Living in a Ghost Town! Dark, Cloudy & Scary in this ‘Ghost Town’ during Lockdown at 6 pm
Mangaluru: Quoting a few lyrics from ‘Living In A Ghost Town’ by The Rolling Stones-“Living in a ghost town. Life was so beautiful. Once this place was humming. And the air was full of drumming, Nobody was caring if it’s day or night, Then we all got locked down, Feel like a ghost-Living in a ghost town”- and this is exactly what it feels like living in this beautiful Coastal Town now, which has turned into a “GHOST TOWN’ during ‘LOCKDOWN’.
It was between 5.30 pm -6 pm on a Sunday evening of 26 April, when the beautiful bright skies turned quickly into dark and cloudy skies, and it felt little scary when you looked outside when hardly anyone could be seen moving around, completely different from what this Town looked in the month of February 2020, buzzing with people enjoying the Sunday evening walking, jogging or spending shopping or socializing- but this Sunday evening was total Scary amidst the dark clouds showing signs of rains to follow.
I wanted to capture some images of how the City looked on an evening at around 6 pm, filled with cloudy skies, prior to rainfall. Got on my two-wheeler, wore my rain jacket, and rode down the City peacefully with no hustle and bustle of traffic or crowded pedestrians- this Smart City looked like a ‘Ghost Town’ and Scary during this Covid-19 lockdown. Suddenly it started to pour. Within moments, the entire place came into the grasp of darkness and the black clouds began to roar. Even the sun seemed too scared to wait for the moon to appear and the hid before its time.
I found myself being the only rider along the lonely wet streets of the City. But I wasn’t alone. I was accompanied by the stormy winds, bright lightning and the rain that lasted only for some time. I remembered, during my younger days, I used to welcome rain and even waited for the thunderstorm. I would intentionally make myself wet and used to enjoy the wet breeze passing by. But today, neither was I enjoying nor did I have any wish to get myself wet, because the situation of this Education Hub, was different and I was not in a mood to enjoy the rainfall.
The heavy raindrops appeared like sharp spears dropping down from the sky and penetrating towards the earth. The furious wind, on the other hand, seemed to hit hard on my jacket and helmet. I kind of felt helpless and trapped in the middle of a catastrophe. If only I could learn how to forecast the weather, I wouldn’t have come out of the house, in such cloudy weather. But I took the challenge and faced the wrath of this stormy and windy weather. I could see Good Samaritans feeding the homeless, and also saw few other homeless and migrants running to find a shelter to keep them dry from the rain. Even the cops on duty to crack down on violators of lockdown were seen taking shelter under the roof of the shops, during which a few lucky violators were seen zooming by getting caught by these cops.
The rain seemed to stop suddenly. But it was a different kind of experience that I encountered on a cloudy and rainy day, in a town which was once buzzing with activities and stormed with people and vehicles, but seemed like a ‘Ghost Town’ during the lockdown- and I will cherish this memorable experience, which may not come again. I end my article with the song “Living In A Ghost Town” on Youtube by ‘The Rolling Stones’- of their a new lockdown theme:
