Evening at Zambezi River, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, May 2015
and so does everything around... the situation, the people, the perspective, the needs.... and we too change.... the wise and courageous seek change.. because only change is constant!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

172. Mind Games

On that day, I was traveling from Mumbai to Pune once again. During summer vacations it is difficult to travel on this route. Though there are innumerable options, they are all crowded. It is hard to book tickets in advance and even if you have 'reserved' seat, it is of no use is my experience. So, there is an inevitable discussion among the co-passengers on "vacation - crowd - railway reservation - corruption - railway management - government - increased population ..." and so on. Some respond to the situation coolly and some show their experience by saying something like "Oh! This crowd is nothing. Last year I was traveling to ...." 

We Indians like to discuss. The discussion does not end even if everybody agrees. The disagreement is generally on un-important points. These points vary according to the season and situation. On that particualr day everybody agreed that 'the summer is getting intolerable' -and on this the discussion continued. 

In my childhood the topic of summer had a short life. The summer was either mild or strong or severe. Now even kids talk in terms of temperatures like "Yesterday Pune was 39  (degree Celsius), our Mumbai is much cooler you know, it was only 34." The credit goes to 24X7 news channels as well internet. I never find news on TV channels interesting, but people refer to those news bites seriously in various discussions. 

Everybody was sweating during the journey. The price of cold-drinks was making poor parents sweat more. Then the discussion as expected turned towards 'water' and especially 'drinking water." People remembered how the delayed monsoon caused trouble last year and hoped that "this year the monsoon is on time."

The discussion continued. The train passed Kalyan station and then Karjat station. The train was on time. People were planning what they would do when they reach Pune. Outside, the Sun was blazing, the hills were barren and dry. Everybody was waiting for the end of the journey. 

When we reached around Monkey Hill, there was a sudden change in atmosphere. There was wild breeze and the sky was covered with black clouds. The blazing Sun had disappeared behind those clouds. There was the typical smell of earth when it rains .. and within moments we met stormy Rain.

I love rain. Even by its hope, I become happy and fresh. My mind becomes rain when it actually rains outside. 

I was happy. I looked at my co-passengers and was surprised!  Nobody was in a mood to welcome Rain. All windows were hurriedly shut down. The train lost its speed. It stopped for ten minutes in Khandala station and took twenty minutes to reach Lonvala from Khandala. Passengers were not comfortable and everybody was looking at his/her watch after every minute.

Slowly, people started complaining about the delay, about the railway management, about the rain. Someone said, "Why this rain had to come only now! It  could have come later!!" Others agreed. They continued the discussion on 'how untimely the rain always arrives". Some other even suggested that "why it does not rain only on agricultural and forest lands? Why do we people in cities need rain for?" The argument no doubt was unwise, foolish and disastrous. It clearly showed selfishness and lack of understanding and respect for Nature. However, nobody argued and it seemed to be that everybody was thinking on the similar lines. 

I found the change in response of the people around me rather funny. Why are we always dissatisfied with what we have? In summer, have we ever tried to exchange a smile with the Sun? In summer we complain about the heat, in winter we complain about the cold and in rainy seasons we complain about rain. Why do we do that? Why do we behave and respond like this? Why do we think that only a farmer could be happy with the arrival of rain? 

"I should get what I want" is not a very healthy attitude. 
And do we really know what we want? 
Are we aware that our wants, our desires, our demands keep on changing. 
Whatever we have, we are not happy with; and whatever we don't have, we always want. 
What kind of Mind Game(s) are we playing? 
Will it ever end? 
**

14 comments:

  1. People have lost track of their own.

    They arrived on this earth for some purpose.


    But unfortunately this birth is going as waste. Well almost.

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  2. Humanity has been consumed by urbanisation. People don't understand what they strive for. They always strive for money and complain that they are not happy while it should have been the other way round.

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  3. Is it restricted to Indians only?
    i think,it si a common habbit all over

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  4. Makk, I think it is a journey and everybody is at different stage. Ultimately nothing is wasted, I believe.

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  5. Dreamer, money is means to happiness .. but it is not the end , I completely agree. But is it due to only urbanization? I don't know.

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  6. Chowlajee, it might be common habit as you have pointed out.

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  7. Savita tai...this post is really nice and even I liked the title of it..
    People like to complain is a truth all over the world..at my work every single day I experience the same thing..
    Your travel experience is just like our life journey.Many small things happen do they make us happy? But yes,worries and sadness comes fast...why most of the people are lost?...

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  8. I guess its because most of us are not able to SEE these patterns in ourselves. SEEING is the start of liberation.

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  9. Shriya, you are right. Travel experiences are many times like life journey. And maybe, I need to correct that 'we Indians' .. statement a bit.

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  10. JP, sometimes I wonder what comes first? Is it liberation? Or is it perspective? I guess it is a mix of both.. at times this and at other times that :-)

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  11. the discussion itself shows how the mind is always complaining,responding habitually.the questions you have asked in the episode if asked by everybody to oneself then surely a new way of thinking will start.

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  12. Anonymous, I guess many people keep on asking such questions to themselves .. sometime we know, many times we never know!

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  13. The whole world is same. Complaining about heat/cold/rain/snow is just a way of making talk when you don't have other things, sometimes just to break ice. With our neighbours, I have frequent exchanges on "how hot it is", "when will summer come, it is still too cold", "how cold it is"!

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  14. Sunilbhai, yes, such conversation has a utility aspect!

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