Avenue Road.

Getting out of the jewelry shop, I realized I had been walking for quite a while without any direction as to where I was. Something caught my eye as I was crossing the road and instinctively turned right, instead, where I came upon this extremely crowded street with little shops lining either sides of me till my eyes could no longer see.  There was so much hustle and bustle going on as I walked haltingly while everyone pushed past each other to walk. Taking a deep breath, I stood still on the footpath I was walking on and took in my surroundings. There were people from all walks of life, in a hurry to reach their destinations. The sun glinted in my eyes as I turned my head sideways and came upon this small worn down door with steps leading to a window and then disappearing. It was dark and dingy and I could smell the musty air surrounding it. I dragged my feet, hopping from one foot to another to avoid steeping on people, garbage, wet mud and dung. Every few minutes a new smell would tickle my senses as the weather above me also changed continuously.  As the sun hid behind the gray-blue clouds I looked up to see many shops on the second and third floors of the dilapidated buildings crisscrossed with wires connecting the two sides. I walked a bit further when my eye caught a dark, quiet alley on the left side of the street where a single bulb illuminated a textiles shop, I inspected getting closer.

I was quickly engulfed by the cool wind blowing past me and the comforting darkness. There were a few locals lurking about at the end of the alley where a small beedi and cigarette shop was tucked away in a corner. As I walked closer I could smell the hot chai and the smoke which hung in the air for a while, lingering, after which a gust of wind swept it away. I was about to turn around after shooting a smile to the textiles shopkeeper when I heard a loud guttural voice echo in the dimly lit hall. I slowly crept into a dark corner when I heard footsteps approaching. I saw a haggard looking man with a cigarette tucked behind his ear, looking frustrated, as I saw him flick the beedi he was smoking with so much contempt and stomp on it while he slinked away with his eyebrows pulled together. I watched entranced by how his dark figure left the alley and was suddenly lit up and attacked by the cacophony outside after which he effortlessly molded into the crowd, unnoticeable and insignificant to me now.

I saw stairs leading up to an Arts emporium and made my way up to it. I entered and saw a very few people scattered around the huge place. I stood beside a couple, observing an antique African woman’s painting which caught my eye because of the beautiful scarification on her face. ‘…texture feels a bit rough to me. The other one with the elephant in the middle had good size as well as nice material’ the petite woman spoke, in a purposeful but soft voice, while stroking the carpet she was looking at. I tried to tune out the conversation before I heard what the man had to say. ‘Remember the time we went to Cherrapunji and stayed in this run down hotel? It had broken windows and a dusty bed’ he said. ‘I remember... oh! The carpet was exquisitely..’    ‘Yes, it was a rare piece that I would love for my studio’ he said with a twinkle in his eye. I could see both of them lost in their thoughts from my periphery. If I would have to guess, the woman was probably thinking about their time in that hotel judging from her nostalgic, glassy eyed face. The man seemed to be more involved in how his studio would have looked with that carpet. 

I left the emporium after that with a smile on my face, remembering a similar experience of mine as I climbed down the stairs to get some chai to go for the walk that lay ahead of me. I crept out of the alley as a number of things assaulted all my senses from all directions. I took in all the smells that were tinged with the cup of chai in my hand, the mesh of peoples feet dragging across the pavement, horns being honked from all directions, people shouting to sell their wares, metals clinking against each other, and finally, the peaceful wind whirring past me now and then. I thought back to the couple and made a promise to myself to find the hotel with the carpet, glad and excited for the adventure that lay ahead of me.