Standing at the side of the road, gazing at a busy cemented crossroad and predicting what will happen next was an exhaustive 60 seconds. Automobiles of all categories jostled for their right to progress and pushed into each other’s space, irrespective of the consequences. They guessed that reaching that spot first was worth the consequence. This motion was heralded by a symphony of horns of surroundings cars, all reacting to an event that will step into their space. Mingling with machine were the pushcarts and cycles. A few cows adorned the landscape with their divine looks. People were using the zebra crossing, when other crossings failed to deliver. I moved on. The sidewalk was crowded with street commerce. This was commandeered by a breed of people, who stood on their feet for 15 hours, often without a break. Their countenance depicted the level of physical exhaustion. This commerce reduced the walk able space to a single file and often jammed with concluding business dynamics. Everyone bumped their shoulders with everyone. An acceptable situation. There was no time to ponder upon the sidewalk route, its ingress and egress. The human flow of energy, delivered a kinetic punch that just moved people on this conveyor belt, often without their feet touching the ground. Faces looked stressed. Deep furrows on the forehead highlighted thoughts of time and space and its diminishing returns. I moved on. An exit took me by a newspaper vendor, displaying his media on a table. He had the most bored expression one could have and this was a reflection of his content. Repetitive and boring. I read the headline and tried to get back into the single file stream, succeeding with great difficulty. The vendor looked at me and then closed his eyes. I had entered his space and not purchased. He used a small towel to flick the flies and other imagination off the news. He looked busy. I was occupying precious commercial space and he was asking me to move on. I did. A beggar stepped forward from a corner in the wall of the building and caught my gaze. He moved back into his space when he assessed that I was a wandering fool and his space was more precious. The single file stream of side walkers consisted of an oncoming stream as well, that hop stepped ahead sideways to keep moving. All had earplug headphones and some were using them. A cat perched ahead on the battered post box, surveying the chaos that existed. I tried to catch its gaze but since I didn’t look like food, I couldn’t. Dust flew up from stomping feet. A cobbler was looking at these feet, waiting for a sole to dismember. My feet didn’t mark time the same way the crowd did and he looked up at the dissonance. He saw me and grimaced. I moved on. A policeman was trying to stop the crowd from spilling over the sidewalk into the street. He had a difficult task. As I reached him and looked at him, he smiled. He looked like me. Stuck in a space he wouldn’t want to be. I felt sorry for him. I moved on. The hum of the sidewalk mixed into the cacophony of the street and blasted through the headphones to connect with the walkers. It didn’t make any difference. The walkers were sound blasted anyway. The street crossing commenced with a hidden signal that preceded the official one and I was carried across in the stream of human flotsam. Upon crossing I saw a widening in the sidewalk and then a door to a Cafe. I stepped in and with that left the human chain that was moving blindly on. There was no space, so I stepped out and got into the stream. My mobile was vibrating and I tried to take it out of my pocket and put it to my ear, without dropping it. The vibration stopped and I forgot about it. I continued in the energy stream. Someone waved at me, though I didn’t know anyone in this city. I waved back. I didn’t stop. I moved on. Ahead of me was my destination. An office building that I had to get into. I gingerly stepped into the foyer and went to the elevator. An out of order sign made me walk up six flights to my doctor. At the reception I was told there was a two hour delay due to an emergency and I could reschedule. I accepted the option and got back into the lemming-line. Now I didn’t know where I was going. The stream was going straight. So was I. A young man bumped into me. He gave me a dirty look, but didn’t stop. Neither did I. This helped me to understand what was happening. No one had the time to understand the motion. If you could, you were not in motion. Another beggar accosted me.

I laughed loudly and moved on.