Hullo Carols

In 2015 we knew each other. Never said Hullos. Something like that was running in the mind of the Old Lady as she walked Karuna Road with an air conditioned breeze blowing. Yes, the morning seemed air conditioned at around 20 degrees. She liked it. A grin on her face. When she spotted a rubber ball, rolling the breeze, on the road. None around. No kids in schools or at homes. Where have they gone? the Old Lady wondered. She picked up the rubber ball; it was a coloured ball and in good health; she tapped the ball on the road like when she was also a little girl like Shreya and Chiyu; and when she had friends, boys and girls; and she had a school; had parents who said Hullo to all. Her old friend an Old Man stuttered along Karuna Road, in his walk. Their names they did not know; but they said Hullo; they got into a game of catch the ball; the bats resting upside down on rain trees, stood downside up. Magpie robins sat still. They had not seen for a long time an Old  Lady and an Old Man play ball, and bats should know, flying hard and high every night. Their legs felt rubbery; the two, the Old Lady and the Old Man, rested on the footpath; the Lady kept the ball in her purse and both walked to Bhagwan and his tea shop, for tea and fresh pav; they said Hullo to Bhagwan and the two poor families near the shop; they bought pavs while Bhagwan served free tea to them; they did mostly, not always. In a fun-burst, the two stood up, held hands, went round and round in a merry dance with the bare children of the two families at the centre; they danced till they became flat tyres; none played with the poor children except the Old Lady and the Old Man; the Old Lady took out the coloured ball from her purse and started a second game of road cricket; from somewhere popped an old bat with a handle and no blade; no selfies, no mobiles; the Old Lady and the Old Man did not own mobiles or ipads; no idea of there being an Idea; 'Pagal buddi and budda,' guffaed a few morning walkers. That made the Old Lady and the Old Man belly laugh more; and this morning, a few young out of Christmas Mass at the Church joined the game and dance; Bhagwan enjoyed the funspot; from them he picked up Hullos to share with his customers without asking their names; you dont hate when you say Hullo, he thought; you smile, when you say Hullo; his tea shop had not gone live for years; that day he did not charge anyone any; Hullos softed the air. Then ballooned, a traffic jam of cars, buses, two wheelers...they watched, tapped their feet, clapped their hands, joined the merry Old Lady and Old Man; they did not know each other; they exchanged Hullo Carols as 2015 turned the corner to let in 2016:

Up and above we may be,
Let's say Hullo;
Down and out we may be,
Let's say Hullo;
No need to bellow,
Sufficient, a soft Hullo.