Sunset - outsourced!

I am sweating now and I can't breathe! You would too, if you see what I have!

My office is on Old Mahabalipuram Road - the road that meant a weekend of fun at Silver Sands Resorts when I was a kid. Now it stands for work. And more work. The road is a potholes haven. And towering IT parks make it as impersonal as ever. The sun bakes the people relentlessly.

The scene that I am about to describe happened at six fourty-five in the evening. As usual, I went to the pantry to pick up a cup of coffee and genially stood in the balcony. The view was breathtaking! Behind our office is a huge, dried up lake that spans acres. And beyond that is the Chennai skyline. Towering over all these was the huge, huge sky. The sun had set but its spirit remained in the form a wide band of crimson set low in the western horizon. Abruptly, like the painting by an impatient kid, the sky was a deep violet above the red. The two colors clashed splendidly, and the whole scene was watched over by the brightest Venus I have ever seen - my favorite object in the sky.

I stood there, drinking it all in with my coffee. I turned around with that stupid grin I have whenever I am pleased stupid and looked at a scene of absolute horror. There were about fifteen men and women there in that balcony, with their coffee and the optional cigarette - and every single one of them was doing something with their phone. A lot of them were talking; some were playing their favorite music (loudly); some were showing their favorite forwards to their friends; and some just held on to their cellphones so as to feel secure. Not one looked out. NOT ONE! But they did look at me - with horror. I had violated the code!

I was close to chocking before I was rushed to my cubicle. The sight of my screen soothed me a bit and the hum of AC brought me back to reality. My manager severely admonished me and asked me to stay away from the sky.

Sunset is something that happens to someone else. In a different land. The sun has no place in this world of steel and silicon. We are safe in our cubicles. If we need the sunset, then we'll outsource it. I had almost become an outcast, trying to enjoy the sunset. Never again! Never ever!

Ting ting.....ting ting.....Ahhhh.....!