It takes all kinds..

I am surprised by the variety of people I run into and the equally various kind of emotions they invoke in me. I have to say I have no sense of "normalcy" after meeting with or associated with these kinds. Everything sounds absolutely perfect and in place.

To start with, people in my work place. You cant find as disparate a crowd as my bunch of colleagues. One is head over heels in love with Sci-Fiction, air planes and all hi-tech things and calls himself a star gazer. Another wants to give up on IT and enter into civil services and yet another one has a capability of speaking nonstop about nonsensical things and make a joke of about just anything under the sun (as one of us would term it "smooth flow of nonsense"). One is a geek, another one is emotionally profound (calling himself a higher mortal) and yet another has an everyday-girl-next door outlook. One has absolutely no opinion whatsoever on spirituality, religion and does not have a care in the world or at least paints that picture. At the same time, that one is a close friend of the other who is up to her neck deep into spirituality. Sometimes I wonder what in the world was making us bound to each other and even worse, intimate with one another. We might not have one thing in common, except of course, for all the fun we were having together. I am not sure whether I would fit so perfectly in another gang of friends like how I fit amongst these. I have not really thought about our differences until I had to move away to a different work place. I am grateful for their company and our togetherness against all odds. I think I would miss that for my lifetime.

The next episode would invite disapproving looks from my family but it still was an interesting episode. It was one of those times when I had been traveling in Bangalore a long distance. (Well that could be called a long distance in Bangalore - about 13-15 km really). And as is typical in Bangalore, I of course could not rely on any public transport and what is worse, I could not even get an Auto Rickshaw though I was willing to pay double the metered fare. When I was about to give up on my plan, a guy in a 9 seater vehicle (Tavera to be exact) pulled over. I was watching what he was up to. The license plate did not display a yellow board (means a travel agent's cab). It was a private vehicle. For a moment, I thought the guy was a hired driver for some big shot and was using the vehicle to make some cash along the way. Whatever be it, I got a feeling that I could get into the car if it was heading in the same direction I wanted to go. At least half way to my destination should be good. And fortunately, it was going past where I wanted to go and I wasted no time and got into the vehicle. Being the only lady amongst the other travellers, the guy asked a person sitting in the front to get into the back. So I travelled in comfort. One by one every one got dropped off and I still had about 8 kms to reach my destination. Being just the two of us, we started talking. He asked me where I was going. I was going to the marriage hall we had booked for my marriage to pay off the remaining cash. I was telling him the same and he was surprised that I was carrying cash and was waiting for an auto, being a lady. I answered back saying, my mom would not come to terms with traveling in a car with an unknown fellow with cash. She could accept my going by auto, but not this way. He said, "yeah, that is true. People are lot less trusting these days." He was surprised that it was an arranged marriage and I had not even seen the guy when I said yes. He said girls now-a-days are freaks, going to malls and dumping one guy after another. I said that is too generic a description. He said he does not have a high opinion of girls in Bangalore, which I cannot comment on or agree with. Now it was my turn. I asked him about his native place. He said he had come to Bangalore from a village and started working as a driver and been to night schools here in Bangalore. He worked many part time jobs, saved enough to get into amway business and rest was history. He was earning a lot and still working as a driver. He had saved enough to buy the Tavera from his boss, when his boss was about sell. Probably he thought I didnt believe it. He took out his license and registration papers and his passbook to show that he was indeed earning as much as he claimed. I said I needed no proof and that he earned himself a very high opinion. He was worried that my fiance would reprimand me for traveling with some guy I didnt know, which I dismissed off as an impossibility. Surprisingly, all this information was exchanged even when we both didnt know each other's language very well. Half the time, we had to dance about with vivid and vivacious gestures to make ourselves understood to the other. (Man, that would have been quite a sight!) When he dropped me off, I paid him 100 Rs which was way too less than what I would have paid an Auto Rickshaw. He refused to take a penny more saying, it was a pooled transit and that he is good. He even offered help during the marriage which I politely refused. When I narrated this episode in a much greater detail to my friends over lunch, they were glad that I am in one piece and safe. Whether my fiance reprimanded or not, my friends really did. And they kept saying over and over again, that, only I am capable of getting into all these unsafe ventures amongst us. But I didnt feel anything odd, since my instinct told me that I will be OK. I was only thankful that I met a person like that - brimming with hope of the future, with a insurmountable can-do attitude. That was all that was needed to witness, especially when I was in doubt of my future.

"I'm finished", these words stung when the full meaning of the words hit me. This was an answer that I elicited from a lady of the neighboring house who is suffering from cancer. I didn't realize that she was that sick and asked a question as to whether she is still undergoing treatments. There was neither hesitation in her voice nor was any self-pity or gestures that would evoke poignant feeling for her, just unmistakable reality - the reality that seems to elude me. I know that death is as natural as birth, but coming to face to face with it is still hard and especially when you run into something like this unexpectedly. I am sure, she would not have been bothered as much as I am, after the conversation. She wanted to know if she could knock at my door any time and have some conversations since she feels lonely at times. She asked me if I could teach her to pencil-sketch. She clearly moved on to more pressing day-to-day issues faster than I could. Though I was feeling awkward the whole day, she is clearly more stronger than any person I have run into at that age. I wish and pray that I could be half as strong as she is.

I have narrated only the good side of people I found fascinating and still not done with my narration yet, but as we all know, there are many facets of all kinds to make the world and that is why, it is still interesting to meet new people.