New Lessons everyday !

Living alone and all by yourself teaches you much more than you can ever anticipate. I am not saying that you would learn rocket science theories...but those very little and small things which we tend to forget as we grow up.

I was in the IMU(Indiana Memorial Union) lounge yesterday. I was whiling away my time reading some stuff on my laptop for the entire day. Just then I saw a clutch pencil lying on the table near by. Some one must have left it there.And I smirked...thought to myself as to how careless can people be..leaving things like this..having no value for small things...I did not even realise that when I picked it up to revolve around my fingers. Before I knew, it was evening and I had already taken a nap sitting on the couch. A friend of mine called up inviting me to play Lawn tennis.I packed my bags to leave for the court. Before leaving I was extra cautious to look around. Did not want to leave any of my belongings there..While I was unplugging my laptop, I reminded myself to pick up the power chord. I don't know but there was something which gave me a feeling that I might loose the chord today. But I was a self proclaimed super genius..i cannot be careless..I left IMU with a sense of being responsible. Played at the tennis court, reached home, had my dinner and then opened my laptop. Nicely chatted with folks back home, saw a coupla videos on Youtube. At 12 in the night, when my battery signalled that it is going low, I searched for my charger. Ransacked my entire bag but could not find it. I was anxious and scared. I did not want to loose charger of my new laptop..and that too so soon.I started tracing back the events which had happened during the day. There was a possibility that I have left it at IMU, but could not be sure as I remembered reminding myself to pick it up before leaving. I searched for the help desk number of IMU. But at 12.30 in the night, i was highly doubtful that some one would answer my call. But, I was lucky enough because some dude did pick up my call. I explained him my concern, but even he was not sure about the missing charger. I sank in my chair, thinking of how expensive would a new charger be ! I decided that first thing I would do in the morning would be to go and check it myself at IMU. While I was planning all this for the next morning my hand went in the pocket of my jacket and I realised that I had the same clutch pencil in my pocket which I had seen at IMU. It was the same pencil at whose owner I had laughed at..damn, I muttered ! How could I have picked up some one elses' stuff. It was unintentional, but now it was in my hands.I could not have explained the same to the owner had he / she conjured infront of me at this very moment. I started thinking that my missing laptop charger is the result of me picking up some one elses stuff ! May be that person must have come back looking for the pencil, but would not have found it, coz i picked it up. I decided that not for my charger, but for dropping this pencil I would go back to IMU and keep it at the same place where I had seen it for the first time.

So I got up early morning and left for IMU at 9. I usually like walking and avoid taking the college bus.Today, I realised that I was walking with double the pace I normally walk with, wondering if I would get my charger back...Thinking all this, I finally reached IMU. Went traight upto the couch I was sitting y'day. I could not see my charger anywhere there. So I went to the front desk crew. God Bless those souls..they had kept my charger with the them..I was so relieved to have it back...

After spending some more time at IMU, I was about to leave for my work at the Library Kiosk. Just about when I was to leave, I put my hands in the pocket of my jacket and realised that I had the same pencil in my pocket, reminding me of its original location..I smiled, thanked the lifeless thing for teaching me something new and kept it back on the table I had found it a day before..

Smiling all the way, I headed towards the Library Kiosk for my on campus job at the cafeteria...

Comfortable Silence...

" SILENCE " One word which has different interpretations. In primary school, when I was asked to remain silent...with finger on mi lips..it seemed like a punishment.Damn..i was thrown out of the class if I did not remain so.. During High School days, i craved for silent surroundings so that i could study in peace. Aha..then came the unforgettable college days where I discovered 101 ways to interpret silence. If my closest friend was silent, it meant it is probably the most dangerous time to fool around, when my prof. went silent in response to a question it took me a fraction of second to infer that he does not know about the subject, when the entire class was silent - it meant that the attendance sheet is yet to be circulated in the class.

When I travelled in the local trains and buses in mumbai, i came across yet another kind of silence...perhaps the most comfortable one ! The silence between the commuters. No one bothered to speak to each other,no one really cared who you are or from where you come, it hardly mattered as to who was sitting besides you. You had space of your own even in a 2 by 2 seat where you were not answerable to the person who was sitting at a distance of not even 1/2 a cm. I guess, this is one of the metro cultures which I love the most. Had the same situation been in my home town - bikaner or jaipur, people on board would have become best pals with each other by now. I so remember when i was travelling from Bikaner to Mumbai in a train with my grandmother, she had almost managed to figure out a far off relationship with another family who happened to be in the same cabin as ours. The link was traced from chacha, kaka, mama, bhatija and all possible permutations and combinations of relations were applied to arrive at a conclusion that my co-passengers were related to us. ***Phew***

But what the heck, i love the soltitude in a crowded bus and the silence which exists !