Refuge

Golf Green is situated next to City Golf Club. Most, if not all Golf
Green residents are acrobats and gymnasts. These people have been
allotted houses in Golf Green in acknowledgement of their past
performances. It comes as no surprise that the sons and daughters of
the adults who live in Golf Green are budding acrobats and gymnasts.
The climate of this area is so different from the rest of Calcutta. No
matter how hot it is in the other parts of the city, Golf Green is
always pleasant. Come here and experience the soothing breeze that
often blows across. But the monsoons are very bad here. It rains very
heavily and sometimes the whole area is affected. The housing consists
of numerous two storey buildings each of which is occupied by a single
family. Golf Green also has the only television centre in the city. The
centre telecasts various kinds of programmes all over the state. This
is achieved with the aid of a huge television tower that is 150 metres
high. The tower can be seen from Esplanade which is at the centre of
Calcutta. Indeed, when the residents of Golf Green pass the tower on
the way to work or to school they feel proud on seeing the gigantic
metal structure that kisses the skies. The biggest event that is
organized in Golf Green by its residents is the Acrobatics Carnival.
This is meant to showcase the talent of the little gymnasts who are
being groomed for much bigger things. Various factors force the
organizers to hold this gala event in July when it rains the heaviest.
Indeed the participants are busy with official competitions at other
times of the year. It is July now. The annual acrobatics competition
starts in a week. Suddenly, it starts raining. It rains so hard that
everything is blurred. Trees are uprooted, roofs begin to leak, the
soil becomes loose. It seems that the showers will turn everything to
water. For fifteen days the rain falls relentlessly. All houses in Golf
Green are submerged. People climb on to the roofs but the water covers
that area too. For three days there is no sign of life in the locality.
The local MLA decides to conduct a search. Government helicopters are
used to look at the area from the sky. No human beings are found
anywhere. And then, someone looks at the television tower. As the
helicopters move closer to the tower the MLA realizes what had
happened. Only top-class acrobats could do this. People from all over
Golf Green were perched on various parts of the 150 metre high
television tower. The children were sitting on the bottom rungs. The
ladies were at the middle. The men were sitting close to the beacon at
the top. The authorities marvelled at the skill and ability of the
acrobats that enabled them to sit on a huge tower for three days. They
were immediately rescued and taken to safer places.