Walk in the park

Have you ever been stuck in a traffic jam? I don't know about other cities, but I am sure that everyone in Mumbai must have experienced this at some point or the other in their life.

The traffic snarls have become a part of our daily life. Think of it as a big rapacious monster which feeds on your precious time. You can feel its presence when you step out of your home but you never know where or when it will strike. Just the thought of the deadly encounter sends chills down everyone’s spine.

Sometimes you successfully avoid the monster; you feel happy, relieved but still wary of the fact that you can’t delay the inevitable. You know that it is out there, hungry as ever, waiting to pounce when you least expect it.

You feel helpless when it catches you by the throat and sucks the life out of you. Nothing can be done except praying for mercy and trying to survive the ordeal somehow. There are some who try to defy the odds and slay the beast. These are the valiant knights on their powerful horses’ (the bike) and the soldiers on their three legged donkey (the auto rick). They dodge the monster with their nimble movement but all they end up doing is fuel his rage and make everyone’s life even more miserable.

Do you think that the bikes and the auto ricks are the major reason for the choc-a-block traffic woes? Okay, we also have cars which keep on increasing exponentially and there is always the problem of pot holes, construction etc, but there is one segment which we intentionally tend to ignore; we know that they make the problem much worse but we choose to turn a blind eye towards them. They are the “innocent” pedestrians.

Sure, traffic jams are caused due to vehicles, but the people who walk on the street don’t exactly help anyone’s cause. They move around as if they own the road, absolutely oblivious to their surroundings, be it a park or the middle of a busy intersection. Their only objective is to reach their destination, which is the other side of the road. It’s always the drives fault if an accident occurs; the pedestrians are always the innocent souls.

I would like to narrate an incident that occurred the other day; I was on my way to work on an auto rick and was about to reach the train station. The road was straight and clear, there were people waiting on the sidewalk to cross the road but no one was in the middle of the street. Out of nowhere, a middle aged woman jumps in front of the vehicle; the rick driver hit the brakes violently. The lady just raised her arm and made a stop sign as if she stopped the vehicle using her superpower, just like NEO stops the bullets coming towards him in the Matrix. It was absolutely ridiculous, she could have waited for the traffic to ease up and then cross the road but no. I guess she was just standing there, waiting for my rick to approach and thinking, on your marks, get set and GO!

Have you guys come across people like this? I am not sure why people behave this way, all I can say is we should be aware of the risks we pose to ourselves and others while walking on the street. Life is precious; don’t throw it away by being so stupid.

My Valentine

I lose track of time when we are together,
life is great and we like each other.

I can't hear anything other than your sound;
The world is a different place when you are around.

There is nothing better than your voice;
You make me deaf to the outside noise.

We are always together, sitting close to each other.
People look at us with envy, but we can't help this frenzy.

I was devastated when you didn’t wake up the other day,
I rushed to get the USB cable without any delay.

Electricity surged through your body, as I connected you to your guardian.
You came back to life with a flash of light; I smiled thinking of myself as a magician.

I anxiously waited for some time since I wanted you to fully recover.
I was pleased to know that our relationship was not over.

We were back together after the lull;
I rejoiced as you announced "Battery Full".

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus

"Men are from Mars and women are from Venus" she said when I narrated this incident to a friend during a long conversation that we were having. I wonder how many times this line has been used since 1992 when John Gray's book got published.

This was about a months back, I was at the airport, waiting for my brother's flight to land (at least the place looked like an airport this time around. Last I saw this place, it looked more like a train station). I was expecting the place to be crowded and chaotic like always but to my surprise it was well organized. Lots of seating and ample space for people to look through the glass wall and stare at the people inside.

Spare a thought for the innocent people who are traveling though. On their way out, they encounter thousand eyes following their every move. I wonder how this makes the people feel, enter the passage which leads to the exit after endless security checks, and they find a million people waiting outside, staring at them through the looking glass so to speak. But I guess this gives them a rush, searching for their loved ones in the sea of people and hoping to find a familiar face.

It was very late in the night and the temperature was just right. If only I had a blanket and a comfy bed (would have been weird though, if that had happened then I would have been the subject of the stares). I decided to take a walk and see what other people were doing to pass their time since I had nothing better to do and I didn't want to dose off. It didn't occur to me to carry my book along for some odd reason.

So there I was, walking aimlessly accompanied only by the riffs and rolls of heavy metal. During my midnight stroll, I was moving around the waiting area, looking for something interesting, and I needed a place to sit as I was tired from all the walking I had done. Finally, I did notice something interesting and I took a seat opposite a lady.

The lady was sitting on the bench with a small cute looking dog, don't know what kind though since I am not really a dog person (Doesn't really make a difference to me though, at lease I called it cute). Not far from her, I noticed a small girl looking amazed by the creature in front of her. She was holding her father's hand, too afraid to let go or get closer to it and at the same time startled by odd looking thing in front of her. She was jumping up and down with excitement, making cuddly noises. After a while, the kid was taken away by her father who couldn't stop staring at the dog even on her way back.

Sometime later, two little boys entered the frame holding hands. They looked like brothers, the elder one calling the shots and making the younger one follow him. They noticed the dog and were equally surprised by the specimen. The younger kid found the dogs presence intimidating but he didn't back down. He started to make his presence felt by screaming at the dog, he wanted to make his presence felt but was hesitant since the dog as as big was him. With enough encouragement from his brother, he stepped forward to slay the beast so to say. The moment he got closer, the dog gave a snarl out of reflex. The little guy was stunned, but stood his ground. He retreated slowly and walked away.

Later on, the little guy was back, but this time he just came to take a look at the angry beast which defeated him from a safe distance. I decided to get up and resume my walk as the flight had landed and people had started to come out from the exit gate. I found an empty corner and started looking through just like everyone else still wondering about the little boy and girl.

The thing that struck me the most was the difference in behavior between the two. The girl thought that the dog was cute and cuddly but was too afraid to get close to it. The boy, full of courage, wanted to give the dog a whack, though he was unsuccessful in his attempt. This kind of sums up how different Men and Women are, on the one hand we have Women who are characterized by love and affection and on the other hand we have Men who are, well, turned on by violence.

It's amazing how we were all created, the differences are so distinct and so well planned. These characteristics are all embedded within all of us at our genes and they are reflected even at such a young age. This is really how it was all meant to be and little things like this make you appreciate the uniqueness of every individual. Well then, guess even I have to say this, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus.