CTT: Generation Alpha

Today evening, I was coming back from work with a heavy backpack and empty silly looking lunch box. All tired, and my hair sticking out of my head like twigs.

I see a group of kids near the elevator playing with a fallen bicycle. The kids would be around 3 to 6 year olds. They looked at me with this "Who? What is this? Thing" kind of look

I heard them talk and I was in awe, what impeccable manners and what good English. 

"Rahul, Could you call Aryan. I need to speak to him now"
"I am sure I called him. But I will try calling him again"
"I hope he comes this time. I really need him here"
"We need to move. The elevator is coming to zero (zee-row)"

At that age, I was blubbering in street Hindi and Tamil. I knew lift. Elevator..What elevator?

The standards, the education, the quality of these kids are a total different level.
I'm so proud to see such an amazing future of our country, errr..the bright future of our country who might be working in some other country.

#DAshTalks When its all about ?

Those days when both of us feel meh...and the chats look meh...

CTT: My travel diaries

I went to my Mumbai to my "mother's house" last month for some reason.  Normally, when I travel home, my husband is with me, very rarely have I gone home alone. He couldn't join me in this trip.
I travel quite a bit, but why this trip deserved a post? Well, because it was different.

Flying from Bangalore to Mumbai, was like a well planned operation(I ain't elaborating that). I took a bus to the airport, next to me seated for this man, 35ish, serious looking, but had this dimpled charm to him. I started reading a mafia book and that I think got him interested and we got talking. This man is a criminal lawyer in Indian Supreme Court. He had come to meet his family here. I asked him about his best case, his worst case. He amused me with his stories, with smart, dumb, stupid, criminals. The airport came and we parted ways.

In Mumbai, I met my cousins and after years we were really together again, and it meant a lot to me to see the whole family together and smiling.

I had a flight back to Bangalore after 3 days, I met my old friends, colleagues, my old boss, saw the new revamped office and had this nice feel good thing in me that morning.

I reached the airport pretty early, and incidentally got talking to a security there. She said, she keeps meeting celebrities day in and day out. She works for 12 hours, standing with an hour's break. She lost her husband and misses her children. We shared a cup of tea, a lot of smiles and parted ways.

In my flight, I got the aisle and a young girl, very athlete looking, wearing a rugged woodland shoes took the window, her friend was sitting on the window one seat ahead of us and a lady known to them, was sitting on the opposite seat. There was this man sitting behind us who knew the woodland shoe girl in my seat, and they started talking in Marathi.

Background: The boy and woodland girl were classmates. Boy works in Bangalore. Girl is studying in Bangalore. Boy is going back to Bangalore from home and the girl was having a stopover flight in Mumbai after a Himalayan Trek

So, moment I heard the Himalayan trek, I knew I had to talk to her, and the 'networking mode' in me switched on. A group of these kids, were studying "Glaciology" Its a study about glaciers. I had no idea that there is a dedicated course for glaciers. That got me all ears, she introduced me to her professor, the lady in our opposite seat and all three of us got talking about Himalayas and few more passengers joined us. It was like one big meeting by the end of the 90 minute flight. We reached Bangalore and parted ways.

I took a bus back from the airport, I met a "hippy" looking man seated next to me. He asked me about my new phone and that's how we got talking. That man is an artist, and an IT enthusiast, and has a 5-year old daughter. He had been travelling for the past 90 days, without luggage, he buys on the move and recycles or gives it away. All he has was a camera bag and a rucksack, he was now coming back from somewhere in the northeastern part of India . He and his friends, make a point to take off every year to anywhere. My stop arrived and we smiled and parted ways.

I met so many people, in different walks of life, in different professions. What I realized is, all it takes one "Hi" and one smile to start a conversation. No numbers, no names, no emails, nothing got exchanged. But, a lot of goodness did get exchanged.

I write this with a coffee on my desk, full moon shining through my window and someone playing a guitar somewhere far.