Another day in Paradise

My friend and colleague decided to drop me home after office hours last evening. Following a sudden downpour, we were forced to take shelter at a BMTC bus stand for while. Our travel was smooth and my “Schumi” (for Schumacher style of driving) friend was driving through the busy road by cutting and squeezing through the heavy traffic. He remains cautious when I’m the pillion rider.
I had an opportunity to glance at the vehicles beside our scooter at a traffic signal - one of the busiest crossings of south-west Bangalore. Suddenly, a hawk-eyed motorist, after crossing the positions of the traffic cops (generally, it was retiring time for the cops), raised his accelerator and sped off.
Though my friend was provoked by this unlawful act and wanted to take action, I prevented him from doing so telling from behind that we have a whole lifetime to reach our destination.
A dimly lit Sumo caught my eyes. Vermillion smeared, Ganeshji was seen resting peacefully in “abhaya mudra” (fear not), over the dashboard under a garland of dead flowers. I also saw four others with a tired look, eagerly waiting to call it a day, except the driver. The drivers work overtime to earn a few extra bucks (work hours directly proportional to the money). At times, they are at the steering wheel for 18-20 exhaustive hours. These industrious drivers, when they get the odd free time in between drops, have their lunch and take a nap.
A fatigued middle-aged person sitting beside the driver was attending a call and was probably discussing about tasks to be completed with his project team, or conversing with his partner to round-off things, which needed his immediate attention at home.
It seemed he was desperately trying to quickly close the conference call and rest a little bit before resuming his routine work. The other three sitting behind him were from the “Generation X”. One of them was audibly disconnected (courtesy ear plugs) from the outer world as he was absorbed in enjoying music by ‘nodding’ his head periodically and relaxing after a hard day’s work. Thanks to easy availability of appliances like I-pods and cell phones, there is no need of carrying their heavier cousin (better known as Walkman).
While wondering how easy it was to disconnect oneself from the world, I noticed the person who was sitting beside him was also visually disconnected, either sleeping or meditating. A friend of mine says that the “Best time to meditate is when you are commuting”, I tried implementing the same, and as a result, I ended up snoozing during my return journey. Anyway, I found this as a better way to relax and I practice it till date.
Believe me, a quick nap is as refreshing as having a bottle of cola on dry and thirsty day. The last person sitting beside the window was attentive. He didn’t want to ignore anything that was happening around him as I could see his weary eyes catching glimpses. Unfortunately, he caught me observing. I am sure he must have wondered as to why I was looking at them with curiosity.
Merely in the two minutes of waiting at the signal, the whole world revolved around me with so many things taking place. While I was still thinking about the scene, I reached my destination. I was dropped, but I couldn’t drop this view that lingered in my mind long after that.
A quote by Donald Curtis is relevant today – “Relaxation means releasing all concern and tension and letting the natural order of life flow through one's being”