Different is not so different

Every day I hear and use management jargons like “competitive advantage”, “differentiating factor”, and “point of difference” etc. today every brand wants to be portrayed as different so as to be recognized, and boy that is a difficult task. I'm sure you must have heard all film stars saying their movie is “hat ke” (different), nothing different about that right?

Why limit this need to be distinguished to products and brands? We humans are just the same. Every other person portrays that he/she is different from the crowd. Well yes, no two people are just the same. The physical, mental and emotional build up of everyone is different. But one thing that is common in most (if not all) is the need to be uncommon.

I have a doubt though, do we really seek to be distinct? Or is it just that we want to be perceived as different? Like the same brand of soap claiming to be different when it is more or less the same as any other brand of soap. While I have seen people claiming to be “no I’m not like the rest”, “I don’t believe in what others say” and blah blah blah, still give them a second look and you will know that they are the same. Leaving me to wonder why?

Hey but I’m not saying that there is anything wrong in being no different. Why should I declare my differences, let others decipher it themselves. Also I believe that there is no use in proclaiming being “hat ke” because the perception they form about you is dependent upon their own understanding and personality.

Also everyone wants to find similar people. Even the ones who are considerably different from the crowd are continuously looking for their types. And trust me it is very satisfying to find someone who works on the same wavelength as you. Humans are social beings, so it is only natural to look for people of your kind. Even the solitude lovers would like to find another solitary reaper.

It is the innate need of humans to be understood and for that they want to express themselves. Sometimes these expressions are more pronounced while in other cases they are subtle. This need to find like minded people is common to all (the distinguished and the common). So what say the different is not so different after all? 

Main.... By Richa Vatsyayan

MAIN

Lad lad kar aage aaun main, phir bhi kyun gir jaun main?

Himmat kar phir uth jaun main, or phir se daud lagaun main,

Phir thokar khakar ladkhadaun main, or phir peeche rah jaun main,

Baar baar himmat jutaaun main, aur apni takdeer se lad jaun main,

Par jab sitaron ka sath na paun main, to kya yunhi bikhar jaun main?

Dil se jise paana chahun main, har baar haath aage badhaun main,

Bas choote choote rah jaun main, to kaise dill ko samjhaun main?

Kya yunhi nirash hokar thak kar vahin tham jaun main?

Jo sapna apni saanson me basaun main, use aise kaise bhool jaun main?

Apne sapne ki khatir is duniya se ladd jaun main,

Jo darker tham gayi main yunhi,

To fir Main kaise kahlaun “Main”…

Happy B'day Sis (choti princess :D) 

Time for disc cleanup: time to forgive and forget

Someone hurts you and your immediate reaction (according to Newton’s 3^rd law of action and reaction) is to get back to that person (slap, kick, punch…etc etc..) Sometimes you are lucky enough to get what you want; else the ideas and words (read profanities) clog your mind. And as fishes rise to the surface crowding water surface as you throw some food, similarly these memories emerge with the mention of a name, an incident, or the person himself/herself. 

But in your intention to hurt the other person you actually end up being miffed yourself. You wanna know the reason? Firstly the “damn it I still can’t beat him/her” feeling, secondly all those unhappy thoughts come back to you. Again you end up feeling more miserable. And in a case where that’s exactly what the other Miss/Mr. intended to do, what are you doing? I’ll tell you, you are actually helping them. So before you get irritated and try and get back to me I’ll tell you what I feel should be done to get even. I think you should try and forgive and if that’s not possible then forget. Now before you say/think “ohho what’s new in that”, I would say there is no other way.

Ok simple reasons to support that. Primarily what do you want to do? Get even, right? Haven’t you heard about the saying, “forgiveness is the best revenge”. Well it is absolutely true. By forgiving you are disappointing (big time) the opponent, coz once he/she has hurt you, they would be expecting some more. You are now spoiling their plans. So you can do Oo..la..la and dance while your rival cribs.

Forgiveness is not just limited to revenge. It makes you realize the other person’s point of view. You spare some time and think from their perspective. How long is it too long to hold on to such memories? C’mon people accept the fact that there are better things to store in your long term memory. Why waste that much memory? I tell you such memories are really bulky. So clean up your disc and get rid of the irrelevant. Obviously you would like to remember the pertinent concepts instead of the unnecessary things.

And the best reason for forgiving and forgetting is coz you yourself would feel great. It is like for quite sometimes you have been straining your nerves, or like you are at a place where you are not getting enough air to breathe, and this hot place is draining out the life out of you. After forgiving and forgetting it’s like you your nerves are relaxed, and the pleasant breeze greets you and you feel revitalized.

So for getting that smile back on your face, forgive and forget not just others, but yourself as well for the times, when you have let yourself down. Forget sad memories, forgive people for disappointing you and you will help yourself.

And if you can’t afford the market leader i.e. forgiveness then try forgetting (the next best thing) and that smile on your face would visit you more often. So don’t wait, get started with the disc clean up.

Happy Birthday Paa.. :)

Parents are known to be the first role models for kids, for a girl her father is the strongest (“My Daddy Strongest”) and her mother is the best looking woman on planet. I would call myself truly blessed coz my parents are the best any kid can ever get. There have been times when I have cursed my luck, because of so many (stupid) reasons, and how does my luck retort? It just reminds me of my parents, and I slap my head and say.. I don’t have a right to complain coz I have already been given the world’s best treasure. So I’m one of the luckiest person on this earth (Richa and Adi are the other two) coz I have you and Maa.

And I’m sure it must not have been the easiest task to be the father of someone like me. My God!! How many questions I ask, and still you patiently answer all of them. I know I can be really cranky at times, and how could you bear all those tantrums of mine? Incredible I would say!! This only makes me feel that I’m born in a family of saints. And if its not tantrums then there are my problems that I keep bugging you with. But i have never seen you complain..forget complain, I have not even seen you give an “uff”. In spite of the demanding nature of your job how do you still manage to take care of our priorities?

Paa…  I do not mention it often but you are a truly amazing person. There is so much that I have learnt from you and still have to learn. I have learnt from you to stand by things I believe in. I have seen that you have stood for things that were right, and didn’t care whether the world was with you or not. You have instilled in me to use my own discretion and understanding to decide what is best for me. If I take pride in being independent then the credit goes to you. I have taken all my decisions coz you encouraged me to do so. I know that you are extremely protective about your family, and so I can guess that it must have been really tough for you to maintain this balance, where you shield us from hardships without hampering our independence. The confidence and trust that I have in me and my capabilities is a reflection of the confidence and trust you have in me. There have been times when I have felt like giving up but you have made me keep my faith in myself.

Paa you are the best father anyone can ever have and a gem of a person. All you kids adore you…and your family is exceptionally blessed to have you. We wish you A very Happy Birthday, and on your B’day all I can do is that pray and wish that you have a long and happy life ahead…Love you Paa….

CAN ETHICS BE TAUGHT IN A CLASSROOM??

I’m sitting in a business ethics class and wondering why am I sitting here? Well I don’t have to bang my head for an answer, it is simple, for attendance and hence eligibility for semester-end exams. This opening remark might suggest that I’m against ethics in business, but it’s not that. I just don’t believe that you can teach a person to be ethical over a period of a two credit course.

I have learnt that personality is built over a period of time and cannot be changed unless something radical happens. I wonder what ‘radical’ change sixteen lectures will bring about in a student’s personality.

With due respect to the college management, I think that this classroom teaching of ethics is… ahem useless. It is baffling that a college can even think about something like classroom teaching of ethics and moral values. Ok so before taking the course you are unethical and after sixteen classes…tadaaa…you are morally right and ethical. So people enter like devils (ok fine the petty humans) and after 16 classes move out with a halo over their head. I wonder where is my halo (probably still in the process). And at the end of the course there will be an exam judging whose halo is better, bigger and brighter.

I’m not sure as to what exactly is the purpose of this course? To make students ethical or just for the heck of it. Well if it is the latter then I’m not complaining, but if it is for the former (which should be in ideal scenario), then I have issues.

I’m surprised that the management of the college is totally oblivious to what students feel about the course. Classroom teaching of ethics! We are no more in primary school so that we could be molded accordingly. If this could work then all the satans would turn out to be saints, or semi-saints/semi-satans (depending upon how you see the glass) by teaching them ethics.

I think there are three things that should be clearly understood, first, as we all know the definition of ethics is not the same for all, so no universal code of ethics is possible. Secondly, it’s not possible to change the moral build-up of any one at this age. The most that can be done is that make a less ethical person relatively more ethical. And thirdly, if this change is to be brought about then it can’t be done via classroom teaching. Instead students should be exposed to some social initiatives. As an alternative to teaching through books and power point, it is better to actually let the students witness the plight of the underprivileged. It might just revolve around the philanthropic aspect of ethics; still it will trigger the latent sensitivities of students. Again it will not bring about any drastic transformation, but I’m hopeful of a temporary alteration in their psyches.

There would be a percentage of people who would not be interested in this, but I have seen that most of the people would appreciate it (yeah contrary to the popular belief, the gen Y is not that insensitive), if not in the first instance, then maybe in the second and the third ones. Moreover it will anyways be much more effective than the present method being followed, so worth taking a chance. Of course all this is under the assumption that the purpose of teaching ethics is to make a person more ethical. Otherwise it’s just a matter of passing 16 x 1.45 hours.

THANK GOD FOR A POOR MEMORY

How many times have you cursed yourself for forgetting things? Many times I must say, ask me I happen to forget a lot of things and then its “oh damn! I forgot this, I forgot that.” And don’t even get me started about forgetting formulae and stuff in exams.  For the guys, ask them what happens after forgetting an important date? Oh they are gone…God save them from the ire of the ladies in their lives! So forgetting is a horrible..terrible thing, right?? I don’t think so…I thank my poor memory instead for its ability to forget.

I believe that forgetfulness is a blessing in disguise. I remember I had read somewhere (I forgot where) about R K Narayan saying the same thing. Forgetting is the very wise mechanism designed by nature to help us maintain our sanity, to recover from setbacks and for our betterment. Believe it people; a bad memory is definitely a good asset. Just because of the reason that a person has a bad memory he/she can let go of things and memories that might harm him/her.

A bad memory makes you resilient, you forget failures and begin afresh. If you are in the habit of remembering each and everything, God knows how many bad memories you will still hold on to. You won’t be able to forgive. Actually forgetting is the next best thing to forgiving.It helps in maintaining relationships bringing people closer.

Your bad memory works hard to distract you from the things that trouble you. Ever thought while you had a fight with one of your friend and had decided that now you won’t talk to him/her again, the next day he/she cracks a joke and you forget the quarrel and laugh, this forgetting habit helps breaking the ice. Consider the time when you are really sad about something, and then your cell beeps, you read it’s a funny message and you get that momentary distraction and smile. There are instances when you tried really hard but could not succeed, and fail, imagine what would have happened had you not forgotten those failures and moved ahead, I’ll tell you, you would have never succeeded. This is the power of forgetting takes you from failures to success and still you crib about bad memory. What else you want from it?

So next time don’t curse your poor memory that much, remember the times it saved your sanity.  Now don’t forget that. But of course there are some things that of course you should not forget, NEVER forget what the lady says is important, now that would be suicidal, nothing can save you from that and don't blame me I had warned you. Just forget the things that are painful and unnecessary. We must remember to forget. I really thank God for a bad memory, it has helped me so much thorough out my life.:)

Is it that simple being simple????

Life is complex, people are intricate, past, present, future…uff everything is so difficult….undoubtedly it is so. In this world full of complexities it is hard to find a simple entity, but is it impossible?? I don’t think so, I still believe that there can  be a simple reason to a particular action or deed. Simplicity is a rare commodity but I still believe it’s not extinct.

I have studied complex numbers and even though solving a problem on complex no is definitely very challenging and more satisfying but there can also be a possibility that while you are so busy looking for a complex solution, you completely ignore the concepts of basic math and that is where the key to this riddle lies. Even the most complex looking problems have easy explanation. But the general trend is not to find a simple answer to a complex solution…Oh c’mon that’s too boring, instead what we (I accept I’m no exception to that) do is that we find difficult answers to simple problems. Nopes…2+2 can’t be equal to 4, there has to be something more to it.

Definitely human brain is the most complex creation of nature and even after so much of research done on its functioning; it still remains a black box for scientists (ok ok…lets say grey system). You may know the inputs and you may predict the possible outputs but the working of this system is still not clear (it’s nice I still remember something from what I studied in system identification). We predict what can be the possible motif for this outcome. And most of the times we don’t consider the mundane possibilities, because they do not come in fancy packaging. Also these solutions are rare, probably not found everywhere; still I don’t think that they have stopped manufacturing simple solutions.

I’m not too sure how wise it is to just look out for a complicated answer. Definitely I’m not ‘that enlightened’ a soul to understand that. Complexity is definitely very attractive…and if it is so then who would bother to care for an average looking simplicity?? Oh plzz…simplicity is so common…but is it that common as we perceive it to be?? I don’t think so.. What I feel is that, it’s a grueling task to come up with a simple answer, coz most of the times it’s either a combination of multiple factors which influence the elucidation of a response or the subject is so complex. Simple solutions are not extinct. But whatever it may be it is not simple being simple…so hats off to the rare species who can manage simplicity…

Sea of Hypocrisy

Hypocrites… I guess are one of the most abundant natural resources found in India. Virus and bacteria are probably the only ones above it in the list. Hypocrisy is omnipresent…Oh God !! you have big competition. Where do I look and not find hypocrites?? Nowhere… Well does that include you and me??? Well yeah maybe yes..maybe no…. I’m not being cynical about it but that’s how it is.

It’s only that the level of adulteration differs from one person to another…and so who would you call ‘good’ are the ones who are ‘better’ than the rest. Professional or personal front hypocrisy is pervading everywhere, everything. Educational institutes talk about building the future of students and what do they do? Kill it yeah…brutally murder it..well at least make a good attempt to murder it. If you are strong enough then survive on your own.

A professor of mine had rightly said that these educational institutes are the reflection of the society..if you are an irresponsible student then you are going to become an irresponsible employee and citizen. I guess this funda is not just applicable to students..its applies well to the management as well. The management plays with the future of students in a similar way as the government plays with the future of the citizens of the country. Wow!! What a playful lot of people, except for one tiny difference..the things they are playing are not non living but the dreams, aspirations and hopes of humans..but wait a minute…these things do not exist for such people.

At office…huge HR concepts are applied  to encourage employees but how many times do you come across a boss who is not ready to take credit of a junior’s work?? Not many times.. anyways backstabbing and all again is seen everywhere..please do whatever but don’t forget to keep a smile on your face…coz we are one happy family. (ohh gimme a break!!)

We see people around saying we so care for you darling..muah..muah…(this much sweetness…save the calories please!!) but what do they actually do?? Just give them one reason for your happiness and their sole purpose in life is to find ways to counter that..(wonder where did all that saccharine go??)

I don’t think I’m good enough to talk volumes about the political system and bureaucracy in the country. Naah baba I’m not that qualified!!! They have redefined the word hypocrisy!!! I guess I’m too amateur to write about the topic itself. It’s far too vast for me..mind boggling I tell you.. so here I am, I accept my incompetence to define or analyse this topic… I just say that this sea of hypocrisy is too vast and I see no piece of land amidst it.

Weeds of Hope

Probably some years down the time lane…when I look back at this time…I would laugh and say..”Oh that was also a time..when I thought that life was so difficult..”….hopefully things would be better then…ahh hope…well u cannot help but hope…and generally you hope for the better…a hungry person hopes that hopefully he would find food the other day…a poor fellow hopes of getting rich…a lonely person hopes to find company…a loser hopes to be a winner…etc..etc…

I wonder how much to hope and what to hope for?? I have been trying to find an answer to this.. I tried not being too hopeful…but didn’t succeed.. I tried shunning all hopes…but who can do that?? Even in times when I thought I would not let the flowers of hope blossom in my heart…they did…I guess they are some wild shrubs or weeds, that are so stubborn that they find their way out into this world… don’t need any care… Even when the summer heat of sorrow wilts the other plants, even when the winds of failure uproot all the other trees and plants …these weeds of hope still continue to stay alive… And in that way they still make your garden look less lifeless… these weeds sometimes bloom and give you flowers as well…not as beautiful as the flowers of success and love…but still beautiful enough.

There are times when you are so upset that you just uproot these weeds… You decide no there isn’t going to be a garden here anymore. You make the whole place concrete…and you say to yourself..”Now no hope”… but na na na…these weeds find some small little crack or a tiny opening…and greet you with their sheepish smile… told you they were stubborn!!! You don’t want these wild plants to be there at your place, but in a way you thank them..not on their face..no your ego won’t let  you do that.  On their face you say “Ohh you tiny little nemesis back again!!”, but as you pass them you smile to yourself… that’s what these shrubs do to you…they make you smile even when you don’t want them to…

But yeah I told you they are weeds. So sometimes they do damage the garden, when left for too long and when they are made to grow too big… So better take care…And boss it’s up to you to decide what you do to these weeds of hope……

MAA….

There can never be enough words to describe a mother…I read it today that the word “Maa” or “Mother” is an epic in itself….So whenever I think of words to describe you I cannot… in fact there is no one in the world who can ever describe you….You are the most amazing creation of God. You cry when I do well…coz you are happy and I see you thanking God for that..You cry when I’m sad and I see you praying to God to make things well for me...You smile when you are happy to make us smile… You smile when you are in pain…so as to assure us that no you are alright and no one needs to worry about you… You scold me when I make mistakes..so that I can be on the right track..you even scold me when I’m doing something good so as to avoid that evil eye kind of thing…You encourage me to do good things…and still encouraged me when I had made some really bad chapattis..Saying that “Don’t lose heart, you’ll do good”…You complain that you have to do all the household work..And when we come to help..You ask us to concentrate on our studies, you’ll do that all on your own...I have never seen a more selfless person on Earth than you mom..What is it that makes you so good? Have you always been like this?? I know you have always been like this…and motherhood only aggravated this selflessness… Maa you make me wonder what makes this unconditional and perennial river of love for your kids going on and on??? You can get up in the middle of the night if I say I’m not feeling well..and stay awake to ensure that I’m sound asleep… I remember you scolding me in the day for some mischief and when I used to go to bed you would come and sit by my side and be upset for the day and then kiss me on the forehead… I wonder that whenever I have a bad dream and I’m awake how can you know about it? As I can find you outside my door wondering whether I’m awake or not and worrying if I’m fine… You can make up a whole lot of dishes that match all our tastes and demands.. You are such a good soul that you find everyone in this world good…You are stupendous…how can you bear all our tantrums?? You have this incredible power to forgive… What are you some kind of Saint or what? And even if I ransack my memory n number of times I cannot find a single moment when I have seen you pray or even wish something for yourself… Amazing..startling..wonderful..remarkable…marvelous…what should I call you…but forget it like I said before..there are and can never be enough words to describe you…You are MAA….

And all your kids love you in their own stupid ways..

And yes ….Happy Mother’s Day….

Simply Elated

There are days when you are happy, and then there are days when you are ‘Just Happy’, because all other feelings are overpowered by this feeling of elation. That’s how I would describe yesterday i.e. 2^nd April 2011, a day that has etched itself in history. A day that was filled with all kinds of emotions and the most remarkable feature of that day was that it was the same for at least half a billion people.

It was the day of ICC world cup final. A day when the Indian cricket team won the world cup final. A day jam packed with all kinds of drama, suspense but in the end a very worthy and well executed climax.

A day that defied all logic, I know it because I have been a part of this crazy day. There was no logic when thousands of people across the country prayed for their Cricket team playing in Mumbai. There was no sense when people became so superstitious that they sat in the same place throughout the match. Can you find a reason when hundreds of people burnt crackers, distributed sweets, restaurants giving free meal etc.? Try reasoning out a state of delight that made people come out and dance on streets. People were jubilant they just hugged each other and congratulated. It was no Diwali, Eid, Holi, or Christmas, or wait was it all?

I dunno that, all I can say is that whatever it was it exhilarating. As Dhoni hit the ball for a six, we all jumped with joy, screamed so hard, shouted like retards. The common room of girl’s hostel was reverberating with ecstasy. And as we hugged each other, I could see the moisture in my friend’s eyes, whether it was because of shouting so hard or because of being overjoyed I had no clue, but whatever it was it was amazing in every sense. Everyone was brimming with pride and this was mirrored in their eyes.

There were calls from my friends I had not talked to in years, messages and calls of congratulations continue even today. And this is a topic of discussion that would not only fetch TRP’s for the news channels for some days but would stay there with all cricket lovers forever. It is feeling of immense pride to witness an event like this. What an occasion it was that brought people so close. Would you still dare say that cricket is ‘just a game’? Hell no, it is much more than that it is a phenomenon.

It defies all reason, judgment and logic because it is an amalgamation of passion, euphoria, love. These are emotions don’t try and find any sense or logic in them just sink into this sea of emotions and let yourself be intoxicated by this elixir of exultation. Enjoy... :)

Nature's Mud Pack

If you have never given the Indian Railways a chance to serve you then you have missed a lot. No I’m not talking about the quality of service provided by the Indian Railways; well that’s something beyond my ‘subject matter expertise’. I’m talking about the stories, the experiences, the learning you get while travelling by train. Personally I have loved my train travel, in sleeper and general class. It’s like plethora of colors of all kinds in front of you. And I believe that if you don’t take some pains during your student life then you are missing a lot of enjoyment, not to mention discovering different aspects of life.

The incident I’m going to talk about is from my first year of Engineering. It was the month of May and I was bunking (yes it was possible in your grads) some classes to attend a function back home. If you have spent a summer in north, especially in the UP-Delhi-Rajasthan region then you would know how grueling day travel is at that time. For those who have no idea about it, walking during the day is nothing less than finding your way out of a brick kiln. But as I was going home, nothing could mar my excitement. I chose a train in the afternoon because I could attend the first three classes of mine and more importantly I could manage reservation in that train only.

So with sufficient resources of liquids (water and soft-drinks) I boarded the train which to my surprise was just an hour late (must be my lucky day!). Thankfully I had a family of three and another couple sharing the compartment with me. I slumped into my lower berth and relaxed. But sitting next to the window was testing as the ‘Loo’ (the hot seasonal wind up north), an accomplice of the summer sun kept on making life difficult for me. Poor Pepsi and water were trying their best to save me from dehydration. As the train paced ahead I took out a book from my bag and started reading. The two set of aunties and uncles started chit chatting, the kid was given food and like a good baby (what every mother would love to have) went to sleep, even in that hot and perspiring weather. Kudos to the kid I said to myself.

The train moved with its usual pace, with the usual breaks in between. And after some two and hours of travel, with the sun still not satisfied with the nemesis caused, our train halted at some obscure station. I reluctantly shut down my book and as I glanced outside I saw something that could have moved anyone (at least that’s what I thought). I saw some young kids rushing towards the train with steel and train buckets full of water in their hands. They were trying to sell water and most of all they were barefooted. A chill ran down my spine on seeing them. How could anyone walk barefoot, it was like walking barefoot on burning coals, how could they? I had seen something like that in a movie (Swades) but I never was sure that something like this actually existed. Suddenly I felt Goosebumps in this hot weather.

As I watched them bewildered a small boy, 10 something approached us, nothing unusual about his face. The same sun tanned skin, the same malnutritioned body, protruding belly, weak hands and feet. He was just wearing shorts and a black thread around his neck, probably something his mother must have made him wear to ward off evil eye. He looked at us through his big yellow eyes and asked us if we wanted a glass of water for just Re. 1. But more than water, I wanted to ask him how come he was able to walk barefoot on that burning platform? How come his feeble hands were supporting the big bucket full of water? How come his body was sustained by those weak limbs? And how come he did not feel the ‘Loo’ across his body? Was he stronger, better equipped or ate something different to make him survive this?

My thoughts were interrupted by the discussion between the uncle and aunty sitting in front of me. They were having a dialogue in not so sober way as to who was to be blamed for not getting sufficient amount of water in the journey. The uncle finally gave the verdict that he was getting down to fill the bottle. And I was reminded about the boy standing near us. As I looked out I saw that the boy had moved a little far from us and was serving water to the travelers in the next compartment. I was disappointed; I wanted to talk to that kid. I was not sure about what, but I was dejected.

‘Our’ uncle also approached him to fill his 2 liter bottle. As he was filling water into the bottle, the train gave the whistle getting ready to move. Uncle started shouting at him, hurling abuses as to he was such a lazy worker. The kid hurried and while filling the bottle I could see that most of the water was falling down rather than getting into the bottle. As the train set off to move, uncle speeded up his own train of insults. I was feeling very bad for the kid and this uncle was starting to get on my nerves. How could he talk to a kid like that?

The kid was also trying to hurry up and in doing so he spilled more water. And as I saw the spilled water that was flowing towards the kid’s feet and taking along with it the mud and the dust I felt better. This was probably nature’s way of providing a mud-pack to soothe his blisters. I guess nature is not that cruel as we accuse it to be.

The bottle was full now, uncle owed him 2 rupees for the bottle, but by now the train had started moving and this man boarded the train. I was wondering when he was going to pay the kid. The kid was running after him, pleading him to pay and spilling more water. In the end he did not pay the kid, and the kid fell down splashing all his water covering all of his body with mud and water, the mud pack. For his face his tears were helping him. All I could do was take out a 5 rupee coin from my jeans pocket and throw it backward in his direction. I don’t know if he got the coin, or if it would have sufficed for his loss, but suddenly I felt my vision being blurred by tears. I’m not sure if they were because of sympathy for that boy or rage for that insensitive person.

I felt like shouting at that man, giving him my piece of mind. But as he came back with that wicked victorious smile his son woke up, asking for water, his t-shirt all wet because of perspiration. Aunty offered him water in a glass. I thought aunty would say something to her husband as she had been a spectator in all this. But to my surprise she did not say a word. I could have yelled at that man, but I had to exercise my self control to keep from doing that. This guy was probably his son’s hero, all I could say was, “Perhaps your son thinks you are his hero because you got him water when he needed but he doesn’t know that these are the tears of another child. For just 2 rupees you have made a child cry and spoiled his day. I guess he should be ashamed of you. Thank your stars that he is too young to realize it.”

This stunned the uncle aunty. The other couple was also silent. They had witnessed the incident. I was waiting they would retort but they did not. Possibly they had finally realized their mistake or were just too dumbstruck to snap back.

I moved my face towards the window and as the wind struck my face, drying out the tears across my face, I thought of the kid smoldered in nature’s mud pack. I wiped the remaining moisture from my face.