GRIN & BEAR IT

GRIN & BEAR IT

It was after a lot of debate and discussion on whether we should go for ‘snow white or maroon’ that we finally opted for ‘maroon’ color for our car. Just as well, I sighed as I looked at my car. Someone staying at the top obviously got rid of the ‘pan’ from his mouth at jet speed. And my car parked below got ‘panwashed’. What if we had gone for ‘snowwhite’? The thought staggered me. And then I was seized by anger, anger at the fact that such stupid act of spitting is being done so matter-of-factly and shamelessly, anger at my helplessness at not being able to trace the culprit. Then my anger was overpowered by the power of these words: just grin and bear it!

 I eased in to the traffic and found my self at an intersection. I was waiting for the green. A road divider was in place for about 50 meters to the ‘stop’ sign painted on the road. It is not always that you find such road dividers and so I was just inwardly praising the civil authorities for their work to ensure smooth flow of traffic. My thoughts were abruptly halted on seeing in the rear-view mirror a car coming from behind and suddenly cutting lane just before the divider and coming to a screeching halt outside the ‘road divider’! And another two-wheeler snaked ahead similarly. And another….within seconds, an equal number of vehicles were waiting for the green on both sides of the road divider!! And revving up the engine to beat the traffic. Well so much for traffic manners. Just grin and bear it.

On another day, I was traveling in a bus. My co-passenger was wired all over. He was in endless conversation – unmindful of the inconvenience he was causing to the other passengers. I began contemplating that just as there is a ban on smoking at public places, there should be a total ban on speaking endlessly and loudly over mobile in public places. One would understand the need of an urgent call. But when one is indulging in endless chatting, with total disregard to the discomfort caused as a result to others, it makes sense to put an end to such nonsense. The IQ* is very high particularly when you are traveling, watching a movie in a theatre where you simply can not get away from the place. The thought of introducing a restrictive clause in the usage of mobile evaporated just as quickly because the ‘concern’ for the person next to you is not his ‘concern’. Just grin and bear it. *Inconvenience Quotient   

Why blame politicians alone for being ‘opportunistic’. All of us are, in one way or the other. Go to a railway station. Even as the train is entering the platform, you see people running, pushing and shoving one another in their attempt to get in to the train. One can understand if you are boarding an unreserved coach. If you have a confirmed ticket, why should you indulge in all this ‘elbowing’ activity? If you think you would be spared of these if you are traveling by air, perish the thought. Here too, you see people rushing to get on board. Even when you are lined up, you find people extremely fidgety & twitchy, turning around frequently, craning their necks over the shoulder of the person in front, suddenly bending awkwardly throwing the persons off-balance. But the only comfort is that the degree of discomfort is slightly less. It beats me whether we are incapable of reining in such ill-mannered behavior. All this reminds me of the childhood play where on sighting the other, you would simply shout ‘statue’ and he would stop in his tracks and stand like a ‘statue’ in whatever position he is in. I feel like doing it now when I see such mindless rush. For now, all I can do is just grin and bear it.