That Night

I reached at 2100hrs, after braving the darkened bylanes of Matheran, at the Sarasvati Vidya Mandir school. The old gate, the heavily wooded grounds, the climbing pathway, they all made me feel like I was entering some mysterious old castle rather than a school. In the diminutive light of my torch I climbed up as fast as my quirky knee would allow. As I reached the top, the sight of light put some heart in me. There was a single naked light bulb lighting the school varandha.

I called up. No answer. There was no one there. Like a moth, I squatted underneath that light. Outside was pitch darkness and weird noises. The funny part was there was no cell network under the light, but as soon as I walked into the darkened far corner and into the weird noisy night, the cell showed a bar. I sms'd a few who I assumed to be near. One never really knows. I waited for half an hour twiddling my thumbs and getting more and more restive ... then I unpacked the camera and the tripod and clicked a few. The one above is one of the school buildings. I could barely see it to focus.