Behind the scenes

We usually know very little of our homes, before it became our homes. A great many people come together with their thoughts and efforts to build this reality for us. And they'll always remain behind the scenes. It's hard to appreciate their toil, when we cannot put names or faces to them. It's something akin to not being able to appreciate the efforts that has gone into making the food that comes to our table. We cannot go far beyond the aisle in the grocery store we picked it up from or the image on the app we order it from these days.

Even when I do visit construction sites, I barely notice them. Covered in cement and dust all day long, they are just a small part of the larger grey tapestry. I only need to focus on what I can bring forth. I have noticed, we are all a bit reluctant to meet each other's eye. For me, I feel it's the guilt that the hard manual labor has fell in their lot than mine, for whatever mysterious reasons the universe has. So I go about redirecting my gaze elsewhere. I wonder what they think of me or my detached demeanor.

Even if it's misplaced curiosity, I find myself spotting all these interesting juxtapositions here. A blue ladder, a green coat of something on the walls, a block of wood put together as a temporary switchboard, a flash of a rani pink saree, but the golden hour remains my favorite. There is always a mood of bustle and transience, chaos and commotion - but it is all part of the process in creating something permanent and stable for us.