Connected
Dinesh K Kapila
This world can be so connected and so circular can be the relationships, that one can only wonder. A few days ago the gardener walked up to my wife and simply said his salary had to be increased by Rs 300/-. He was not giving her a choice, the way he framed it, it was a demand. Well, the wife told me he worked well and we could consider it, if nothing else, we ought to think he had some major financial problems. I grumbled that we had just increased his salary a few months ago, hevhad to explain this demand. Pat came the answer, then you handle it. Well, I thoughtfully did so, only to be told firmly and categorically that Rs 300 had to be increased. No choice there ! After conceding I would think it over while actually thinking if he walked away then who would maintain the lawn, I noticed our servant Ajay just smiled at the exchange and looked away Later on I told Ajay while leaving for office that the gardener was making an unjustified demand. Moreover why only Rs 300 was being demanded. Why not Rs 500 or Rs 250. There was no answer. He told me I should maybe ask our driver, Gurcharan.
Now why in the world would I ask Gurcharan. Well, it so happened as I subsequently learnt, that Gurcharan had turned into a landlord at his village and hired out a room at his house to the Gardener. Lately he had increased the rent by Rs 300/-, exactly the increase demanded by the gardener ! The world is round and that also in a complicated manner! Here three individuals from different regions, one working part time, were all connected, without us even knowing it. And when I asked Gurcharan about it, he smiled sheepishly and said he was only following the advice of his family elders !
I have noticed this over the years, you can find a connection wherever you go and it’s actually unnerving at times. The world is turning ever so closer as communications improve rapidly. Time and space are getting squeezed and the trend is accelerating.
Once on a holiday to a major forested District in the In the south, We ran into a middle ranking Forest Officer. He not only knew all about Punjab but had visited quite a few districts. And knew quite a few people too. An additional memory I have of him, after a friendly round or rather rounds, he started whispering loudly again and again that it was better to be posted in Punjab as huge grants for major forest projects would be released. His state being surplus in forests, Grants would be limited, if at all. Poor guy !
People run into each other across the world and catch up, only to lose contact on return. This typically human characteristic has sort of haunted me. You meet someone a couple of thousand miles away, exchanging notes and even gossip, glad to know mutually loved places back home and sharing acquaintances and then it’s all a distant memory a few days later. I suppose each place and incident has a specific context, time and space in our lives. A relationship, be it friendship or love, may be nurtured in a particular place and period, once you change the geographic context, the relationship fades. That is maybe how life is meant to be.
Once I was in a store, looking to make my payment and a quick getaway, I groaned inwardly. There were queues at each counter and after zeroing in on the shortest queue, I joined the line. The middle aged guy in front of me offered me his place with a smile of recognition. I refused, politely, thanking him. He stated he knew where I worked and had heard me speak on Development and what not. Well a connection! We got to chat a bit, he was a middle ranking guy in a Bank. And when two reasonablly dressed guys walked past, sort of nodding to him, it got to him. As soon as they were out of earshot, he took off.
Till the time of making payment, waiting for me to make payment, and then collecting our stuff, he carried on about those two regular guys who walked past him with a nod. Turns out they were vendors occupying places under a tree and against a wall just outside his the branch of his bank in a posh sector. They sold tea, buns and snacks, operating from Steel trunks on a cycle and some basic utensils. Over the years, around 25 years actually, each had a reasonable fixed deposit at his branch, he told me around Rs 30 lakh each, they had built houses, rented out another house each and educated their children. I could detect envy as he went on and on ! The final straw seemed to have been standing in the same queue at the upmarket store ! Connections going awry I guess !
With Whatsapp, Facebook and the net, we have managed to retain our presence in each other’s lives, even if momentarily, but I still feel a physical proximity lends the real touch and memory. After meeting actually in real time, the virtual world may nurture it, as we have a physical context to relate to. But yes, the way certain episodes and posts come flooding in from all corners, the connections are only increasing.
Dinesh K Kapila
This world can be so connected and so circular can be the relationships, that one can only wonder. A few days ago the gardener walked up to my wife and simply said his salary had to be increased by Rs 300/-. He was not giving her a choice, the way he framed it, it was a demand. Well, the wife told me he worked well and we could consider it, if nothing else, we ought to think he had some major financial problems. I grumbled that we had just increased his salary a few months ago, hevhad to explain this demand. Pat came the answer, then you handle it. Well, I thoughtfully did so, only to be told firmly and categorically that Rs 300 had to be increased. No choice there ! After conceding I would think it over while actually thinking if he walked away then who would maintain the lawn, I noticed our servant Ajay just smiled at the exchange and looked away Later on I told Ajay while leaving for office that the gardener was making an unjustified demand. Moreover why only Rs 300 was being demanded. Why not Rs 500 or Rs 250. There was no answer. He told me I should maybe ask our driver, Gurcharan.
Now why in the world would I ask Gurcharan. Well, it so happened as I subsequently learnt, that Gurcharan had turned into a landlord at his village and hired out a room at his house to the Gardener. Lately he had increased the rent by Rs 300/-, exactly the increase demanded by the gardener ! The world is round and that also in a complicated manner! Here three individuals from different regions, one working part time, were all connected, without us even knowing it. And when I asked Gurcharan about it, he smiled sheepishly and said he was only following the advice of his family elders !
I have noticed this over the years, you can find a connection wherever you go and it’s actually unnerving at times. The world is turning ever so closer as communications improve rapidly. Time and space are getting squeezed and the trend is accelerating.
Once on a holiday to a major forested District in the In the south, We ran into a middle ranking Forest Officer. He not only knew all about Punjab but had visited quite a few districts. And knew quite a few people too. An additional memory I have of him, after a friendly round or rather rounds, he started whispering loudly again and again that it was better to be posted in Punjab as huge grants for major forest projects would be released. His state being surplus in forests, Grants would be limited, if at all. Poor guy !
People run into each other across the world and catch up, only to lose contact on return. This typically human characteristic has sort of haunted me. You meet someone a couple of thousand miles away, exchanging notes and even gossip, glad to know mutually loved places back home and sharing acquaintances and then it’s all a distant memory a few days later. I suppose each place and incident has a specific context, time and space in our lives. A relationship, be it friendship or love, may be nurtured in a particular place and period, once you change the geographic context, the relationship fades. That is maybe how life is meant to be.
Once I was in a store, looking to make my payment and a quick getaway, I groaned inwardly. There were queues at each counter and after zeroing in on the shortest queue, I joined the line. The middle aged guy in front of me offered me his place with a smile of recognition. I refused, politely, thanking him. He stated he knew where I worked and had heard me speak on Development and what not. Well a connection! We got to chat a bit, he was a middle ranking guy in a Bank. And when two reasonablly dressed guys walked past, sort of nodding to him, it got to him. As soon as they were out of earshot, he took off.
Till the time of making payment, waiting for me to make payment, and then collecting our stuff, he carried on about those two regular guys who walked past him with a nod. Turns out they were vendors occupying places under a tree and against a wall just outside his the branch of his bank in a posh sector. They sold tea, buns and snacks, operating from Steel trunks on a cycle and some basic utensils. Over the years, around 25 years actually, each had a reasonable fixed deposit at his branch, he told me around Rs 30 lakh each, they had built houses, rented out another house each and educated their children. I could detect envy as he went on and on ! The final straw seemed to have been standing in the same queue at the upmarket store ! Connections going awry I guess !
With Whatsapp, Facebook and the net, we have managed to retain our presence in each other’s lives, even if momentarily, but I still feel a physical proximity lends the real touch and memory. After meeting actually in real time, the virtual world may nurture it, as we have a physical context to relate to. But yes, the way certain episodes and posts come flooding in from all corners, the connections are only increasing.
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