Jogger's Park

As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, I go regularly for a 30 mins walk in the park next door. Now, apart from walking, I also indulge in one of my favourite pass-time, “People Watching”.

Even as a little child, I have always been fascinated by the many faces around me. I always try to guess the story that lies behind each face. This hobby of mine has helped me through many a long waits.

So anyway, coming back to the subject at hand- the people in the park. Now most of you might be wondering what kind of people might be there in the park – apart from the joggers and a bunch of kids. Ah..You couldn’t be more wrong. Every park is a universe in itself – containing many a species ranging from Homo sapiens to animals of all sizes and shapes.

Let’s begin with the Homo sapiens, shall we. For starters, you do have the serious joggers. The ones that are quite regular, dressed in tracks, tees and sneakers. Usually, they come alone, sometimes accompanied with a walkman or Discman (FYI I belong to this category).

Then we have the kids. These little devils come in all shapes and sizes. There are the quiet ones, the naughty ones, the pesky ones, the ones with running noses, the ones with sand all over them, the ones which wave at you for no reason, the ones that bawl out loud if you so much as pat them on their heads, and the ones that make faces at you.

We now move on to the adults. Starting with the elderly…Well, now this park has many a grandpas and grandmas who frequent it. Usually I am quite capable of overtaking most of them on my daily rounds. But wait, there’s this one super-athletic gramps who is always many a step ahead of me. Phew! I have tried many a time to race him, but tried in vain I have. And yes, there’s this Punjabi grandma who has taken quite a liking for me. She makes it a point to come greet me every time she sees me and spends a good 10 mins talking about all things sundry.

My favourite category now – the middle aged. These are the most interesting to watch. For starters you have these aunties puffing and panting in synthetic salwar kurtas (teamed with Adidas and Nike) and smelling like last night’s raita. Mmph!! Then there are these bunch of Muslim aunties, walking in burqas. For god’s sake, there ain’t any Taliban here auntyji. I feel hot in my cotton sleeveless top itself, they sure must be roasting.

Moving on to the love-birds. Nah, not the colourful birds da, but the cuddly, mushy romeo-juliets and laila-majnoos. Most of these love-struck couples are regulars. Same place, same time, same bench, everyday. And do they occupy all the benches or what. Here am I, puffing and panting and in need of a bench to relax myself but alas, each and every one of them has been turned into a lover’s nest. I sometimes have a good mind to click their snaps in compromising poses and send them to their families. That should keep them away from the park and it’s benches for quite some time.

Then you have the vetti porikis (for the non- tamilians, vetti porikis translates to jobless, useless, good-for-nothing idiotic boys). They also do nothing much apart from lounging on the benches, making passes at all the female species. Che Che..

And on Sundays, you have a whole new range of species. Sundays usually mean family outings, and thanks to the over- crowding in the beaches, many families have decided to switch from sea to grass. So we have whole families trooping into the tiny park dada, dadi, nana, nani, ma, pitaji, chacha, chachi, bua, tau, and a jing-bang of bacche log.

Now let us address the part that greatly interests the teenager in me. Yup, I am talking about eye-candy. Sadly for me, this park doesn’t offer much of the species labeled “cute-guys”. There’s this one who comes on Sundays. And this other who comes with his grandma everyday. But nah, they aren’t all that cute. Now this sure is one endangered species. Babes, you have aplenty in the park. But hunks, ah, sorry to disappoint you dear girlie. Search elsewhere.

And how can I not mention those that come with their cameras in tow. Yup, the park is quite a popular shooting spot. Every other day, you get to see a bunch posing for the camera. And for some strange reason, they seem to think that I am quite a good photographer cos I have been asked to do the honours quite a few times.

Oh and how could I not mention the grumpy care-taker of the park. He gets all heated up if anyone as much as steps on the grass and don’t ever let him see you with a ball or bat in your hand.

Well, I guess that’s it about the menagerie in the park. will update if I come across any other interesting specimens.

Till then,

Happy jogging and people-watching.


p.s. that really is the pic of the park i walk in, not some random park.pliss to note the bridge and all.