Similarities and Differences

As I sat in the „Netto“ stores that day, at the entrance, near the cash counter, I couldn’t help watching the people who had come to buy their daily needs.

Every person was different in appearance.

Every person was dressed differently.

Every person had a different purse from which they pulled off their card/money.

Every person seemed to be lost in his own thoughts or worries.

Every person had different things (agenda) in his shopping bag.

Every person was oblivious to the other’s presence.

Every person was greeting the cashier at the counter and then pushing off with their stuff.

In the span of 20 minutes, I almost saw the whole world in front of my eyes with such a variety and colour. I wondered to myself, how it is that there is no one similar to the other person in matter of looks, dressing, thoughts, appearance!!! As a child, I used to wonder if there was anyone similar looking like me as they showed in the Hindi movies and if I would ever meet her in a very dramatic situation like twins coming in front of each other unawares. But then as I grew up, I realized that there is no one like me on this whole earth when it comes to my nature, appearance, physiology and biology. I was then charmed by the “Six degrees of separation” theory which states that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. (Source: Wikipedia). I am yet to find the other six people in my so-called “net”.

God is indeed a brilliant fellow, who has such a varied imagination and vibrancy that he didn’t make one person similar to the other. Yes, we all have 2 hands, 2 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, 1 nose, and 1 head. But the similarity ends there. The brain and the heart of every person are again different. The way 2 people react to 1 situation is again different. The brain here, I believe, is the logical partner and the heart is the emotional partner. And together they carry on this wonderful journey of mankind, where one makes, breaks, learns, heals, helps and finally meets its end. We should be thankful that we got this wonderful opportunity to see, live, think and emote. Shouldn’t we treasure this blessing and make the most of it rather than thinking if we got a fair share of life or not? This path of the journey is indeed for us to make it beautiful and sunny or make it dark and gloomy.

So do you choose to be similar like the pessimists around you or different like the optimists around you?  

Girls Day Out

My mom is visiting us for a short while here and it has been a busy time ever since she has arrived. My office routine, Tanay's creche and Atul's office leaves us no time to bond separately. We do talk a lot and discuss things and issues amongst us. She guides me, scolds me, and advises me just like she used to do when I was in college. As they say, a child grows up, but a mother never does. I listen to everything she says, like an obedient daughter. Tanay also enjoys the attention of his "jeeaa", it is the opposite order of the word "aajee", which means grandmother. They both enjoy a lot with my mom trying to make sense of his one syllable words and he trying to understand her by closing watching her actions and words.

I decided to take a day off and spend it with my mom and take her around the city. Tanay went to his creche and Atul to his office. Then the mother-daughter duo proceeded to the main station and spent some time on the main shopping street there. There were lot of people around though it was a week day. Children had holidays and they were seeing strolling with their parents and grandparents. There was music playing in one corner, one person was busy painting a huge portrait. One lady was sitting with her child and was asking for money. One big fat bearded man, shabbily dressed, was sitting with his dog and talking to him. One couple was kissing each other passionately, oblivious to the crowd around. There were many joints where people were sitting and having coffee, pizza, cakes and pastries. Cool breeze was blowing, it was pleasant and the sun was hardly seen in the skies. We walked down a lot, observing, talking, window shopping. Then after some time, I asked my mom, if she was hungry and if she would like to try out the pizza option here, which is available in slices also. We can choose one slice from a variety of pizza and pay only for that. We gave it a try and she liked it and proclaimed that it is better than the versions she had in India. I saw at her very lovingly. The roles were reversed today. She used to take me out for shopping and hotelling and now I am the one who is leading her. She saw all the shops with child-like enthusiasm and it really amused me to see her so happy! She always wished to come to Europe for a longer time and not with any tours, which just make you run around 10 countries in 7 days. And her wish had come true, after many years! She is a strong willed and positive person and I really wish I am at least 10% of what she is!

Our day progressed with shopping for my little one. We bought him a few clothes and toys and were happy that we got something for him. (Though nowadays, all our focus during outings, excursions, shopping, hotelling is only on Tanay, we were glad to have shopped for him, yet again!!!). My mom and me were like two long lost friends, chatting, giggling, shopping together and it seemed like a long time that we had been like this. She retired from her office recently and I moved here. So, we hardly got time to spend together, just the two of us. But then we created the opportunity and had some moments which we will always cherish.

The ticking clock brought us back and we proceeded to pick up my little fella from his creche.

A day well spent!!

The Regulars

Life has more or less set into a routine now.

Waking up, getting ready for office, taking the train from the station, going to office, working, lunching and coming back by the train again. I have been taking the same train for 2 weeks now and realized that like me there are a few more people around on the station, then in the compartment, who travel with me in the same time frame. We all are bound with each other within those 16 minutes of journey, though we physically do not even acknowledge each other.

There is one fellow, who looks like an Indian amongst the co-passengers. He has a bag in his hand and is in casuals’ everyday. Looks like he works on some construction site as a worker, he looks tired and muddy. He looks at me and then looks away. Maybe he wants to strike a conversation and ask me if I am also from his mother-land! But he carries on with a grim face and sits in a corner. I get down at my station and he goes ahead.

There is another middle-aged person, who looks like an office-goer. He returns home with this train. He wears spectacles and is mostly looking around or reading something. He gets down on the same station as mine and we walk down the road one after the other, till he disappears in the lane, adjacent to mine.

Then there are these two young boys who wear identical black T-Shirts on which Volkswagen is written. Maybe they work for the plant nearby and return home. They are their usual self, loud and crackling and they talk a lot within the time they are together. One of them gets down on my station and the other carries on ahead. 

A tall lanky, bespectacled fellow with a hat looks bemusedly at the fellow passengers. He never sits down, though the train is relatively empty. He turns his back towards the door and looks all around the compartment. There is another couple, who regularly boards the train and embarrass the people around by making public display of affection. It is common in Germany, no one is really bothered. But I sense the irritation of the people, when they look away from them or move away to another place.

Yesterday while coming back, a thought just came to my mind. What if I got the powers to read the minds of other people? I would come to know what is the Indian wary of and I would also come to know what this couple is upto. Are they really in "love"?? I smile to myself and am happy that I am not gifted with that power. Ignorance is bliss, they say. Then I think, would I ever become friends with the people whom I see regularly? Will I be able to ask them how their day was or what interests them after work? No, I don't think so. Everybody is either glued to their smart phone or is listening to music or is reading a book. No one has time to waste on others and no is interested to get friendly. The readiness, with which I would have made friends in India, is totally lacking here! I smile to people and they smile to me, but I do not dare to approach them to strike a conversation. I often think, what they will feel if I talk to them. Wouldn't I be encroaching their so-called "privacy". They do not acknowledge each other's presence on the station though being a regular; I am after all an outsider here!

But that’s their culture and being from a country like India, where everybody else minds each other’s business, this is a new experience for me!

:-)