Changing face of the city. The streets actually.

This happened a couple of days ago. It is 8PM and I am on my way home from work. I am on
the road that runs around the Loyola college campus - the straight section on to which the front gates of the college lead. I am driving slowly as I am trying to extract the maximum FE (Fuel Efficiency) out of my car.

An experiment that I started a couple of months ago and which has been yielding splendid results. From the normal 12kmpl, I have managed to up the FE to 14kmpl, which is not bad
for a 1-ton car with a 1.6l engine having 91 horses under the hood. Ofcourse, it takes lot of
self-restraint to avoid hitting the A-pedal and to putter around town at a very sedate 40-45 kmph.

This particular road has a well designed raised footpath for pedestrians, unlike most of the
other roads in the city. Some 100 metres in front of me, I can see a girl/woman walking along. She is wearing a knee-length tight denim pant and a matching tight top. The dress is a good fit for her slender figure. Since this is near the college campus, it is not an odd sight because there always are good-looking girls in the vicinty of colleges. Only odd thing that registers in my mind is the wee extra bit of sway of the hips. Hmm.

As I pass her, curiousity gets the better of me and my head turns briefly to the left to get a glimpse of her face. Looks pretty too, I say to myself. I notice that she also looks at me, which might be just a coincidence, except for the fact that her gaze lingers on me for more than a cursory glance. Hmm.

I drive on only to be interrupted by my cellphone ringing. Since I don't have the handsfree
with me in the car, I pull over to the side and take the call. It is my younger sister calling up
to talk about her daughter Ann's birthday that is coming up.

As we are talking, the girl has by now walked up to where I am parked. As she nears my car,
she again looks into the car at me and then steps down onto the road from the footpath in front of the car. All this time she is looking at me. I return the look even while talking on the phone. The girl continues walking on the road.

Now this is no cursory look. And however much I love my car, I know that it does not have
the snob value of a Merc for a girl to admire either the car or its owner. I was able to see her
face clearly this time around and she definitely cannot be called a girl. Woman would be more like it. Early thirties, but the face looks kinda aged.

By this time, my mind has completed analysing all the data and arrived at a conclusion. The uninhibited stare is typical of the streetwalkers that have become a common sight in Chennai over the past year or so. Open solicitation on the streets that make you wonder how they can
get away with it inspite of the cops being all over the place. So different from even few years
ago when it would be tough to spot even one streetwalker.

And due to some strange reason, the whole "Nungambakkam High Road - Sterling Road -
Loyola College road" stretch is a favourite with streetwalkers. You can see them standing by
the side of the road and talking on their mobiles, while their eyes are on the lookout for cars
that pass by - prospective customers. Or they would just cross the road to attract attention.

And for the benefit of those that stumble upon them, a small note of warning. Not all these are 'women', if you get my drift. Some of them are transgenders who look exactly like women in looks, body structure etc and getting fooled would be easy.

So, don't say that I did not warn you. That is, unless they are your type. :-)