What is this life if, full of care
My room mate drops me at Kherwadi Bus stop (Bandra) daily. I take a bus from there to my office in Worli. This whole process takes around an hour or so: 20-25 minutes to reach Kherwadi, another 15-20 minutes for the bus to arrive, again a 15-20 minutes foe the bus to reach Worli and finally 10-15 minutes for me to walk from the stop to my office. All in all, I take around 65-75 minutes to arrive at the office. It took me 45 minutes today.
I got up early, walked to the bus stop near my office, waited 10 minutes and took a bus to office. From Andheri to Worli, it took flat 20 minutes. The traffic was thin and there was no hurdle in between. And we reached the sea-link. I cross that bridge daily. The only difference was that today I was not pre-occupied by thought of reaching office on time. In fact, I was before time. That my mind was at peace, I looked with awe the buildings across the sea water. I never saw that before. I found it picturesque. Often in movies there are scenes in which people are standing on a shore and buildings are rising across the ocean. I always found that fascinating. Looking at that today made me feel fantastic. I could even notice the beauty in the white stripes at the centre of the dark roads. It was nice to look at the stripes going past you as the bus sped through them.
When I entered the bus, there was no rush to get inside. In fact, quite a few people got down thereby creating space for us. We were two who were getting in. We let them come out at ease. Since the other person was a female, I could show courtesy and let her in first rather than rush to ensure getting a seat in an otherwise scenario. I got the seat. The sun shone on my face. It was pretty cool inside which made the sunlight even dearer.
It was then that I thought about how a relaxed mind can look beyond the obvious. Till yesterday, there was nothing visible to my naked eye while I travelled the same route and today that I had time, I could see wonderful things all around. I could relate these things to our working styles as well. There is an American style of working and a European style. American style is “Work hard, party harder”. Everything is done fast: fast food, short movies, and even shorter relationships!
European style is more laid-back. People value life. Spend time with families, enjoying. This doesn’t make them any less productive, just that they do the things keeping quite long term into perspective. Time is given to think and implement. This keeps the stress levels down. Without mentioning, this takes care of work-life balance.
Unfortunately, the world is moving towards American ways, India in specific. It’s cool to be like Americans. The great American Dream still exists in numerous Indian minds. It is like the two brothers shown in Taare Zameen Par. Americans are more like the elder brother. Europeans are more like the younger one (after he was cured).
I relate more to the European way. Even if the growth is little less, the process of growth and the life spent should be enjoyed. I want to learn photography and then roam around in Mumbai, clicking randomly without thinking about anything. A pursuit without a goal is done for mere happiness, nothing else.
William Henry Davies aptly summarizes what I feel:
What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare!
I got up early, walked to the bus stop near my office, waited 10 minutes and took a bus to office. From Andheri to Worli, it took flat 20 minutes. The traffic was thin and there was no hurdle in between. And we reached the sea-link. I cross that bridge daily. The only difference was that today I was not pre-occupied by thought of reaching office on time. In fact, I was before time. That my mind was at peace, I looked with awe the buildings across the sea water. I never saw that before. I found it picturesque. Often in movies there are scenes in which people are standing on a shore and buildings are rising across the ocean. I always found that fascinating. Looking at that today made me feel fantastic. I could even notice the beauty in the white stripes at the centre of the dark roads. It was nice to look at the stripes going past you as the bus sped through them.
When I entered the bus, there was no rush to get inside. In fact, quite a few people got down thereby creating space for us. We were two who were getting in. We let them come out at ease. Since the other person was a female, I could show courtesy and let her in first rather than rush to ensure getting a seat in an otherwise scenario. I got the seat. The sun shone on my face. It was pretty cool inside which made the sunlight even dearer.
It was then that I thought about how a relaxed mind can look beyond the obvious. Till yesterday, there was nothing visible to my naked eye while I travelled the same route and today that I had time, I could see wonderful things all around. I could relate these things to our working styles as well. There is an American style of working and a European style. American style is “Work hard, party harder”. Everything is done fast: fast food, short movies, and even shorter relationships!
European style is more laid-back. People value life. Spend time with families, enjoying. This doesn’t make them any less productive, just that they do the things keeping quite long term into perspective. Time is given to think and implement. This keeps the stress levels down. Without mentioning, this takes care of work-life balance.
Unfortunately, the world is moving towards American ways, India in specific. It’s cool to be like Americans. The great American Dream still exists in numerous Indian minds. It is like the two brothers shown in Taare Zameen Par. Americans are more like the elder brother. Europeans are more like the younger one (after he was cured).
I relate more to the European way. Even if the growth is little less, the process of growth and the life spent should be enjoyed. I want to learn photography and then roam around in Mumbai, clicking randomly without thinking about anything. A pursuit without a goal is done for mere happiness, nothing else.
William Henry Davies aptly summarizes what I feel:
What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare!
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