Bombay a Story

After a very long time a couple of days back i took my chance of being a traveler with no specific purpose or objective into a place not much know or familiar. Though i have always preferred the greens and the wilderness as my thing to explore this time i chose a completely different destination.

A city bursting with people, every one in his or her own mind involved in a world in a way very personal to all. Sill lot and secluded form most things happening around. I had a 10 MPS 15X lance in my cam but just could not click picks felt like would intrude on to some one. It was amazing being in different locations form Malad to south Bombay to the campus of one of the best know colleges to government building and many more, though the most interesting of all i found were the streets of Bombay. It was a life and experience in itself.

It was such an amazing thing to see that the city pushes you to the brink and situation where in you are just a nut and bolt of the metros machine but that in a way also makes or helps people explore life where ever they are. A lot of our Indian picks have used statements like 'there is a story behind every face...'

For once i was not over whelmed by the city, nothing much bothered me i was much at peace enjoying my experience as a traveler. It for me was a experience of being lost but also relating with people on impulse.

One experience though i would put at as top of these couple of days experience was a a Irani tea stall. I was served by a a very interesting youth, who dosen't seem to ask questions about the realities he is in, dosen't complain and was so much in sink with himself and his realities, extending his SELF to customers reaching out without any surety 'how the other will react to me' this was something remarkable and made me think and explore what in him makes him go so easy on/in life. Ya! there might be deeper stories behind him, but here at work in this place he know its a different life space and looking at him a thought struck me and i feel that is my learning form this life experience and this experience with Bombay - Here you have to FEEL A WORLD ABOUT YOUR SELF TO BE IN THIS WORLD. And i guess that is what i take form this trip of mine.

Thanks to him :)

Beauty of Exploration

I know we can not ignore what is not nice, but does that mean we can not talk of beauty.

As a woman I just woke up to the fact that many and as many as beyond 70% of the women do not explore what is that they want. The way we are socialized and the way we are conditioned we are expected not to think, not to wish. And if things can get any worse then this, we are also TOLD what is that we should expect and how is that we should behave.

In all these pressure of expectations and suggestions, are we really expected to be beings without brains. Should we not see the path of exploration? Its beautiful to explore, one who has always been close to nature and people both y interest and through work it sound so suffocating that one is not allowed to explore.

The incidents of women bearing children and still never talked to their HUSBANDS are still sited as examples of how an IDEAL woman should be. I just can not stop but question how does she not think that I am expected to bare a child of someone who is not even known to me as a person.

What kind of world we are into where at one end we want to know the smallest thing of a person. The evident paparazzi growing in our country, the need to know latest news and the goriest details are some of the examples. On other hand there is no need to get in touch with a person around you. Though it would be interesting to look that even this knowing other is how much out of love, and concern and not control or to satisfy paparazzi mind.

It seems we are quite developed the world is moving fast but then is it only a few like me who get nostalgic by the though that the milk-man was part of your extended family and used to know most family details, where we didn’t have to put name tag on the clot we sent for iron. Nor do we take and effort to know the name of the watchman who salutes me as I walk in and out of my campus.

I seem confused, saying tings which seem to take you nowhere…

But Hey! I am just wondering is there a mid way. Can we become people, human, but still not step on each others toe. Can we give and have spaces but still not be aloof.

Can we live in the 'NOW' rather than then and try and make best of where we are.

I often travel and have shared with others who travel too, that in the rush of getting to where we eventually will get we often forget the journey itself.

Looks like real vague thoughts, but I really feel beautiful that I do THINK and want to EXPLORE

The odd auto drive

The lazy Pune afternoon in a quite lane under the shadowing huge tree stood three autos waiting for their passengers, a rare moment as one has to otherwise look for or rather hunt for an auto at this hour of the day. I was armed with my objective of reaching to a place crossing half of the city to the bustling old town. Was talking to a friend and the phone abruptly cut. Was thinking of work planning for those critical next strategies and …

And the struggling life knocked the doors of my mind. The Auto which in my mind only was my means to reach somewhere suddenly had a mind and heart of its own. He asked me 'what was the time' and I answered 'may be abound 4'. 'Four is it', till then it sounded like a perfectly expected conversation till I realised that there was more in store.

He then went on 'It was two when I reached form where you piked Me up', it was he the service provider ( i was now dealing with) the auto kind of did not exist and more it was part of extended identity of the driver. He went ahead he said 'I was think and thinking and thinking and never realised when all this time went away.'

Then he asks me ( I was wearing a pair of jeans and a T) 'are you a college girl' I said no I work. He did not seem to have heard me or may be did not ask a question for an answer. He said 'I have a daughter her mind does not work too well she cannot identify different dominations of currency, she does not identify colour.' May be she also had a hart problem, 'she can not any more drink water form our village. We leave in Phursungi. I am carrying this drum I will carry the water from city (treated) for her to drink, I also will have to carry money so that we can cook. I will .. I will..'

He goes on 'The life was just OK and did not realies when it went out of my hands. It is very difficult these days to make ends meet. I hope I will be able to earn enough.' We enter in the bustling city. Now he starts affecting me by saying 'My mind it already tired and messed up and then this traffic does the rest if anything is left. I do not know when this will stop.'

For a long time this goes on and on I was thinking to myself should I encourage him to talk to me or may be just ask him to shut up. Is he talking to me cause it is safe to talk to a stranger. Should I go out of my way and help him find some support. Can I ask him to wait for me so that he get another long distance fair. I just kept thinking may be just thinking too much. -I was relating to what all he said vis-à-vis the globalization and what it is doing to people and families like him, who are affected in more then one ways which unfortunately is never a consideration of Economic planning. -I never realised that how i had become part of the Rush and Madness he was talking about, I chose not to be human then.

At a later point it made me think what is happening to me, to us and to the humanness in all of us.

May be I have a guilt of not acting, may be I want to write something nice and feel good about myself I don’t know why I am writing this. But I felt that life knocked my mind today, may be as if it wanted to say don't rush be alive to me.

He touch me with his life and now I am already looking forward to mine.

Thanks to him….