In Vacant or in Pensive Mood

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to meet and interact with a few students from the USA who were taking classes at my department as part of a study abroad programme. As it turns out, India and USA are worlds apart in many ways and (quite obviously) these students made many observations, pointing out to some stark differences they saw and asking us a lot of questions. One such thing they pointed out to was the fact that motorists in India honked a lot. And guess what, in the USA, it's considered "rude" if someone uses the horn - unless it's an emergency situation! Indians and Americans - how different we are! If you've stayed in India, even for a day, you would have noticed that in India, even the rowdiest of motor vehicles - the lorries/trucks - politely ask you to "Horn Ok Please".  In most other commercial use four-wheelers, you would have seen a slightly more abrupt, but equally loud and clear message to "Sound Horn".  W

On some days, my heart is overwhelmed and my thoughts are a blur. For no particular reason. My body goes to auto-pilot mode on such days. I can ride from home to work without noticing a thing. I can sit through the day at my desk without getting a single task done. S PA C E D OUT. Such an apt word. Not just because I am mentally absent from earth (and therefore "spaced"), but also because my mind itself looks like a black oblivion, with thoughts, like fiery red celestial particles of dust/rocks, swirling around in it. I take to writing on such days. An empty word document in front of me is like therapy. Like some force that can calm the thoughts that are in constant motion within my head. They slow down, coming forward to show themselves, word after word, in front of my mind's eye. I type each word I see, putting them down, not knowing what would come next. As the words line up next to each other on the blank page, I begin to see what they mean. Clarity. Th