Adulting has its banes. Often times you feel that everybody
else around you grew to become an adult while you were left out in the process
of evolution. And then oftener times, you feel as if you were the only one who
evolved while the rest were living under a rock.
Needless to say, I have had my own such moments every now
and then. But recently, I found myself caught between both emotions
simultaneously.
Having lived in different cities during my growing years, I
never studied in one school. While, the upside to this is that I got exposed to
different languages, cultures, dialects and climates. The downside is that I
hardly have any friends from the long lost school days. A couple of school
friends that I have were made during the last leg of my schooling. Clearly, I
don’t have that gang to recount those days.
The above fact in not new to me but the realization hits
hard around once in a year. That’s when I spend substantial time recalling all
the names of my classmates, teachers, neighbours, and look for them across
social media. Of these names, there’s one name that has remained registered
over the years. And every time this nostalgia hits, I look for this person as
well.
I recently found this guy, and thought of sending him a
connection request, hoping that he would recall my name, and not consider it
weird. Luckily for me, he accepted my request and so began our chit-chat in
general. During the conversation I got to know that he is living in the same
city. Happy and full of nostalgia, we exchanged numbers and a time was fixed
for call.
So far, there was just a happy memory of school days,
knotting the school ties, stealing chalk… The call was looked forward to.
Struck midnight, and I got the call. The person was clearly
in his own “zone”. Instead of exchanging pieces of memories from school, he
decided to hit the most favourite subject of women’s safety and how it is
associated with their conduct. In middle of the night, talking on the phone, I could
not figure out why I got in touch with this person in the first place. The
gyaan was pouring in from all directions about how women have a problem if men
look at them, and how they still have a problem if they do not look at them. How women choose to dress
a certain way and then create a fuss when they are misbehaved with. And how,
women should think before indulging in PDA. He was only short of saying that rapes happen because of Chinese cuisine!
That one conversation, hopped from how certain languages and
certain cuisines in our country are distasteful, to how he has never seen a
woman being dragged and raped in front of his eyes. That one conversation really
found me swinging between the two thoughts. Either I was living under a rock or
these individuals have arrived from another planet.
Well, well, all said and done - I think, I’m done tracing my
roots for this life. Sometimes we just grow up, or grow out…
3 comments:
Connecting with someone one hasn't had much of a connection in the past just for the sake of retracing one's memories/past..i'd have stayed out of it, coz as it is connections are hard.. hopefully, you are out of touch, whether mobile or social media..
Yeah! Absolutely cut off... :)
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