I always end up starting late, especially if my destination is real far.! History repeated itself today. Diwali in its glory had taken a toll on everyone’s purses and the maleshwaram street was filled with children, mother’s shouting at their children, husbands waiting anxiously (not letting their anger and irritation get in the way >> after all they are entitled to fill their tummies with sweets ;)).
Well, amidst all the commotion, excitement, happiness, confusion, I slither in my activa. Dodging huge elephant size busses, accelerating not more than 20kmph, witnessed some of the most amusing things ever. Things that happen every day, things we over look. It never seemed this interesting. Thanks to the “diwali traffic” I caught some awesome views.
Three kinds of everyday life people were spotted and examined.
First kind:
I know why children whine while mothers shop, why men act disinterested, why women tend to shop more than their purses can handle, why shop owners act over smart in order to earn a rupee or two. Children seek mother’s attention, mothers seek husband’s attention and wallet, bachelors seek a teenager’s attention, and shop owners target everyone with bulging pockets, and it circles around. Life of a shop owner is no less, his wife constantly checks on him, and her child cries for her.
Second kind:
Old bachelors, old spinsters. Highly stylish, straight back, walks like majesty never existed, looks down at people like they never exist. Bitchy, thinks highly of status, touches things only when examined by their subordinate; hides’ grief, loath, pride behind those expensive ray-ban shades. I wonder, why “such” people walk along the noisy sidewalk of maleshwaram, then it hits me... I over hear one lady conversing with another lady from the first kind. They gossip over how a family life is different from a single life. Each shared experiences, and envied each other. At the end of the day, they realised that their patch of land was not well nourished.
Third kind:
Walk, sleep, talk, eat, socialize, earn on God-made earth, beneath God-made blanket, and man-made pavement cum poverty. We look, pity, throw in some change and walkaway. They cherish the “thrown” change, feed the little ones and fill their tummies if scraps remain. One idli shared by three, one packet of sambar shared by five, every child happy with the “pity cracker” he or she received, yet contented, no pretence, no gossips, none making excuses about life, each morsel eaten like it was a blessing, smiles, love, “woledagli, diwali ya shubhashaya galu” said to every “coin throwing” person.
Oh the hypocrisy we live in..!!!! The 15minute traffic jam through 1st to 8th cross was one turning point I was looking for. The fun and frolic we flaunt is nothing when compared to the fun and frolic the third kind have. Instead of nurturing, feeding, re planting our own livestock, we tend to run in like cows to our neighbour’s. Not preaching here, I realized the difference between the kinds, and the whimsical ways in which the society works. Some extremely fortunate people are blessed with family, someone to get back home to, someone to love them, someone to look up to, someone to keep them secure, warm and ward off evil. Recognise the goodness and happiness is showered from all directions..!
