Travalogue – III - Between they and us

Its Share Auto time again.

 I was on my way to visit one of my relatives who was ill. With the sweet memories of our childhood together I was reluctant to the conversations happening in the auto.

The auto jolted to a quick halt as the sudden gush of wind blew the Dhupatta of the girl seated next to the window. Thanks to the evening breeze, that helps Chennaites survive despite the hot climate. Several stories sprung up with that one incident among the on lookers. The girl felt relieved as she got down at the next stop.

The driver had still more stories to relate,  though,  the girl left. After 2 km, a man in his late 50’s got inside the auto. His old leather bag, leather watch, balded head, sweat on his forehead, big belly and the stitched chappals (yes, the one that has survived till now starting early 70’s) depicted how hard is life on him. Still he carried one inevitable modern element, the mobile phone, safely wrapped in a plastic pouch and kept in his shirt pocket. To him mobile meant phone and not the smart one perhaps.

It appeared as if he wanted to start a conversation but none was there to accompany. The blank expression I carried didn’t help him to proceed one with me. All other in the auto was already engrossed in their android world.

The man was seated opposite to a young girl of mid 20’s. With every beep in her mobile she typed with lightning speed a message that could easily be of 5 lines in length. The speed and the silent conversation with her virtual partner aroused the complete curiosity of the elderly man.

“Are your fingers not getting hurt?” – All androidians lifted their faces to find out who is being questioned. The man looked at the young girl feeling assured of his age. She quickly dispatched a “No”. Little offended he did continue.

“I’m seeing you typing with only with one hand and with the head bent. Is it not causing strain on your neck and finger joints?” Again the girl responded a quick “No”.  He continued, “Please do not mistake me. I have a daughter of your age. She too handles the mobile like you and of course; she too disposes my questions like you.  Are you people not concerned about your posture or the strain caused to your eyes? I see people nowadays have a lot to communicate non-verbally and virtually. Sorry if my question has irritated you”. The girl was least bothered on the lengthy explanation. She gave him a smile and said “It’s OK” – the longest possible reply she could ever give.

Her short reply offended him more I thought. He then continued expressing his views on the use of mobile phones irrespective of who listened to him.

I really felt sorry for him and understood his inability to cope up with the younger generation. Never would he have thought that technology will become a compulsory part of day to day life. He also mentioned how he has become dependent on others for using the mobile phone for other services.

While he would be the same person, to be happy and proud when his grand children are at ease with the latest gadgets, he again is a victim to the ‘generation gap due to technology’. It looked as if all his other abilities did not matter much to him when compared to his adaptability to the latest trends. What would have been solely on his shoulders like ticket booking, grocery shopping, innumerable walking to the nearby by bank etc are today replaced with a single click in a hand held device.  Also having a daughter in mid 20’s, as a concerned father, he is unsure to determine, that the need for her to talk and message endlessly, is never at the cost of her safety.

This incident kindled the following thought in me…

 “People like him are like toddlers who walk for the first time. Toddlers do fall but are helped by their parents to learn and enjoy what it is to walk. Similarly, today’s younger generation has the responsibility to make these elderly toddlers comfortable and walk along with them. That too when India wants to become "Digital India". After all charity begins at home". 

Do you agree?

Travelogue – II – Connecting with Nature

I was traveling to Mysore for the fourth time. A most welcomed trip that helped me escape from hot Chennai. Certainly a different trip, not considering the number but based on my availability to other chores of life apart from official work. 

Window seat continues to fascinate me despite the world racing digital. I had more interesting stuff to look past the clear window of Shatbadi than digging my selves into the palm held mobile. 

Loving thoughts of my first time travel, rather our first time travel (me and hubby) to Mysore re-kindled joy in my mind. I laughed at my own innocence and awe I carried that time. 

I was carried away by the serene beauty of nature (thanks to Chennai, Mysore route) that ran across the windows just like a fast moving motion picture. Trees, clouds, rocks, hills and sudden drizzles that failed to touch me through the window glasses, farm lands, cattles... the list swelled that put me in a dreamy world. 

What does it take to dream? This question crossed my mind as I got lost in nature’s beauty.  Do dreams require a problem free mind? A happy mood? An incident that we really relished? Or meeting someone close to our heart? A childlike attitude? Or is it really that I needed an interesting stuff to post in F.B. - as simple as that?

Sudden call of the helper aroused me from the dreamy world to have my breakfast. I thanked him, helped my mother-in law-to settle with the servings, engaged myself in the break fast conversation with her and happened to see the children playing the coach. 

A loud mobile conversation from a lady behind attracted each one’s ears in the coach. She sounded enthusiastic and spoke about her personality, may be to one of her close friends. She said she is a person who would like to have few intimate friends and the rest a touch and go relation. But it always looked as if she were treating every one so close which is false and that she prefers having her head phones on ears than listening to the bla… bla… bla… of the unknown person next to her.  Big laughter blasts and giggles followed that irritated many elders in the coach. Undoubtedly those elders had limitations on the decibel and the frequency of the laughter and they felt helpless in controlling the same. 

There was complete silence after the call. I happened to see that lady on my way to wash room, carefully painting her finger nails. Her face turned towards me as she finished her painting. I was sure that I could never be in her “touch and go” friends list even as she gauged me in my traditional attire. Sensing this we both reserved our smiles. 

I returned to my seat and put my selves back to the dreamy world. The train came to a halt with a strong jerk, for want of signal. It was stopped on the track above a shallow basin kind of field which should have once been full of water, but now covered with grass. Nevertheless, it had not lost its beauty. There were bushes and shrubs surrounding its bank. In the middle stood a solo tree, very rich in age and its growth. The recent drizzle had washed away the dirt making its barks and leaves look fresh.

I wanted not to end the dream and walked to the left extreme door of the coach that had very few occupants unlike the right extreme. I glimpsed at the tree and could feel the cool breeze that attempted to dry its drenched leaves. With a swift gush, the breeze turned into wind. The solo tree stretched its barks and leaves towards the coach, in the direction of the wind. It was a strange sight for me as if the tree wanted to share something.  Couple of co-passengers were discussing that it might take another half an hour for the go ahead signal. I was happy on hearing that and continued to look at the tree. 

There emerged a beautiful dance from the tree…bending its barks and swaying in the wind. It reached high to touch the sky and then back to earth. The stretching continued, but the tree could grab or do nothing and it continued to dance. Dancing in pain and laughter. 

For a moment I looked at the place surrounding the tree. 

The tree was accompanied by bushes, empty nests, grasses and rocks that lacked some commonality, needed for the tree to relate. The tree should have been a witness to many such train halts and the happy and sad stories spoken in the coaches. It should have been the silent spectator for generations across, preserving many untold stories about the changes in the environment, on what happened to the birds that lived on it, about its shed leaves, about the reptiles that crept on it, about the moving clouds and rare human visitors. It occurred to me that the tree was not “simply” swaying but was “yearning for a listener”. 

With a distant horn the train started moving. The tree’s barks mustered strength to touch the coach as it felt that there would be no second chance to share the secrets, but in vain. I was continuously observing the tree till it vanished from my eyes. 

With a heavy heart,I was reminded of a story that I read when I was 16. “Time stops at Shamli” by Ruskin bond. It is the story of a lonely station that very rarely attracts visitors. One day when his train stopped there he decides to take a walk wondering on what the few visitors would have to do at the station. But unexpectedly he would meet his first and only lover there. Amidst rains they would share many stories. When the time of departure comes, both would realize that they cannot be united again which is the reality. Both would have many “yet to be spoken stories”, but have to depart accepting the truth. Likewise, the tree, though not my lover, had to be left with none to share its secrets.

So what all these have to got to do with my question on dreams? 

I realized that a deep sense of observation makes you dream, opening up the gates of connectedness, that is divine. It makes you lose all your identities (unlike the occasion where that lady and me reserved smiles, holding onto our identities) as human or non-human, living or non-living like or dislike etc. If someone would bet me if the tree really “yearned”, my answer would be ‘YES’. Adding to it, I feel, the tree could still speak to me and share and vice versa, if I could again go back into the connected dreamy state, wherever I’m, which is the very essence of creation. I now pray the Lord to help me “dream” to hear the secrets of the universe.

See you all in travelogue III. Till then happy journey and happy dreaming.

Travalogue - I - Journey to Office

I have thought of  writing travelogue series based on the experiences I get during my travel to any place. Starting here are the couple of posts. Welcome your inputs! Happy reading...:) 

“Does this stop at Sholinganallur signal?”

A total of 10 pair of ears, including the driver’s was hit by the question that came from a Malayalee who managed to stop our already overloaded auto.

We all grew restless and I my first day of travel via share auto, to my office in the outskirts of the city, reminded me the slogan ‘Incredible India’.

The driver managed to accommodate the new entrant, by making him seat next to him, on his left. In the process, he not only squeezed the little fat one on his right,but also moved to the tip of the seat, as if the next move would only make him fall down,leaving us to drive the auto. Irritated, the fat boy was about to get off the auto when the driver’s words “Anna, innum oru stop dan anna… ivanga erangiduvanga…” could not be understood by him and he asked “Kya?”. So I took up the responsibility of the translator with my weak Hindi knowledge.

The auto continued its journey, by turning a deaf ear to others in the subsequent stops. Various types of deos and dust queued up at my nostrils. I started sneezing  heavily and continuously. It resulted in various murmurs and expression on the co-passengers’ faces. They started looking at me like a “species”.

After 15 numbers,I could open my mouth to say them all Sorry. My apology was not heard in the speeding auto. In the meantime, the auto driver started playing a song from old tamil movie that came in the 60’s. So jarring it was that one could hardly hear the mobiles ringing.

Before the next stop came, the little boy seated next to me jumped across my head. The auto driver almost tilted the auto to 45 degrees, making it run on single wheel. For many reasons my mind picked up the rhymes, “Humpty Dumpty Sat on a wall” from memory. With a slight hit on my forehead the auto was put back on track.

Oh God! I wanted to get down from the auto for sure. But I was already running late and as a new joiner I cannot afford to lose more time. I still had 5 more stops to go as I got to know from others.

The auto this time was stopped by a lady with a big bamboo basket. The basket was empty but very stinky. I was afraid if she would sit in the empty seat next to me. Luckily, the auto driver asked her to occupy the far end of the auto at the back. We all closed our noses and one girl even took her perfume out and sprayed again on her.

But I didn’t fail to notice the auto driver. With every stop, tirelessly, he was requesting the passengers to re-arrange themselves comfortably. His quick calculations for rendering change,his spirit while greeting the other auto drivers on the way were amazing. There were couple of parcels handed over to him in the next stop by one of his relatives as he called the one standing on the road as “Anna”. By the time the lady with the stinking basket(later I understood it’s a emptied fish basket) got down and we all sighed a relief. I asked the auto driver what time we would reach the stop I meant to. He said exactly 7 minutes.

Unfortunately, when the auto started moving there was a small accident before our auto. The girl who fell from her two wheeler was bleeding. I could hear so many voices pitying her. Our auto driver suddenly turned into a hero. Swiftly he pulled an box like arrangement from the roof of the auto and handed over the first aid box to the girl. He accepted her thanks gracefully and exactly on the 7^th minute I was in my stop. I gave a smile to the auto driver and handed over him the change.

Though I rushed, I was 15 minutes late to the office. My freshers training session had started with other colleagues giving a triumphant look for their early arrival.I had to be seated in the first row as every other was occupied. It was a day long session with the HR briefing and trainees were encouraged to share their opinions and feedback at the end.

The psychology to call people seated in the front got applied to me as well. I was called to speak on a topic of management, as I’m a B School student. Now it’s my turn to look triumphant. I spoke on “Management on wheels”. All that you all read till now became the subject of sharing. I felt at peace with the loud applaud of audience as I co-related all the incidents with Relationship management, Time management, Perseverance, Pro-active approach, tolerance etc etc. Thanks to the auto driver and my first real time management Guru.

Smile.