The second day of my stay here in Bangalore and having lost sleep in the wee hours of the morning, I decided to go for a walk. I took the usual route as I’ve done for years. Walking on the sidewalk, suddenly something caught my attention. It was the footprints, of course. On the gray concrete sidewalk pressed deeply were the footprints of none other than the street gods of my neighborhood. It was a sight I won’t forget. A good ten feet were covered in footprints, which amused me thinking back to if it was just one dog or many that were dawdling around.
For me, it felt like a piece of history etched permanently in the most unusual places one can think of. Strange, for years I’ve walked the same path but never really paused to look at it closely. The dogs are probably long gone now, but they now have a place of their own. It made me reflect on life and all the things it holds. It’s the little things and those trivial moments that make a difference. Wonder what those dogs were doing, thinking, or worse, running away from? It surprised me also thinking how they got away on a fresh coat of carefully laid cement now. Was it not manned properly by the construction workers on site, or did they not care to do a proper job? Whatever may be the case today, after all those years of walking on that path, it was those footprints that made me pause, and I am glad about it.
I guess it made me emotional in a certain way, thinking how an alive and breathing creature can make a simple act of walking so profound. We as humans now have so much knowledge and power and everything else in between. How much of an impact can we have on one another and even on ourselves? The possibilities are endless. We can leave behind countless footprints wherever we go. I hope I can be one of those who can make a difference and be that person in someone’s life.
For me, it felt like a piece of history etched permanently in the most unusual places one can think of. Strange, for years I’ve walked the same path but never really paused to look at it closely. The dogs are probably long gone now, but they now have a place of their own. It made me reflect on life and all the things it holds. It’s the little things and those trivial moments that make a difference. Wonder what those dogs were doing, thinking, or worse, running away from? It surprised me also thinking how they got away on a fresh coat of carefully laid cement now. Was it not manned properly by the construction workers on site, or did they not care to do a proper job? Whatever may be the case today, after all those years of walking on that path, it was those footprints that made me pause, and I am glad about it.
I guess it made me emotional in a certain way, thinking how an alive and breathing creature can make a simple act of walking so profound. We as humans now have so much knowledge and power and everything else in between. How much of an impact can we have on one another and even on ourselves? The possibilities are endless. We can leave behind countless footprints wherever we go. I hope I can be one of those who can make a difference and be that person in someone’s life.
Your walk and the footprints you noticed reminded me of a chapter in a book I read in college and have given to my daughters and grandchildren. "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster. The book is about Milo, a boy bored by the world around him, who arrives home from another boring day at school to find a mysterious package. Among its contents are a small tollbooth and car along with a map of "the Lands Beyond". During his many travels in the "Lands Beyond" Milo visits a beautiful city where all the residents are so self absorbed that they go about their daily lives without looking up, down or around at the large and small details of their city, much less appreciating what there was to see. Slowly, over time their beautiful city begins to disappear before their eyes. Often we all get caught in the trap of not noticing things until they are gone. The Phantom Tollboth was written for children 8 and up, but it contained lessons for anyone at any age.
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