I have blue prints of quite a few posts in my mind, I have
written content for few but somehow I keep delaying them but events of past 2
days have forced me to come out of both my writer’s block and procrastination
and write about how unfortunate past few hours have been for me and after the
usual stirred up frustration and annoyance, when everything finally settled, I
was able to find the bliss we live in daily and we never appreciate.
The weekend was quite happening. We hired a Ford Eco Sport
and enjoyed the Mumbai Monsoons at its best. From driving in the slow drizzle
to fighting the heavy rains and winds and feel the life at its full intensity
hidden in the crowd rushing for their destination or a person enjoying a ‘cut
chai’ in complete leisure, all the colors of Mumbai were out there. There were
failed experiments at ‘Pizza by the bay’, experiencing the Mumbai Metro Crowd
at ‘Prithvi Café’, not getting entry at an expensive club because I was in
slippers (pretty much felt how Gandhi ji must have felt when he was kicked out
of train in South Africa), watching people let go of themselves and dance like
crazy on Punjabi songs in a Brewery (although I was probably the most bored
person out there completely disengaged from what was happening around).
This was pretty much what one will call a perfect beginning
for the weekend. And then the chain of unfortunate events began. The
triggering event was my default number which I am using for last 7 years without any trouble and
consequently which features as a registered number everywhere stopped working
for no reasons. I enquired with customer care representative who said that the
number is active thus the possible damage resides in SIM card only. Then I put
the same SIM card in another of my phone which I am using for last 5 years and
which has served me well as a faithful alarm clock. The SIM carried its
misfortune in the phone and after a while it also stopped working. In between,
Federer won 19th grand slam and increased his lead over Nadal significantly.
I made a mental plan of how to deal with these problems
which basically included buying a new phone and getting a new SIM card of same
number and slept peacefully not letting the misfortunes of the day become any
hindrance in my sleep. I reached my next destination at 6 AM in Vashi from
where I have to pick a bus which will take me back to my office in Nagothane, a
remote location which is quite tough to access conveniently. The same spot
where I waited for 2 hours just a week back during the evening time and got to
know only later that the bus doesn’t come there during evening. I waited
peacefully and patiently for the bus in heavy rains watching the activities nearby confident enough now that the bus will come as I had already picked it
once from the same spot last week during the morning hours. 5 minutes passed, some anxiety, 10 minutes passed, a
lot of anxiety, 15 minutes passed, panic level to the level of extreme
frustration and ambiguity.
I assumed I had missed the bus somehow in the low
visibility of heavy rains and the driver as usual never bothered to pick me
from the stop. I made a few fruitless call to get help from anyone who is commuting
by a car that may give me a lift but I was quite late. Due thanks to technology
and the respected people who have created many wonderful applications, I get to
know that I can board a train from Panvel around 9:50 and reach Nagothane
around 11:30. I went from Vashi to Panvel and got myself a ticket. So far so
good, coming office late by 3 hours is not a big deal. I have never travelled
alone in a passenger train is also not a big deal. I am quite frustrated by my
helplessness to get things in control and plan everything out well is also not
a big deal. The big deal is to reach the office somehow without any further obstacle.
I boarded the train, didn’t get a seat as expected in such
massive crowd, found a spot, stood up quite frustrated like a rich spoiled brat ( How I wish I was) experiencing the real India for the first time trying to avoid any eye
contact with anyone submersing myself in my headphones. The journey was smooth and
quite scenic, saw a lot of greenery, rivers and multiple waterfalls which
calmed my mood. Reached the destination smoothly and got a company bus to get
back to office before the conductor said that I didn’t have a particular card (
I had no idea about this card) and I can’t board the bus. I am not the kind of
person who generally gets aggressive, but I poured all my frustration on the
poor conductor who then let me sit without any further trouble.
I asked the person sitting next to me whether the bus will
go to office or not and he said it will (guess what, it didn’t). So I reached
back to my room in the plant township with whole the frustration getting converted into a troubling
migraine which left me with no will power and mental state to go to office. I took a leave,
slept for few hours, woke up quite refreshed and happy and turned on my laptop
to watch GOT Season 7 and guess what, it also crashed. This time I was beyond
getting angry or frustrated. I laughed for quite few minutes like Arya Stark
laughed hysterically when she got to know her aunt is dad. I was at the stage
of self realisation, self actualisation, nirvana, complete detachment and
whatever highest form of spirituality one can get into. I realised that god is
playing with me, I am just a puppet today providing him entertainment.
I calmed myself down, luckily whatever stupid videos I used
to see during engineering days helped me out to start my laptop. I am able to
start my mobile by some ‘jugaad’ but it keeps on shutting after working fine
for few minutes, meanwhile I learned how to use my laptop as an alarm clock. My
new phone will be delivered soon. I have to make a trip again to get a new SIM
card. After so much chaos, I just hope everything will be back to usual again. The same peaceful life with everything in control and functioning.
Thus the leanings in past few hours, we might not always
get what we wanted or dreamed of but even a normal day is bliss. If we are not
having any trouble, it’s a bliss. There are so many people fighting problems
which didn’t have touch us yet. People failed to catch their trains or flights
and not reaching their destinations to miss something really crucial. People
who lost the only mobile they can afford, people who are commuting daily by
public transport dealing with all the uncertainties it bring, people fighting
the adverse weather and going out to make a living. Most of the problems we
have are quite 1st world problems, they need to be recognised and
addressed as they are problems, but at times destiny put us out from our world
of comfort and give us a taste of real world.
I am not the best person to deal with ambiguity, I like
detailed plans. I plan a lot to make life smoother and that in turns make me
more prone to damage when things do not go as planned. I learned to be more
flexible and open to accept alternative options which may not be the best but
fulfils the bare minimum. To summarise, I had quite a happening weekend and I
just hope the experience of past few hours will add a little to my maturity. Realising the meaning of something I had written few years back:
"Life may not be as good I could be, but life also ain't that bad as it could be"
