The Guard

He stands all alone in the middle of the night.

He has drawn the graveyard shift.

 A young lad of 20 years, fair skinned from east or north-east India , a grey and blue uniform with a broad belt, black boots and a 4 ft  ‘lathi’ to protect himself and the whole society ! and protect all of us from thieves and robbers, rodents and snakes. And ghosts and vampires as well.

 His beat is from STP to Children’s play area and his home base - the small patch of grass in front of the DG sets!

Has anyone seen him? Not sure, but many  would have noticed a thin, five and a half feet apparition blending amongst the half grown trees and full grown bushes in front of flat 4005.

Question: If I were to command you to stand from 8 in the night to 8 the morning, all alone, without your smart phone, without your iPod, and even without a torch in this area, how would you feel? 

And if you had to do this 7 days at a stretch in December or in May, guess what will become of you  ??

Folks, that is the life of Sobha Palladian security guards !!

The fresh recruits directly imported from Orissa and Assam are given basic training and put into shifts on rotation. The grave yard shifts near the STP - the toughest spot with no proper lighting and shelter. 

And they brave the foul weather, the sweltering summer heat, the chilly winter winds, the gloomy monsoon drizzle or just pitch dark moonless ghostly Amavasya nights !! 

And they have to stand all alone gazing at the darkness.

Recently during one of my morning walks I directly approached this lonesome chap at the STP area. He is sitting on a cement bench, and as he sees me, he quickly stands up shuffling his feet. A mixture of confusion spreads over his face - should he salute? or say a greeting??  or stand in attention? or just turn around and scram?? 

But for now he just stands still with a perplexed expression – like a nilgai hit by a powerful search light beam in the middle of the night !

And as I get nearer, I smile, wave my hand and brightly say Good morning , Namashkaar !  He visibly relaxes and mumbles something.

Kaisey Ho ??  Kuch chai vaghera piya ??  Shift kab khatam ho raha hai ??

And the next day as I walk around the bend, he jumps up to full attention and smartly salutes me,  ‘Good Moring Sir ‘  with a bright smile !!

And that made my day!!

Krish..