The new house in Madipakkam has two floors. Its elevation provides for a different view of the area around the house than I am used to. Here are some observations from an evening on the terrace.
There are many cellphone towers built on top of buildings in the neighborhood around us. You can see a worker coming down from the top of this particular tower across the street. I actually saw him at the top, but was not quick enough with my camera to take his picture while he was there.
The traffic on the main road in front of the house is a disorderly mess. I am getting better and better at figuring out how to cross roads like this on foot. You will notice that there are two-wheelers on both sides of the white car in this picture. One of them is parked.
On top of the building in front of the house you can see a few, small, one-room shacks that that have been added on, perhaps illegally. I suspect that these are rented. There must be at least four units in the picture below. These are probably occupied by young people who have come to the city to work. This is all they can afford under the circumstances, and it is in all likelihood better accommodation than some others on the street.
The little home captured in the picture below sits on top of another building next to the house. It is located next to, and just below, a couple of cellphone towers built on top of the same building. The clothing hangs out to dry next to the structures. I hate to think of the radiation that one is exposed to on a continuous basis under the towers. People living there are probably unaware of this. Even if they were, the decision to live here might be considered a difficult choice between two bad alternatives – affordable housing vs. long term health.
The occasional bird flew across the sky high above me as I stood on the terrace. Sometimes it was a group of birds that I observed headed in what looked like a random direction, seemingly with a sense of purpose.
An egret settled down on a coconut tree close to the level of the terrace I was on. It observed the human being pacing back and forth on the terrace for a while and then moved on.
Meanwhile, the the sun began its descent behind the buildings of Madipakkam at the end of yet another Chennai evening.
The cycle will continue.
Splattered Brains 