Date: 06th November 2013
Place: Wipro Circle, Hinjewadi, Pune
An interesting thing happened today on my way to work - along the last half mile to work, actually. You see I had made my way from Nigdi to Wipro circle and crossed the road to where the shuttles awaited passengers.
The shuttles were two in number. The place where I work - ETZ - runs a shuttle of its own. Let's call it the ETZ shuttle. And my company - which for legal and other similar reasons shall remain a secret - runs its own as well (which I will refer to as the Secret shuttle). This particular day, both happened to be stationed at the foot of the hill And this was unusual. Usually, one leaves as the other departs as if they hate the sight of each other. But today that hate was nowhere at play. The reason? The utter lack of passengers.
Diwali just wrapped up but not many are due at work till late next week. And that has led to empty roads, empty buses, and a Pune that looks the way it was somewhere in the 80s: quiet and peaceful.
That quietude and peace has rubbed on to me as well. And so, I don't hurry around. I take my own sweet time to make my way to the bus stand, then to catch a bus, and to cross the road as well. So, after I did cross the road and find both the vans waiting - uncannily as if only for me - I decided to play eenie minnie mo and choose the one I want to sit in. That van turned out to be the Secret shuttle.
So, I walked up to it, helloed the driver, and sat. The guardsman for the van sat in the seat ahead of me.
"Saab, that other one will go before this one."
'Oh it's okay," I said, "What difference does it make? Will this leave at nine?"
The guardsman looked at his watch and said yes it will.
"So good," I said and continued to sit.
The guardsman got out and started his stroll around the van. That was when the driver subjected me to a proper investigation (conducted in Marathi).
"So, where do you live?"
Pune I said.
"Yes but where in Pune?" he asked.
"You know Akurdi?"
"Yes yes!" he said gleefully.
"Premlok Park?"
"Ya ya!"
"Well I stay there." and I smiled with the requisite amount of glee on my lips as well.
"Arrey I was attending college that side," he added.
"Really? Where? DY Patil?"
"Yes yes!"
"You mean the one at Ravet?"
"Yes that's the one."
"Oh!" I said for I did not know what else to say. I did not have to think of anything to say either for the investigation went full steam ahead.
"So what's your qualification?" he asked.
I said I have done my BE.
"BE in?"
"Computers."
"Civil?"
"No no!" I said, "It's computers."
"I see I see. I am also doing my engineering."
I have been in Pune for nearly a year and a half. So, I was quite accustomed to surprises. Which is why when he said what he did, my jaw did not drop to the floor. Instead, I asked him: "What field?"
"Civil."
"Oh! Interesting! Then what are you doing here?" And I pointed at the driver's seat.
"Oh that!" he smiled sheepishly, "I failed the second year. So I had to drop out."
"So that means that will be for a year, right?"
"Yes, so I thought why not help in my father's business? So here I am, driving people up and down the hill!"
I smiled and said it was good he was keeping himself busy. And that he read as an invitation to ask me more. So he asked me whether I stay alone or with family.
"I stay with family - parents."
Which then made him ask me the question that practically every mother, father, friend, foe, neighbour, and colleague has made it a point to throw at me: "So when are you getting married?"
I sighed. Well, it was high time I try and tackle such questions tactfully. So I smiled - which is the first thing I do when I have to think of something fast and buy time - and then said: "Oh there's a whole lot of time for that. I haven't given it thought you know."
He nodded which I interpreted as he did not have anything else to ask and we fell into a slightly awkward silence.
That is when the guardsman finished his stroll and walked into the seat diagonally opposite mine.
"You speak Marathi?" He asked me incredulously (in Hindi).
I smiled - yes I love to smile especially when I take people completely by surprise. Yes, I said I do.
"Oh! I thought you will not be able to. I thought you were some place far off."
"Well I am from Bombay. Where did you think I was from?"
"Well," the guardsman drawled not quite sure how to put it, "I thought you were from some place very very very very far!"
I laughed knowing fully well he implied he thought me a foreigner. "No no," I said, "I am from here only."
That was reason enough for him to ask me the usual questions: Where do you live in Pune? Do you live alone? Do you live with family? And a very very popular question: "Are you married?"
"What!" He exclaimed when I told him I was a stag, "You aren't as yet?"
I said no and threw in a very very broad smile. But that wasn't about to silence him.
"Arrey, you are already standing on your own feet! You must marry now!"
I said there's a lot of time for that.
"What time! I was already married at your age! And you are earning enough! You must marry."
"But," I pleaded, "I haven't as yet given it a thought!"
"Oh please! It's high time you-"
"Oh come on!" cut in the driver, "It's okay to not marry early these days."
"But he is earning enough," countered the guardsman.
"So what? If he doesn't want to marry so what? He might be having other dreams to pursue. Your time it may have been the rule to marry early. These days that isn't so."
I smiled, did a little light "Haha!", and nodded approvingly.
Hearing that guy - and possible my "Haha!" - the guardsman climbed down from his high throne of judgement.
"Chalo yeh bhi theek hai. (All right! I guess it's fine then.)" he said as if conceding to defeat.
"Haan (Yes)," the driver said, "Aaj kal (These days) this is all right. No problem there!"
"Haan haan bilkul! (Yes yes of course!)"
And with that, the conversation came to a close. It was 9:00 already, and he put the van into the first gear and started off.
I was pleased. With myself, and with the driver. In the 21st century, there is hope after all! :-)
Place: Wipro Circle, Hinjewadi, Pune
An interesting thing happened today on my way to work - along the last half mile to work, actually. You see I had made my way from Nigdi to Wipro circle and crossed the road to where the shuttles awaited passengers.
The shuttles were two in number. The place where I work - ETZ - runs a shuttle of its own. Let's call it the ETZ shuttle. And my company - which for legal and other similar reasons shall remain a secret - runs its own as well (which I will refer to as the Secret shuttle). This particular day, both happened to be stationed at the foot of the hill And this was unusual. Usually, one leaves as the other departs as if they hate the sight of each other. But today that hate was nowhere at play. The reason? The utter lack of passengers.
Diwali just wrapped up but not many are due at work till late next week. And that has led to empty roads, empty buses, and a Pune that looks the way it was somewhere in the 80s: quiet and peaceful.
That quietude and peace has rubbed on to me as well. And so, I don't hurry around. I take my own sweet time to make my way to the bus stand, then to catch a bus, and to cross the road as well. So, after I did cross the road and find both the vans waiting - uncannily as if only for me - I decided to play eenie minnie mo and choose the one I want to sit in. That van turned out to be the Secret shuttle.
So, I walked up to it, helloed the driver, and sat. The guardsman for the van sat in the seat ahead of me.
"Saab, that other one will go before this one."
'Oh it's okay," I said, "What difference does it make? Will this leave at nine?"
The guardsman looked at his watch and said yes it will.
"So good," I said and continued to sit.
The guardsman got out and started his stroll around the van. That was when the driver subjected me to a proper investigation (conducted in Marathi).
"So, where do you live?"
Pune I said.
"Yes but where in Pune?" he asked.
"You know Akurdi?"
"Yes yes!" he said gleefully.
"Premlok Park?"
"Ya ya!"
"Well I stay there." and I smiled with the requisite amount of glee on my lips as well.
"Arrey I was attending college that side," he added.
"Really? Where? DY Patil?"
"Yes yes!"
"You mean the one at Ravet?"
"Yes that's the one."
"Oh!" I said for I did not know what else to say. I did not have to think of anything to say either for the investigation went full steam ahead.
"So what's your qualification?" he asked.
I said I have done my BE.
"BE in?"
"Computers."
"Civil?"
"No no!" I said, "It's computers."
"I see I see. I am also doing my engineering."
I have been in Pune for nearly a year and a half. So, I was quite accustomed to surprises. Which is why when he said what he did, my jaw did not drop to the floor. Instead, I asked him: "What field?"
"Civil."
"Oh! Interesting! Then what are you doing here?" And I pointed at the driver's seat.
"Oh that!" he smiled sheepishly, "I failed the second year. So I had to drop out."
"So that means that will be for a year, right?"
"Yes, so I thought why not help in my father's business? So here I am, driving people up and down the hill!"
I smiled and said it was good he was keeping himself busy. And that he read as an invitation to ask me more. So he asked me whether I stay alone or with family.
"I stay with family - parents."
Which then made him ask me the question that practically every mother, father, friend, foe, neighbour, and colleague has made it a point to throw at me: "So when are you getting married?"
I sighed. Well, it was high time I try and tackle such questions tactfully. So I smiled - which is the first thing I do when I have to think of something fast and buy time - and then said: "Oh there's a whole lot of time for that. I haven't given it thought you know."
He nodded which I interpreted as he did not have anything else to ask and we fell into a slightly awkward silence.
That is when the guardsman finished his stroll and walked into the seat diagonally opposite mine.
"You speak Marathi?" He asked me incredulously (in Hindi).
I smiled - yes I love to smile especially when I take people completely by surprise. Yes, I said I do.
"Oh! I thought you will not be able to. I thought you were some place far off."
"Well I am from Bombay. Where did you think I was from?"
"Well," the guardsman drawled not quite sure how to put it, "I thought you were from some place very very very very far!"
I laughed knowing fully well he implied he thought me a foreigner. "No no," I said, "I am from here only."
That was reason enough for him to ask me the usual questions: Where do you live in Pune? Do you live alone? Do you live with family? And a very very popular question: "Are you married?"
"What!" He exclaimed when I told him I was a stag, "You aren't as yet?"
I said no and threw in a very very broad smile. But that wasn't about to silence him.
"Arrey, you are already standing on your own feet! You must marry now!"
I said there's a lot of time for that.
"What time! I was already married at your age! And you are earning enough! You must marry."
"But," I pleaded, "I haven't as yet given it a thought!"
"Oh please! It's high time you-"
"Oh come on!" cut in the driver, "It's okay to not marry early these days."
"But he is earning enough," countered the guardsman.
"So what? If he doesn't want to marry so what? He might be having other dreams to pursue. Your time it may have been the rule to marry early. These days that isn't so."
I smiled, did a little light "Haha!", and nodded approvingly.
Hearing that guy - and possible my "Haha!" - the guardsman climbed down from his high throne of judgement.
"Chalo yeh bhi theek hai. (All right! I guess it's fine then.)" he said as if conceding to defeat.
"Haan (Yes)," the driver said, "Aaj kal (These days) this is all right. No problem there!"
"Haan haan bilkul! (Yes yes of course!)"
And with that, the conversation came to a close. It was 9:00 already, and he put the van into the first gear and started off.
I was pleased. With myself, and with the driver. In the 21st century, there is hope after all! :-)
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