Pranav was, as always, the last one off the bus. First on in the morning, last off in the evening.

Pranav lived in a very new area of Pune, an area still being developed. His building was by itself, near the mountains, at the end of a winding road. All around it were green, neglected fields. There was a lot to interest Pranav in these fields: birds, insects, even, if you kept your eyes open, small animals, even snakes!

Pranav loved going on rambles through these fields with his father. Those were wonderful hours for him. Unfortunately they were getting rarer. His father was very busy these days and he wasn’t allowed to go by himself.

So Pranav cast a wistful glance at the fields and turned towards the boredom of the colony gate. He said hello to Satish, the watchman, responded half-heartedly to his friendly banter, then, wandered through the compound. There was a garden at the back, a garden with benches for people to sit on and paths for people to walk or jog on, flowers and shrubs and some small trees, small trees hoping to be big some distant day.