Am back ...

Its been a long hiatus from my ground of expression. A lot has happened over the past couple of months. For good I’m sure and the life’s seldom been better. And the contrarian is back and for good.

What better place to come back in this field of expression than the airport lounge where some of my better posts have originated. Its been a long drive to the airport thanks to Mumbai traffic and as icing on the cake I meet/see/encounter these two gentle(men?). Both at the counter of Café Coffee Day.

The first encounter : I’m trying to buy some grub for myself in the limited cash that I have left with me (it’s the month end remember!!). Suddenly this feminine voice rings into my ears “Excuse me have we met?” I turn around and end up facing a guy to my surprise ! Obviously the fact that it’s the first time I’m seeing this person I retort “No. I don’t think so.” And the rest of the conversation goes like this

Guy: “Syndhem”

Me: “No”

Guy: “Aditya Birla Group”

Me: “No. I’m with Reliance Retail”

Guy: “So you with the garments biz. Sit at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City.”

Me: “No”

Guy: “Vile Parle”

Me: “Sir, with due apologies, I’ve had a long day. Would you please excuse me.”

The second encounter was a passive one with yours truly just watching this young fellow with a very feminine walk. The person walks up to the CCD counter and asks in detail about each flavour of the coffee. Then selects a couple of items. “Bill amount Rs 101 Sir” says the guy at the cash counter. “No. I’ll not give 1 Re. I will not. Oh but I have Rs 2. I’ll give Rs 2.” “Where is the rest room?” “Would you please keep this for me while I come back from the rest room.” Then with the advent of a few of the fair skin people around, the person comes up with the statement that “Who are these fairs?”. That does it. Time to change my place and so I make a quite exit without listening to more of those stupid statements.

But it sets me about thinking. Oscar Wilde said “The mystery lies in the visible and not the invisible.” Each time a meet an interesting person (for whatever reasons that may make him interesting), it just reaffirms my belief in what he said. Each person or the person next to you itself presents himself/herself as a mystery. While we may keep running to look around that doesn’t meet the eye, the real challenge may lie right in front of our eyes and we may be truly oblivious of it. To go back to the people I met, what would it have been to try to know what exactly was his motive rather than arriving at pre-conceived conclusions. Or what would it be to see from the perspective of the second person and see if it was merely to seek attention that he was saying what he did?

Well what’s the point of this post? Maybe nothing. Just to tell myself again that each day there is something to learn. Each person is a mystery to be unraveled. And each moment a new discovery.