Trotting on the terrace

The well-planned township of Saltlake adjoining Kolkata is interspersed with parks and open spaces. While growing up, we had the luxury of playing in several such parks. The abundance of parks, didn’t require the usage of terrace and roof for any kind of leisurely activities. The terraces of Saltlake have been largely relegated to hosting washed clothes. However, there were few people like me who would find joy in the terrace of our respective house and apartments.

My apartment overlooks Central Park, which has a green cover and some wildlife. My first encounter with my terrace happened a decade back when I appeared for graduate-level exams. Every day, during the preparation period, after an entire day of wrestling with the syllabus, I would go up to the terrace in the evening and spend a while.

I felt a sense of liberty in an open space. Looking down on the roads where the vehicles would speed by the well-lit roads and boulevard adorned by trees, gave a welcome sense of inaction. As darkness engulfed the surroundings, the crows, sparrows and mynahs went back to their nests and the bats from nearby Central Park took control of the nearby trees.

For all these years, I have enjoyed a solitary presence on my terrace. However, the nation-wide lockdown changed the scenario considerably. A few days into the lockdown, after being distraught with lack of mobility in life, I decided to venture out to the terrace during the evening.

I was stuck by different activities on the terraces around me, which have been forever lifeless. I saw a family in the next terrace practicing yoga and multiple breathing kriyas, in another terrace the residents were engaged in adda (prolonged conversations) with tea-cups while the faint tunes of Rabindrasangeet drifted in from another terrace. I could see children playing and one of the elders trying to impart the knowledge of flying kites, which has never been a popular sport in Saltlake.

People were talking across the terraces, perhaps forging new friendships or reinforcing the existing ones. In a time when most of the household conversations, news, discussions are centred around the virus and its potential impact, it’s heartening to see people engage in numerous activities on their respective terraces.

While the terraces of my housing society were brimming with life, the streets, in contrast, bore a deserted look, who could have thought of such an upended spatial distribution of humans?