Contradictions

My contribution to 3WW

Words for this week - clumsy, fire, overlooked

A posh car driving down 4th lane, RC Nagar in a misty morning is not something new. Ravi goes to the nearby park for a jog, parking his car right outside the main gate. Though it's hardly a kilometre from his villa, he prefers to drive down to the park and then start his jog. Switching on the heater, his fingers tapping the steering wheel for a Bryan Adams song, he feels the warmth of air swooping past his face.

The rustling noise of the broomstick from the sides of the road doesn't reach his eardrums. Or does he purposely overlook the actions of people from the rest of the society? Muthu wonders. He is an employee of the Municipality and his daily duties are to sweep the roads and streets of RC Nagar and the neighbouring areas. His sweeping of the 4th lane and observing Ravi's car taking a turn towards RC Nagar has become an everyday affair happening at the same time in the early mornings. As a sweeper, his work is never clumsy and the roads look clean after his strenuous efforts, for all the irresponsible people to throw garbage again throughout the day.

Dropping a half smoked cigarette bud, Ravi gets down his car and enters the park. The waste papers and garbage collected so far has found their purpose now. Muthu picks up the still-burning cigarette, gathers the papers together in a lump and lights up the fire. He feels the warmth in his shivering palms and places them on his swollen cheeks. Slowly the sun peeks out of the clouds, veering the temperatures of the day. After a good rest, Muthu continues his duty, with the sun giving him the needed warmth.