunderstorms....

The many flood and landslides....

Oh! Millions of headaches and heartaches....

Everything seemed to crack their minds and break their wills....

"Everything will be alright....."

They silently told themselves....

And smiled ruefully....

A hard and harsh life was evident on their weathered faces and soiled garments....

*******

The rain finally stopped.

The wind stilled.

No more lightning flashes and thunderbolts.

It was very dark and cold....

But the heart was warm with excitement and anticipation....

Yah! It's time to go home!

1 comments:

  Sandy

January 25, 2010 at 8:52 PM

Enjoyed the read, read like the type of weather we had yesterday; but today is another day...sounds like Scarlet O'Hara would say. lol

Sandy

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