Guest Post

This time, from my father.. for the record, Buro refers to me. The signature file alluded to is:
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If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men
believe and adore and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the
city of God!
- Emerson
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The signature in Buro's mail on the "City of God" suddenly conjured up an image.. the milky way seen from a close distance , nothing less! And I remembered having seen that! It happened when I was taking a night flight.. perhaps to Hyderabad via Bhuvaneswar. As the plane approached BBSR and was banking to align itself with the runway, the city gradually slid under the wing. Even before that point, the city looked like an extended glow of coloured lights .. an almost linear glow. Fat in the middle. Almost suddenly it widened, and tilted; the far side rising to the sky .. a wide table of light, with a dark sinuous band of darkness in the middle. The table of light showed like a wide expanse of glittering jewels white, yellowish and red. But the most beautiful ones were green .. yes greenish blue. On the ground I have never noticed that some lights can look greenish blue; but from the window-seat in a plane some lights did appear greenish blue and most alluring.

It took me a few seconds to realize that the dark band was a river. The plane has come lower, and the table was tilting and becoming horizontal. As we passed over the river, the banks were marked by a few scattered lights, mostly yellowish white. In the isolated huts the dim glow of (Kerosene) lamps . The plane was coming lower still.and suddenly we pass over a part of the city. It was between 9 and 10PM. Some roads , I could see with isolated street lights; a poor affair of naked electric bulbs dripping a small pool of yellowish light on the solitary road. A few houses with compound wall- a lamp "diya" burning, and in the centre of the court yard perhaps a "tulsi"? The verandah lit by a frugal bulb. Earthern courtyard. Nobody, absolutely nobody can be seen anywhere. All the roads are deserted, all houses seem deserted, except that some ray of dim light comes out of some windows or doors. The scene too quickly pass below the wings allowing only a fleeting impression. You feel like a nocturnal bird flying over a sleeping town and looking for people, and they do not bother about you.

The roads quickly pass at an angle below and out of attention. The wing, now dimly seen against the brighter lights of a more crowded part of the city. The flashing red lights at the edge of the wing appear harsh. A broad avenue with more street lights? Perhaps halogen lights brighter with wider pools on the road. Cars with white beams in front and red glow at the back, slowly moving up. Look like ants, no not ants , rather small boxes with headlights. A crowded crossing looms up, and quickly passes down and on the other side. The most interesting aspect is that the city is so silent. We perhaps come lower, and now the roads pass very quickly, and at an angle . I see some people walking , nobody looks up at me. Am I a ghost? Noticed by none? Is it how it will feel AFTERWARDS ? Is it how the magic seen from a distance vanishes and becomes earthy grimy reality.? But for the first one minute or so, that broad tilting sheet of necklace - like jewel-studded tapestry the city of man that looks like the city of God up in the sky.