While commuting by train today morning, I noticed that I am surrounded by several worlds at the same time in the confined space of the train compartment. The few many people who we travel with carry their own little worlds with them and on observing closely I realized that there is so much to learn and reminisce just by plain observation.
I was surprised by the thought that though I commute by the same train everyday with the same bunch of people, I have not once tried to converse with them. I see the same faces surrounding me for good three quarters of an hour and yet i know none of them. Thinking about it now makes me wonder as to what stops me from talking to people around me? Am I that engrossed in my books that I’m totally disconnected with the world around me?
Talking and establishing a conversation is one of the greatest gifts mankind has received from God. One can do wonders just by conversing with someone.
You can share knowledge
You can win hearts
You can lighten up someones world
You can have ever-lasting relationships
and still I never even gave it a thought. I was just too content with the world my book drags me into once I start reading.
However; in my observations today,
I noticed a mother trying to pacify her baby. The little girl who is not accustomed to congested atmospheres was throwing fits of cries and expressing that she needs some bit of peace and comfort that could not be found in the train compartment. I could not stop thinking that sometime in the past my own mother must have struggled to bring me to peace in a similar situation.
I enjoyed eaves-dropping on a conversation between a group of girls who have recently started going to college. They were blissfully consumed in their discussion about what guys see in girls and how good it feels when you overlook someone while knowing that they’re craving for your attention.It brought back memories of good old college days when I’d enjoyed similar moments with my friends.Oh! how i miss those days!
I watched a lady reading a book by one of the Indian authors Ravinder Singh that I’ve read earlier. This book is the author’s first and was an immediate success with the heart-arresting story about his life. Its an indescribable feeling that I experienced while I noticed her face twist and change and take different expressions while she was reading through the book. You smile, then frown, then laugh when there is something exponentially humorous and sometimes suppress an urge to sob when its emotionally too overwhelming. I relived the book in those few moments that I watched her.
All this makes me realize that we can relate to myriad situations and feel an attachment with them as all of us; at some or the other point of our lives have experienced similar phases of time. And when we have those memories fresh in our minds, we relive those moments every-time we encounter them, sometimes bringing joy, sometimes loneliness and sometimes just memories….
Asha Seth 