CHENNAI: It was a moist December evening, and the air was thick with anxiety. The year was 2015, and the city, Chennai. Yes, remember that December when the city was marooned, and our hopes for normalcy were neck-deep in water? The power lines were snapped, there were distress calls from people, slums were washed away, houses were destroyed and the homeless were scurrying for food and shelter.
Coming back to that evening, the dominating dark sky slowly engulfed the orange of the dusk, rind after rind, finally peeling it off, but not before a small strand of purple suddenly appeared as if it was resisting the night as the gates of daylight were shutting down. But, the final takeover was indeed complete! There was darkness all over, with oil lamps and candle lights bringing a faint glow at homes. There was no power, so there was no question of tubelights giving homes their ugly whitewash or television screens reflecting their dumb flicker on glass panes of windows. The floodwater, so long appearing calm, suddenly seemed to have got flustered as it rippled with a strong gust of wind that blew across.
This irritation was short-lived, as it suddenly turned sprightly when it began playing a long-distance game with the silvery bloom of the full moon! The dramatic presence of the moon was felt even more in that no-power night. When I was caught admiring its silvery gaze, I was even mocked for appreciating something so far away, when the city was in distress. But the moon was up, smiling down, draping us with her piercing, yet pristine silvery gaze, reassuring us that “This too shall pass”! Cut to 2020.
The month is April, which means it is neither cool nor moist. There is no soft, cool breeze, but a rush of warm air. But the battle of wits between the orange and night sky continues. And, the final purple strand of the sky, too, continues its last-ditch, but vain attempt to fight the darkness. But there was a twist on this day-night tussle one evening. Suddenly, bold strokes of pink and orange sprayed across the night sky. Well, the night had not completely won the battle, after all. It was a truce, at best. The secret of this magic was then revealed: it was the night of the pink moon! This time it was gazing at humanity the world over, crippled by the onslaught of the dreaded COVID-19. It smiled again, cloaked us again with its warm, orange embrace, and reassured us, once again, “This too shall pass”.
Subhashini dinesh