Small Conversation….

Strange Wilderness – Have we lost our Faith or Belief

Quite strange, we meet a lot of people, we talk, we think, we examine, we approach, we respite, we friends, we envy, and at the end, we are on our way Home. Something of this happened today. Not that it’s something new to happen, but this convo was from nowhere, and had left me baffled since then. So, here is what my small conversation was all about.

I was coming from office, when this happened. I stopped at the bus stop near to my office (opp. Food Bazar, Baner Road, Aundh) and was waiting for the Bus/Vikram for a drop to Baner Phatta (my destination to home). Suddenly a man approached me. The guy (Mr. X from now) seemed to be in his late 40’s or early 50’s. He was waiting for the Bus (that’s my assumption).  So, Mr. X came close to me, and started the convo.

Mr X.: Time kya hola (something of this sort in Marathi, which I solefully interpreted to be “What is the time now?”)
Me: “Paune Che” [Quarter to 6] (Showing him the Citizen Eco Friendly, Perpetual Calendar silver watch of mine)
Mr. X: (Understanding I don’t speak Marathi, a smart man I did say). “Bus nahi aayi abhi. Main Five Thirty se khada hoon”
Me: (Smiling) “Abhi aane waali hogi”
Mr. X: “So where are you going”
Me: “Baner Phatta” (smiling again)
Mr. X: (sigh of relief) “Oh, woh to pass hi hai, tumko to 6-Seater mil jayega udhar ke liye”
Me: “Haan, main bas uska hi intezaar kar raha hoon”
Mr. X: “You work”
Me: “Yes”
Mr. X: “Where”
Me: “Symphony Services”….”Symphony”
Mr. X: “tumne kya kara hai kisme kara hai”  (I thought he was confused with the question)
Me: (confused like him with the question, the first thing that came to my proud mind – B.Tech, but then broke it into a more simpler form to avoid further confusion) “Engineering”
Mr. X:”Kisme, kisme kara hai” (I guess he knew what was the communication gap – Gosh, I felt he was the right manager, coz that’s one thing even the managers of today don’t understand)
Me:”Electronics – Remembering I don’t even know the ‘E’ of it though”
Mr. X: (To my surprise) “Kahan se ho”
Me: (A lil afraid, thinking if he is the Red Choga waala from Bal Thakeray gang, but holding my breath and courage, I responded) “Uttarakhand”
Mr. X: “Kahan????” (I figured out that questioning self of his, coz many people here seems to be quite poor with Knowledge of the General )
Me: “Uttar Pradesh ka jo vibhajan hua tha, na who”
Mr. X: “Oh accha” (as if he understood of remembered that all). Then again, within a pause he spoke back “Brahmin ho”
Me: “No, Thakur” (felt proud speaking that out, but my mind was surmised what this is all about)
Mr. X: “Veg ho ki Non-Veg”
Me: (WTF, how does that matter to you, when I don’t even know why we are talking into) “Non-Veg”
Mr. X:  “So poora parivaar sab udhar GAUN mein hai, aur tum apni wife ke saath idhar rehte ho”
Me: (wife, did he say wife. Abhi to main kuwara, jawaan, sundar, susheel baccha hoon. Where is the family involved? And then, GAUN, gosh people tell him; Dehradun is not a GAUN, but then, who can explain the advancements here) “nahi nahi, meri shaadi nahi hui”
Mr X: “Accha to apne frens ke saath rehte ho” (Jackpot)
Me: “Haan, friends ke saath”
Mr X: (seeing a Vikram coming) “Oh lo, jao tumhaara aa gaya”
Me: (thanks for the tip, I DID not see that at all. You got those long distance vision) “Haan, aa gaya” as I pulled my hand to stop the rikshaw.

Finally, I smiled back at him, after boarding the Vikram, in a way bidding farewell for the WONDERFUL conversation, and saying Adieu.

So, this ended, but I was still baffled and wondering. Strangers we met, we talked, and what went in, wasn’t quite a shock (a lil though). Living in here (the 20^th Century), we still ask questions on caste and creed. This is being succeeded with “Where”. But then, I am not sure why this talk was, or is it just a natural way (normally not been through this, coz mostly it’s small talk and over or friendly talk and over, or swearing and Dhoom dhadaka).

Churns:
Why this blog? Coz I wanna remember this, simply J. During this whole lil convo, a lot of things went through my sweet LIL mind, and I had put it in AS-IS. So you see, it’s not just WHAT we talk, but HOW we talk and WHAT we think that really matters in the conversation. Thoug at the end, it’s just WHAT you say that makes the difference JJJ. Finally, WHO he was or WHERE he was going, wasn’t a Question, or the Answer. Everything was “WHY” he was asking, and that’s what have left us thinking in our own Country, WHY even for these “Small Friendly Talks”. That’s WHAT i call tErRoR . Are we really living in a world of safety, when we are afraid of each other. Is this the world we dreamt of, is the Big and Only question.

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