stalemate

Watching a fisher women in rear view mirror, balancing her large aluminium basket on her head, with a cat keeping pace with her, darting under cars. They passed by and the cat made a turn to a lane ahead of her, tail up, knowing that is where she was going to go, or making a turn towards his house. We said he is escorting her and corrected that he is a pilot, not escort. Later she came out of the lane, without the pilot.

Idyllic weekend morning, breakfast of puttu and kadala at Paragon. City's running club members behind us, in running or cycling attires. A middle aged couple in front of us taking photos of everything and themselves, all the time scrolling on phone that is kept on a stand on the table. Thoughtful staff who suggested we take half dishes, some four people served us different things, made me wonder about their system which keeps track irrespective of who takes orders or serves.

Going home and hearing amma playfully haggling with another fisher woman, that she got her basic addition wrong. She wanted to see me, to see the son who was mentioned often but never there when she comes, smiling widely showing her braces.

Playing with Brownie till he ran out to play with the kids, sleeping on the couch for an hour, in spite of the noise around.

Getting scared a bit, thinking about what might have happened, having emotions which are not normally there, still seeing myself from outside like an out of body experience going through the motions, filing a missing person complaint with the police who explained their process and assuring of support, thinking what to do next, finding the missing person just afterwards alighting from an auto in front of us, trying to retract the complaint which is a bit too late now to be taken lightly.

Watching "my team" get hopelessly beaten, thinking about the decline, lack of passion or pride, a team in disarray. Watching another one of whom I am a "well wisher" fight, but being held to a draw.

It is a stalemate kind of day.