The beginnings of my days have become a tad ritualistic: coffee, cereals (or toast and butter) and the silent accompanying of my country, India, and the rest of the world through the online news portals. And in that order too! The solitude is these early hours of the morning, while the rest of the household sleeps, is pleasing and nourishing.
And then begins the 'great rush': dress up, boot up, make sure everything's in the bag (don't forget the mobiles - 2 of them!), bus travel, tube travel, train travel, don't be late...and one begins to lose oneself in the cacophony of existence. There is just one desire: get to the office! Until something happens; If something happens.
Walking through a construction site en route to my office yesterday, I was 'rushing' through this narrow path created by the construction chaps lost in my God-alone-knows-what-thoughts and then all too unexpectedly, I was forced to a complete slow-down! There, right ahead of me, was this feeble old woman dragging her shopping trolley - completely unhurried, inching forward with baby-steps. I was, in that single instant, dragged back to planet earth.
Suddenly, there was a unique awareness of the sounds and sights of the world that I was passing by in haste: the discordant humming of the machines, the vigorous shouts of the workers, the squeals of laughter and chatter of children going to school, the parents quickening their pace to keep up with their kids, the cold in the air...I was living in the now. My spirits rose and I was inexplicably conscious of the 'rush' replaced by wings on my heels.
What came to my mind at that very moment was a memorable verse from the poem Leisure by William Henry Davies: What is this Life if full of care; we have no time to stand and stare.
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