Theory of relativity

Well, I’m no Einstein, but I have my own theory of relativity.

 

Notice how when you’re happy, the world around you seems a little bit brighter? You don’t mind the heat too much, you don’t mind being stuck in the traffic a little longer just because some idiot in front of you dint clear the signal fast enough (you don’t even call the guy an idiot!!), how nothing can seem to get you down, how you notice even the less fortunate seem to be happy with what they have, how even when you a total anti-romantic, you go ‘Aww’ when you watch a couple sub-conspicuously reach for the each others hands to hold while walking (even though normally, you would yell out to them to get a room), and the sunset at the beach is never more perfect?

 

Now notice when you’re sad, you notice all the flaws in the world, you notice all the unhappiness around, and should you witness some happiness, you get all sarcastic and irritated and even more depressed? Then you’re always stuck at a signal that just won’t clear, all kids in different variations of cute-ness just seem irritating, couples seem nauseating and happy couples with cute kids make you want to rush to the terrace of the nearest building-and fling THEM down? Ever notice how even the sunset at the beach… nah ... sunsets at beaches are never less than perfect, that’s one thing that can’t be ruined, come rain or nauseating couples J

 

 

Now there isn’t a corollary (I believe that’s the term for it) to this:

 

When you’re happy and someone tells you something happy that happened to them, and you happen to like this person, then sure… the world just got a little brighter.

However, when you’re sad, hearing about something even sadder about anything or anyone does not make you feel better. It’s like when you’re really upset about something and you cant finish the food on your plate and want to throw it away, and you’re mom tells you to finish it, and to think about the people who don’t get a single decent meal in days, not only are you already upset, but you get more upset cause you have to finish the food, and to add to that you have the guilt of poor ill fed people to add to your sorrow.

 

Dunno about the food, but a big fat tub of choco-chip ice cream sure found its last day of existence!

Hovering memories

While most of life speeds by at blink-and-you’ll-miss-it speeds (no, I don’t mean the long boring hours you spend in office every day), some moments make you stand and stare, not exactly at the same moment, but awhile later it comes back to you, and you can’t get it out of your head no matter how much you try.

This is based on two such memories:

 

Scene 1: It was Christmas time and I was on my way to meet a couple of friends for dinner, but stuck in the traffic and cursing it. So I was waiting for the signal to turn green, and the auto to move, when along comes one of those street-vendors who had these toy - bikes and cars. Like most of these vendors do, he stuck the bike in my face trying to sell it to me. Now, I’m not normally rude (If you laughed reading this, well, I’ll deal with you later), but the bike made a really annoying noise and I told him that I wasn’t interested. The auto driver however, had a different opinion. He enquired about the bike, wanted to see it “ride” on the road, checked for more of the annoying sound and finally asked for the price. I don’t remember what it was but it was obviously more than he could afford. He tried to bargain, but the price he offered was too low for the vendor. He went so far as to say it was or his little son at home, but the two couldn’t agree on a price. I was almost about to take some money from my purse and buy the boy (I won’t pretend it wasn’t just so I dint have to listen to the whrr-whrr of the bike), but the signal turned green, and vehicles all around started honking and we left.

 

Well I did manage to reach the restaurant on time, but needless to say some of the Christmas cheer was lost.

I wonder if the kid got a gift, I wonder if he had a Christmas miracle…

 

 

Scene 2: It was one of those days when I had to wait back late in office, one of those high work pressure days, when you’re literally at the edge of your seat getting work done, when coffee breaks don’t mean 30 minutes away from your system, where there’s no time for games to be played. Luckily for me, I got done with my work to take the last cab home. I was almost halfway home when the driver’s phone rang. Now it was only a one-sided conversation that I could hear but I got the gist of it. It was his daughter, calling to say she was feeling unwell. He asked her if her mother was around, asked to ensure that she ate her food, and asked her to go with her mother to the doctor. He told her to tell the doctor that he’d come by to pay him the money later, and to just take the medicines and come home. Like any child, she asked her father when he would be home. He answered that he still had a couple of shifts left and wouldn’t be able to make it home before midnight. I couldn’t hear what she said, but judging by his replies along the lines of ‘I’ll try and hurry as much as I can’, I guess she was asking for her father to come home soon.

He disconnected the phone, but drove the cab just a little bit faster, and you could see he meant what he said.

 

Don’t’ you remember when you were little and fell sick, don’t you remember calling your parents at working, pretending you were almost dying, asking them to hurry, but also asking for something to be bought for you? If they weren’t able to come home as soon as you wanted them to (and God-forbid without what you wanted), don’t you remember bringing the place down with your tantrums?

 

I hope the driver got at least one more of his pick-ups cancelled, and could make it home earlier. I hope his daughter got well quickly, but most importantly I wonder if she was able to forgive her father for not being able to come home immediately.