The Little One

He was so small. Cannot be more than 6 – 10 months old. Wet, soaked in rain water! Scorpio car’s height is quite a bit for the little one to fall down from. Its light brown skin color now 3 shades darker and eyes shining black. In the middle of the subway, this little one fell down from the top of a black scorpio car standing ahead of me in the jam.

It almost looked like I was the only one who noticed his slip. I wondered what he was doing on top of the car? A lizard on a car … not something that we expect to see. And now in the middle of the subway that is jammed with vehicles; wheels and tyres of all sizes will soon start moving zig-zag to be the first to get out of the chaos. He was still motionless. He was just about a foot and half from my Activa’s front wheel. It was raining mildly. I could understand that he wasn’t able to move. One reason being the new surface that was so watery and the other being the shock and impact of the fall.

I peeped to notice that the signal will remain red for another 30 seconds. Will this little one recoup by then? Even if he does, will he survive the wheels? Left or right, he had at least 10 feet to run before he reached safety. Is he capable of making all this calculation or is he still in shock? Is he feeling lost, away from his cosy home?

He probably lived in a big house. The owner has a scorpio! May be some house with many rooms, big kitchen and huge lofts. Many flowing curtains and enough wall furniture and fixtures for him to find warmth. He probably just broke the rules and wandered into the car shed? May be the silvery-white car cover impressed him and he wanted to give it a try. He must have missed the conversation about the family eat-out plan! The driver must have removed the cover with a negligent sway and luckily the little one must have found his balance and clung on to the side of the car. A car is surely a new hide-out for this little one. He couldn’t have known that this is not a good place to live because of the hot engine and rolling tyres. When have the little ones listened to the seniors?

He must have again had two options. Direction 1 or direction 2. One would have taken him closer to the floor and he could have easily marched to safety. He clearly chose the other to land at the top of the car. The engine must have been switched on, the entire family would have rushed in shaking the whole car and needing the little one to keep his grip steady on the soft curves of the car. Zoooop. Now on the roads! Never would he have thought of such speeds. 60 km/hour with no protection and losing grip. It must have felt like a nightmare! But then, little one, you strayed to adventure and so you got your full share! May be!

Big cars hate big jams. Big car drivers hate small cars/bikes in big jams! We were all moving by inches and this driver got really irritated and hit the brake hard when he had to stop. Thlup! This little one fell down and became a part of my life. Feeling lost, away from his cosy home.

The signal is almost green, in 3 seconds it is get-set-go! I waited for the traffic to my right to clear so that I don’t decide the little one’s destiny. He was still immobile. I told myself that I will move to the right and keep going. I don’t have to look back to see what happens to him. As destined.

I moved right and ahead and turned back to see a motorist travel on the line where the little one was lying still. I blinked to keep the rain water away from my eyes and found him gone. The bike just rode past me.

He probably suffered a run-over and got smashed against the front/back wheel and now stuck to the tyre with his limbs extended and he dead! Life’s over even before he lived it full.

It could have also been that he managed to make a knick of the moment leap and got into the insides of the bike’s wheel. He would have found the surface less smooth and easier to grip. It would have been a roller coaster till the motorist reached his home and switched off the engine. After a while, he would have got off the wheel, slowly travelled through the wet park area floor and reached the safety of the walls. He would have entered the house through the small gap in the window. Pink paint, lot of unclosed shelves, kitchen to the right with lot of things in the loft, two school going kids and so lot of books. But no curtains L Wish you a happy life in your new home, little one!

Be willing to be a student sometimes!

It has taken me a year to fill my blog with something. A year. I don’t believe it! The car-ride experience from Kodaikanal to Chennai and all the related affairs are still so fresh in my mind. The year has surely passed fast. Good. Very good!

Work has been at top priority, after family and near-dear ones, of course.

I just read a friend’s status quote which says, “Be willing to be a student sometimes!”. Not a perfectly structured line, I would say, “Sometimes, be willing to be a student!”.

But the message is much more important. Sentence structuring and word usage, for most of us, ended in school. Then on, the emphasis has been more on the message/stuff than the words.

In all this, have most of us forgotten how to express?

Have words lost their value?

“Thanks” “Sorry” “I Love You” “Miss You” – these words have long lost their true meaning. The words now no longer seem to carry the expression. They come so much from the tip of the tongue than from the depth of the heart, so much that it has become increasingly difficult to trust that someone really loves us or is thankful to us or is sorry about what happened or misses us.

This makes the world an all the more easy place to live for the men around me. Since these words have no credence, our folks are spared from using them and expressing themselves. Do they still know that the woman inside the lady would still want to hear these words? Nay!

Do we know to use words to appreciate other’s efforts? At home or work? We seem to be more worried about the other person’s ego getting boosted with our appreciation than valuing the human in him/her and adding to their goodness for the day. But then, do we stop ourselves from pointing the not-so-nice? :) hehe!

Some of my friends tease me for using words like amazing, perfect, great, awesome, lovely, fantastic, wow, nice. I am absolutely sure they are just pulling my leg for this is not how many of us express; and for the non-Indian customer base for whom I work and from whom I pick such adjectives. But I like these words. They carry so much positive energy. So much that it adds enthusiasm not only to the receiver and listeners, but to the speaker too. I love these words :)

So to see, words have not died, the good ones have faded with time.

Have actions also died down?

How many of us hug our friends? How many of us shake hands everyday with our colleagues? (In my previous workplace, we were 5 friends – 2 guys and 3 girls and each day all of us shook hands when we met each other for the first time in the day. This act did not seem to bear much importance while we did. There were others who thought it funny and unnecessary. But who cared? Today, now in my current workplace, I miss this contact. A simple hand shake confirmed the relationship and re-established everyday that we are going to work together and solve all problems hand-in-hand. It reduced stress. I miss you, guys! It will be great to work with you all again, any day!).

Do we all hug our family members before we leave for office each day and after we return home? How many of us make eye contact with our partners (whatever be the status of the relationship) to tell them that they add value to our lives?

When was the last time we told our mother about the wonderful pongal-chutney-kesari that she makes? Do we look back at our lives and appreciate our parents for their contribution to our present? Does your little one know that you admire her/him when she/he is fast asleep?

Time of Assumptions!

Today is a time where assumptions rule higher than expression. I of course love you otherwise why would I be doing this? Of course I like what you make, why else do I eat so much? Of course you are good to work with, otherwise I would have shifted team long back.

I wonder, is it only me who thinks – probably the person is clinging on for comfort reasons? Probably eating what I make since it works out cheaper? Works with me only coz others are little more difficult. I hope and really hope I am not the only person under the big Sun who needs words and actions and expressions.

I don’t much understand why expressions are kept a secret. While I understand things like “if everything is said, then nothing remains.” Right. But that’s for those to worry who come even somewhere close to “everything”. Most of us are now at level “nothing”. :)

We are living in a world of men and women; where men understand only action; express only through actions and see through their eyes, whereas women want to say it all, hear it all and see through their minds. Will the balancing happen or is this something that my 3 gen-next will also write about? Or would words, actions and expression be extinct and relate to history and be called historical terminologies?