The Animal in Us!

I was having coffee at the Cafe Coffee Day outlet on 100 feet road with Pradeep, a friend of mine. It was supposed to be a quiet evening in Bangalore for me after a busy 10 days of travel to Kolkota. Ten minutes into our conversation we hear a commotion outside. Two of the customers were beating a third one with his girlfriend alongside pleading that they be left alone. (I later learnt that the girlfriend had complained to her scrawny boyfriend that the two hefty guys at the next table were staring at her. The scrawny boyfriend had in a fit of madness demanded that they refrain from the same; maybe in a not so polite way). Anyways the scrawny boyfriend was getting thrashed by these well dressed goondas as passers-by and cafe coffee day executives tried to prevent further violence. One of the goondas got hold of a garbage lid as a weapon. The poor boy was bleeding profusely. I had by then also gone out to help sort this out. Just when we thought all had quietened down and I had returned to my chair, it erupted again. The two men threatened an auto driver with dire consequences if he spirited the couple away. Finally one clenched fist uppercut knocked the poor guy into a ditch. By then the two guys were also spent and the couple caught a auto quickly and made good their escape. Personally I thought that I could have done a lot more than I did to stop that violence. But the apathy of the elite educated crowd sitting in the cafe, coolly sipping coffee and watching the violence unfold in front of their eyes will always be etched in my mind as an uncaring numbness that paralyzes our knees when the time comes to stand up and aid a fellow human in need. But the lesson that stood out that day was the realization that there is an animal in us, that believes in violence than the power of dialogue, an animal that is lurking in the dark recesses of an uncharted mind; that has the capability to unleash mayhem and hurt on all those around in a selfish act of self-preservation. The evening had too much energy for me and I was in a contemplative mood on my way home. I felt secure in my space, with a book in my hand.

Stupidity

I have done my share of stupid things in my lifetime. Some I am sure I have pushed to some far corner of my brain, just so that I do not embarass myself as my brain does some TV sitcom kinda reruns at some idle moment. Some stupid things I have done, have been a result of me not being thorough and fortunately did have happy endings with some amusement & laughter to boot. Here are a list of the top 3 and they all have to do with travel.

3. Had booked a return bus ticket for Krishnan, Pradeep & me from Madurai (friend's wedding) to Bangalore for 10 PM on 27th Dec. We landed there on 27th Dec, finished with the wedding formalities by 2.30 PM and were on our way back to YMCA where we were put up. Krishnan (must have had a premonition) decides to check with the travel company on the way, on where to board the bus. We then find that the ticket issued is for Bangalore-Chennai. Given that the handwriting was gibberish, my failure to check on the fine print makes this stupid on my part. We ended up breaking our journey into 2 and taking buses with lesser comforts. It ranks no. 3 only because there were no return tickets available anyways to Bangalore and we would have had to do what we did finally. Krishnan's premonition though saved us time, headaches & money.

2. Krishnan, Pradeep & I are sitting at the Bangalore Cantonment Station for a weekend trip to chennai. I had booked the ticket supposedly for the 11 PM train or so. We were sitting on a bench and we notice a family running to catch a train which just came in. Pradeep remarks- 'Why can't people come early to catch a train they know is going to arrive at a certain time'. Krishnan & I add to that & we share a good laugh. Then Krishnan asks me the train number & we realize that the train in front of us is the train we are supposed to board. In the end we end up running & just about manage to catch the train. No harm done. But ranked no. 2 for failure to read simple english on a simple ticket.

1. I had booked an online rail ticket to Salem from Bangalore. The evening I was supposed to leave, I get my bag, lock my room and just when I am to board my auto to the station, see the ticket & realize that the departure time is 6 AM & not 6 PM. I end up travelling on a crowded bus, standing non-stop for 4 hrs to Salem. This ranks no. 1 purely for the discomfort I faced due to my stupidity.

I do want to thank God, that all these incidents ended well with little or no discomfort. Having chilled out friends who reflect your attitude of 'Okay. Shit happens. Now what?' also helps. I am hoping I have learnt my lesson from all these incidents though.

Ella!

Kids can say & do the darnest things with innocence carved on their faces. Sometimes they can drive you nuts. But more often than not, they warm your heart. Last Friday I had gone to help out at a fund rasing campaign for a choir group travelling to Shillong. Towards the end as I was saying my byes to people who were leaving. I saw little Ella, all of 6 yrs I think and a darling of a girl (I had first met her, her parents Ashwin, Samantha & her sister Petra by chance on her birthday about a month earlier). I asked her to come over, which to my surprise she did. I gave her a hug & she coyly looked at me thereafter. I launched into a fictional sob story about how no girl ever liked me and all and I told that she was the cutest thing I had seen in a long time and I really liked her. I said a few other things & I planted a goodbye kiss on her cheek as her parents were about to leave. She came out of my arms, while I was sitting there on the stairs, she looked me with such innocence & love in her eyes & planted a kiss on my cheek in turn. For the life of me I must say I was so touched by the gesture. What amazed me was that this girl at such an young age could be sensitive to other people and the willingness to reach out & express it with such unrestrained innocence was beautiful. At that moment I realized that she had made my day and realized what true beauty is. I said a prayer for her that night. That she will love and be loved every day for the rest of her life. For a related article click here.

Lessons in a Diaper Change

My cousin and his wife stay a stone's throw away from where I am put up. They have a wonderful baby son who at9 months is just another energetic, adventurous and curious kid. He's an absolute darling especially when he smiles, gurgles, does his own version of singing or dancing or just be cute which at his age I must admit comes pretty naturally. Anyways about 5 days ago had dropped by my cousins place just when they were on their way out and I agreed to baby-sit along with the maid. It was humbling to say the least. He wanted to be held, then he didn't want to be; you had to keep an eye on him all the time lest he put things that didnt belong in his mouth in there (He has a fancy for footwear). You had to be wary lest he fall, lest he hurt himself in some unique way. You have to decipher when he's hungry, what mood he's in and keep him occupied. The first time he kept still was when I took him out for a walk. He was just still listening to all the sounds around him. When I mashed a banana in my fingers and put it into his mouth, was the second time. Seeing such simple happiness in this little bundle of joy was fascinating. And then it happened. What can I say. When a baby's gotta go he's gotta go. He was standing, holding on to the chair and then with a rumble he let go. The stink was bad and so I called out for the maid. She was busy in the kitchen and I had to entertain my nephew in the meantime. We peeled off his clothes & went to the bathroom. In the bathroom, while I was holding him under his armpits, the maid peeled off his diaper and I almost gagged at the smell. I wanted to hand my dear nephew back to the maid & head off. But she wanted me to help her and as I held him over the comode she washed him off. We then took him to the bedroom and tried to get him a fresh pair of diapers and clothes. That took a long time as he was obviously used to strutting his stuff; but we got him in. By then I was exhausted mentally. This was just 2 hrs and I wanted to bow down & really thank ALL parents especially the mothers who go through this routine for a better part of their lives. So what did I learn- first its only when the shit hits the road that you can separate the men from the boys. Second love, marriage, family is not all that fanciful & romantic as in the movies. Most likely your life is going to be spent working, managing kids, grocery shopping, doing laundry, house cleaning, entertaining guests and preparing for the week. Third: Love can surmount all that. And thats when you reach for that baby with poop in his diaper and hold him near just so that he knows that just 'coz he's got shit in his pants does not mean he's not loved. In fact he's loved all the more, for his trust in his helplessness.

At the lake with friends & some music for the Soul.

I happen to attend a Friday church youth gathering as a regular affair every week. More on that perhaps some other time. Last friday we wound up after dinner and discussions and were listening to some wonderful work on the guitar from Donald (blame it on the Mizo blood) and some amazing vocals from Donald & Rahul. At some point Rahul suggested we head off to the lake (I think its called Pelandur-near HSR layout). Now I must admit that it didnt look anywhere close to the picture on the right. In fact it seems during the day you can see the amount of pollution present. Anyways we parked the car on the deserted road alongside the lake. Construction Cranes at an apartment site far on the left gave an impression of an harbour and planes landing & taking off now & then on the far right created an aloof kind of feeling. And there we were for about an hour and a half, the guitar dancing to Donald's tunes, sweet lilting music into the night air; songs of yesteryears, food for the soul- Simon & Garfunkel, Scorpions, Pink Floyd, Seal, John Denver. The four of us staring into the lake, the moon lighting our faces. hmmmmmm! At some point I did wonder what I was doing here with 3 GUYS, but yeah! the place was not romantic in any sense. I guess it was just the music & the darkness, the moon and the lake and they all came together as we had. It was sad, but we had to leave by midnight and we did promise that we should do this often. But I did thank God for that wonderful time, for friends, for talents & for just plain good old happiness.

Double Dose!

2-3 yrs of no rains & when it does, it gets dumped in one go over a small area in a short span of time with arrears & interest included. Its no time to be happy for some. I am personally worried as my home in Chennai is under 4 inches of water with the forecasts said to be getting worse from now. The thought of my parents battling nature's fury alone is unsettling. While it will be a long time before we start seeing people queueing before water lorries, it leaves a lot of immediate aftershocks that few realise. A lot of waterborne diseases are going to be the scourge of the season. Some people who were depending on this Diwali season for their livelihood by selling firecrackers will be left dissappointed. The economic productivity of the local/state economy is affected as offices shut down. Insurance companies feel the pinch with claims especially in motor insurance expected to go up by 30% this month. The damage caused to infrastructure puts further pressure on the exchequer. And of course, lives are lost, which in most cases are the poor or the homeless. Only the school children may have something to cheer with their holidays being extended into the diwali season. But with most open spaces indundated with rain, I am sure that they too would be at a loss to explain how they could be happy when all they can do in the name of stretching their legs is stay at home. So there is really nothing to be happy about in the short term. Unless, you are a very positive person & you look at the whole incident as a temporary inconvenience. A measured dose of anything is good. This Double Dose is bad. Lets hope mother earth does not OD on it and suffer a serious haemorrage.

Analyze This!

It was late in the evening on the 15th Of October. It had been raining & I was just returning home after spending a leisurely saturday with friends. I was on my bike and I slowed down as I saw the traffic accumulating at the Red light ahead. I was dead in the middle of traffic ensconced on all sides by motorists all eager to get home before another downpour. I turned my head to the left and I see the familiar Khaki wading right into the serpentine maze. He seems to be talking to the guy in front of me. Obviously satisfied by the answers he received he had already started turning away. Normally I would have panicked as my Bike was AP-registered (see previous post of mine). But recently I had put all my papers in order and so I sat there with a smirk on my face. So like I was saying, the cop was turning away & he saw the alphabets 'AP' on my bike and with a salivating look on his face, walked up to me. He said - 'Helmet Remove Panunga'. A little apprehensive now, I slowly undid the helmet strap and looked him straight in the eye. What he told me next totally consumed me. He said- 'blow' & put his nose close to my mouth. I looked at him & said- 'WHAT?'. He said again- 'Blow' and pushed his nose into my space with an expectant look of a worshiper extending his hands forward for some prasad. By then, I was amused, and all apprehension vanished & I gave him my best blow of breath as I could. He seemed to have some look, post that, as if trying to analyse whether the fermented smell of digested 'chicken, coffee, fried rice' etc coming from my bowels constituted a bizzare form of alcohol. Seemingly satisfied he walked away. By then the light turned green and I was already smiling to myself as I imagined the cop handing me a ticket for bad breath and advising me to have less onions in my diet. While I was amused, please do not think I am heartless. I did feel sorry for the cop/s who have to analyse the various gastric concoctions of the average Indian motorist in this bizarre way in the absence of breath analyzers that are available in the west.