When I was a young boy
Studying in my native village,
I had given company to
One of my good childhood friends,
A fair complexioned boy hailing from affluent family
Whenever he went out in his car
To his relative’s homes.
He had just learned the driving
And mastered the art of it
With all its infinite varierty.
At that time, it didn’t strike me
I should also learn car driving
Atleast out of curiosity.
My friend’s brother was quick to learn
That he couldn’t drive
And gave up in the middle
He remained content,
Steering only one day on our street .
That was the end of it,
And he got dependent on driver
Thereafter.
I had enjoyed the pleasure of
Traveling in car at young age
Without actually possessing it
Or owning it!
That was a time when
I learnt bicycling,
And got new Hercules cycle,
Making weekly trips
From pondicherry town to
My native village,
Some 27K.M.
My brother cum friend gave
Company on all those
Weekly trips.
On the midway we used to stop
For snacks and tea which cost just twenty paise
Both of us were studying in the
College then.
While all my school friends
And almost of my
Colleagues at work place
Have got into their own cars
Befitting of their affluence,
Status and of course
To provide comforts to family,
I could only make a
Transition from bicycle to Motor Cycle
Through the intermediate stage of Vespa and Chetak
And later abandon that
Motor Cycle too.
Easy access to bank loan,
Revised sixth pay commissions
Benevolent Package,
A reasonably large family.
With grand children
And their hi-tech appetite not for toy car
Ideal necessary conditions are many
And many other sufficient conditions,
Also equally abound
And yet absolutely there is no inclination
To jump into this kind of
Elite bandwagon.
The thrill of enjoying that affordable comfort
The fun and adventure accompanying it
Showcasing of one’s own royal style
Do not just exist for my own good
Why I suddenly write about
Car travel in shining India
Of late, I have been
Traveling on occasions in the
‘comfort zone’of a few colleagues’ car.
Beyond the ‘ comforts and pleasures’
There is also more pain
And discomfort.
I can’t take oath like one
Great scholar student/ friend
I will not bother to get
Those coveted 3 letters, PhD
But I will definitely moderate
While stepping into anybody’s
‘car’ of for that matter ‘Home’
I do have a real dilemma here
Another colleague has got a new car.
He would definitely mistake,
If I don’t step in,
When asked.
Gradually, gracefully I will
Convince him,
I must have my freedom
I would say.
With a quite few I have
Taken more liberty
Always I had some soft corner
Despite casual uneasiness
The time has come
To revisit this kind of
Relationship
By sheer coincidence,
I stumbled upon yesterday
Abdul Kalama’s precious lines:
“Life is a difficult game
You can win it
Only by retaining your birth right
To be a person.”
They are very much needed for me.
All through my life,
With all cumulative
Failings and falling in life
Not withstanding
All sweetness under the sun
All bitterness under the roof
All misplaced criticism from
Shallow creatures,
I have evolved as a person
Without abandoning my core,
As a person,
As an individual,
Who has obligations to society?
Unmindful of absence of
Reciprocity in the
Act of loving and giving.
I am sure, I must have
Felt profoundly even while
I was traveling at a
Very tender age,
With all innocence and
Naivety inherited from mother.
When I wrote these lines,
I never felt that
I was going to keep a distance
But, when chaos theory is at work
Even a small insignificant incident
Transforms our behavior at margin
There’s no quarrel with any one
But quarrel with the creator
Will continue in a more
Calibrated way.
It’s not personal,
There’s a lot of Economics
And politics, in all my
Confrontation with God,
From whom
I am not able to delink.
Mine is an interesting case of the
Embracing faith in goodness of the Universe
When good is outsmarted by
Bad and ugly,
Unruly and bully
Soaked in dirt and filth.
Even copious summer rain
Can hardly wipe out these debris.
Studying in my native village,
I had given company to
One of my good childhood friends,
A fair complexioned boy hailing from affluent family
Whenever he went out in his car
To his relative’s homes.
He had just learned the driving
And mastered the art of it
With all its infinite varierty.
At that time, it didn’t strike me
I should also learn car driving
Atleast out of curiosity.
My friend’s brother was quick to learn
That he couldn’t drive
And gave up in the middle
He remained content,
Steering only one day on our street .
That was the end of it,
And he got dependent on driver
Thereafter.
I had enjoyed the pleasure of
Traveling in car at young age
Without actually possessing it
Or owning it!
That was a time when
I learnt bicycling,
And got new Hercules cycle,
Making weekly trips
From pondicherry town to
My native village,
Some 27K.M.
My brother cum friend gave
Company on all those
Weekly trips.
On the midway we used to stop
For snacks and tea which cost just twenty paise
Both of us were studying in the
College then.
While all my school friends
And almost of my
Colleagues at work place
Have got into their own cars
Befitting of their affluence,
Status and of course
To provide comforts to family,
I could only make a
Transition from bicycle to Motor Cycle
Through the intermediate stage of Vespa and Chetak
And later abandon that
Motor Cycle too.
Easy access to bank loan,
Revised sixth pay commissions
Benevolent Package,
A reasonably large family.
With grand children
And their hi-tech appetite not for toy car
Ideal necessary conditions are many
And many other sufficient conditions,
Also equally abound
And yet absolutely there is no inclination
To jump into this kind of
Elite bandwagon.
The thrill of enjoying that affordable comfort
The fun and adventure accompanying it
Showcasing of one’s own royal style
Do not just exist for my own good
Why I suddenly write about
Car travel in shining India
Of late, I have been
Traveling on occasions in the
‘comfort zone’of a few colleagues’ car.
Beyond the ‘ comforts and pleasures’
There is also more pain
And discomfort.
I can’t take oath like one
Great scholar student/ friend
I will not bother to get
Those coveted 3 letters, PhD
But I will definitely moderate
While stepping into anybody’s
‘car’ of for that matter ‘Home’
I do have a real dilemma here
Another colleague has got a new car.
He would definitely mistake,
If I don’t step in,
When asked.
Gradually, gracefully I will
Convince him,
I must have my freedom
I would say.
With a quite few I have
Taken more liberty
Always I had some soft corner
Despite casual uneasiness
The time has come
To revisit this kind of
Relationship
By sheer coincidence,
I stumbled upon yesterday
Abdul Kalama’s precious lines:
“Life is a difficult game
You can win it
Only by retaining your birth right
To be a person.”
They are very much needed for me.
All through my life,
With all cumulative
Failings and falling in life
Not withstanding
All sweetness under the sun
All bitterness under the roof
All misplaced criticism from
Shallow creatures,
I have evolved as a person
Without abandoning my core,
As a person,
As an individual,
Who has obligations to society?
Unmindful of absence of
Reciprocity in the
Act of loving and giving.
I am sure, I must have
Felt profoundly even while
I was traveling at a
Very tender age,
With all innocence and
Naivety inherited from mother.
When I wrote these lines,
I never felt that
I was going to keep a distance
But, when chaos theory is at work
Even a small insignificant incident
Transforms our behavior at margin
There’s no quarrel with any one
But quarrel with the creator
Will continue in a more
Calibrated way.
It’s not personal,
There’s a lot of Economics
And politics, in all my
Confrontation with God,
From whom
I am not able to delink.
Mine is an interesting case of the
Embracing faith in goodness of the Universe
When good is outsmarted by
Bad and ugly,
Unruly and bully
Soaked in dirt and filth.
Even copious summer rain
Can hardly wipe out these debris.
1 comment:
Sir,
I work for a Fortune 100 company in a middle management position in the UK. Neither do I own a car nor do I have a driving licence. As a matter of fact I have lived in 4 different cities in the West for the past 10 years and have never owned a car all that time. I use public transportation and otherwise own a bicycle for short journeys. I am still to find a reason to own a car. I dont go hanging around shopping malls. I prefer to spend time with my kids and my shopping is online. When I do get out with the family I use public transportation which is extremely comfortable and stress free not to mention that usually the kids travel free or I get discounts on tickets to the places I am going to. The traffic situation is so bad even if its organised. You do have traffic reports all the time and your GPS keeps reminiding you of quicker routes to take. But then so is everybody else's GPS. Eventually the stress and time lost in traffic is a killer. To visit friends I take the taxi which gives me the option of eating & drinking well without having to think about DUI offences. And the main reason I can't stand those mechanical beasts is the fact that I have to clean and maintain them which will involve haggling with the dealer, the aa, the insurance and the mechanic. Worst of all I have to get my hands dirty.
Nope I am not an eco warrior but I hate engine grease ever since my father forced me to clean his two wheeler in the cold every morning before I left for school. And then I would have the unenviable job of having to park his two wheeler when he came home into a tight spot which usually left a few cuts, bruises and bumps.
I have a friend who lives close to me. He is originally from a remote village in India where he used to walk 8kms to school in the hot sun but he prefers to drive his daugther a bare 200M to her school down the road because he can. I think he is an idiot to deny his child the right to enjoy the English countryside or worry about her catching a cold due to few dew drops. I believe that people who think cars are a status symbol have issues with their idea of the self.
If I do dream of owning a car its the one you want to use on weekends like the Ferrari in the picture on your post. Whilst almost reachable the wife will not have it. Till then I am happy to watch Top Gear on TV and know that my carbon footprint is less than that of a small child.
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