I'd love to..

..climb up a tree, find a good branch and hang upside down till my face turns red.

There is a window

There is a wall.

There is a wall between me and a house, with chickens and a mother swatting flies away from her sleeping baby.

This city is full of walls. Full of people who build walls around themselves. Ourselves. We become so safe within those walls. And yet so uncomfortable.

In my work, I get to travel, not just to different parts of my own country and the world, but sometimes, to different parts of this city. I went to Dwarka today and met some young girls who chatted and shared their stories and lives for a few hours.

I stood against the wall, as my team spent three hours asking them about their schools, their families and their lives. We were just visitors. My life in my little south Delhi suburb was so far away. My life was so alien from these people who share this city with me. I felt so far away.

But then I realize something-  there is a window. There is a window through which I can call out and peek and listen and learn.

In this sweltering heat, in this season of irritation, I'm reminding myself to keep reaching out through this window.