Date: 6th March, 2012
Time: 8:00 A.M
Place: Skylark Apartments, Dwarka, New Delhi
Approaching summers, just before Holi, time to go to school, little Rhea with mom outside the apartment gate reciting “Jack & Jill went up the hill’ with mother Rubeena. Half-closed eyes, heart reluctant to go, yet her mother repeating the same sentence again & again. No less than IAS entrance, it is Rhea’s “Recitation exam” that day. As the bus meanders through the narrow alley to the apartment, Rhea gets in waving her mother adieu. Seeing her girl off, Rubeena breathes with a sigh & uplifted eyebrows says – “I really hope Rhea passes today, she doesn’t stammer & forget. A+ is so important for her. I have been up with her the entire night for the poem. God – when will she grow up? I am so stressed thinking all this.
Date : 10th May, 1999
Time : 10.00 A.M
Place – Science College, New Delhi
May scorching heat, parents thronging the college gates as if hell has broken lose, thousands of students rushing in one after the other like soldier ants running with their food to their ant hills. The bell had gone “gong”. India’s toughest engineering entrance examination –IIT starts in the next 10 mins. Outside parents wait with patience & eyes full of dreams that their sons & daughters would make to the prestigious college in the next couple of months, something that will make them proud in the neighborhood, proud in the family, proud in their office & hopefully very proud when they negotiate with the girl’s family for their son’ s marriage. As you tread past them you hear a father say – "Amit has been preparing for IIT with Fittjee for last 2 years. I have great hopes from him. But he makes me think a lot too. What if he doesn’t scores 98%? What if he doesn’t crack IIT? An unexpected cold wave runs down my spine if I think of this. It jitters me all the time.
Date: 25th Jan, 2013
Place – IIT Mumbai Campus.
Time: 6:00 P.M
A group of students trotted past, Wipro has offered Rs. 25 Lacs/annum highest this year, what about IBM, Accenture? One of them gasps as he loosens his tie saying “Today ended with the HR round only, tomorrow 3 rounds more– Technical, Group discussion, Personal Interview. Though I know I would fare well in the technical questionnaire, I am super scared for the other two. One company gone means no chance in the next 3 months. Plus what about the offer & the pay package? I wouldn't be sleeping tonight, thinking all this.
Date: 11 the Nov, 2012
Place – Infosys Office, Hyderabad
Time: 2:00 P.M, Lunch hour
2 female colleagues chatting amongst themselves. One of them is getting married the following month, an arranged alliance fixed by the parents. Her eyes roll as her hands move up & down to deliver her apprehensions post marriage about staying in a new house with new set of people, the expected fallout with her mother-in-law, cessation of her freedom to dress in denim shorts, agony of wearing a traditional sari everyday to office & her rising worries makes her say again – God, why do people get married? I am thinking this day in & out & it’s stressful.
Date: 15th June, 2011
Place: Max hospital Gurgaon
Time: 11:00 P.M, night
A hurried son runs down the corridor towards the operation theatre. His father had just suffered a cardiac arrest & his atrial clot needs to be surgically removed to put him out of danger. He fumbles with the pen while signing documents as he sits down with the TPA at the billing counter. His eyes watchful yet filled with tears, he sobs to his wife. “I am scared about Papa’s heath, he makes me think all day. God - Pls make the surgery successful, can’t think more of anything worse."
5 different situations, one common ailment which binds them together- “Chinta’ – worry, tension, stress.
Worrying about your little one passing the exam, worrying about your son getting into a college, worrying about your new assignment, worrying about your salary hike, worrying about your new car, worrying about your buying a new home, worrying about getting married, worrying about getting a child, worrying about sending the child to school, worrying about his job, worrying about your parents, …lastly but not the least worrying about death…ufff…worries..worries..worries…& then we want our life stress free.
Materialistic, hungry, frugal Humans! The Hunger for want, desire, food, lust, never dies, limitless, abysmal!
Devoid of boundaries! if I earn one rupee today, I would think earning 10 rupee the next day, 20 rupee the following day..so on & so forth..our lives start with the cacophony of traffic every morning & ends with a tiresome body engulfed in a booze bottle. We consider partying on Fridays a social status, smoking a cigarette a stylish quotient, showing off the new “imported watch” a fashion statement.
But truly are we really leading our life effectively? Do we really admire the fresh dew of dawn, the chirping of birds, the golden rays of the sun, the laughter of a child, the innocence of the heart & the sharpness of the mind? Every morning we all catalyse ourselves to be a part of this rat race, race for time, race for money, race for food..above all race for survival..we run with worry in our mind..worry to earn..worry to feed..worry to get..worry to conquer..worry to win..worry to achieve..shapeless, tasteless, blind “chinta” in our mind, so dark, yet so heavy , so heartless.
