Reflections through my lens

“How long have you been here?” This is a common introductory question that people ask. My response has typically been “a few years” which leads to a surprised “you seem to be pretty settled” comment often followed by an advice or a question like “X is a wonderful place to stay, my cousin loves it” or “My friend had a big problem in Y city, didn’t you face this issue?” The conversation typically ends with “do you plan to settle here forever?” Is there a place to settle forever? Is there one place that addresses our changing priorities over time? Why do people from the same background experience the same place differently? As a small kid when my parents decided to move from a big city in eastern India to a smaller one in the northern part of the country, I was excited. What made a difference to me then was that there would be a lot of cousins and we would all go the same school. For those teenage years there couldn’t have been a better place to settle in. We had relatives around, ...

She came into our lives just when I was about to start college. I came to know right before boarding the train to Delhi for a college entrance exam. I was ecstatic. She would probably be like a younger sibling. It was just that I was going away for studies and would not get to spend time with her. That was the catch. Since she was the only one at home with my parents, she soon assumed that they were exclusively for her. Everyone else was just a guest in her scheme of things till my brother moved back in. That was perhaps her first insight into having to share with someone. I was still away and for the first few years she at times gave me signals that she didn’t like me around my parents too much! The memory of those expressions still makes me smile. Its only when she moved to Delhi with them that she began to accept me as a part of “her“family. She was extremely intelligent, sophisticated and quite amusing. 10 p.m was bed time for her though like a responsible fam...

“I wonder what do you do on weekends?” This is probably the most common question I have faced after “Which movies did you see recently?” Others that follow are: “Don’t you get bored living on your own; do you have a big gang of friends to hang around with?” Of course the assumption here is that single people living on their own really have all the time in the world and therefore the question around how can we possibly find something meaningful to do with ourselves. It’s not just about asking these questions, single people can also be taken for granted in line with the same assumption. Last moment invitations like -“We are having a get together tomorrow- you have to come, anyways what would you be doing?” Of course I could, just that it is a Wednesday, right in the middle of a hectic week and I need some heads up to plan my evening calls so that I can make it to your place. And then there are last minute cancellations- “hey, we had planned to meet since last week, but something else...

“Maximum accidents happen due to jumping traffic signals”, “Road rage on the rise”. As the New Year celebrations approach, the newspapers will be full of such stats. Reading them makes one feel that people who drive cars are the biggest evil on the roads. Of all the millions of car drivers, not all are drunk and rowdy. What makes the prim and proper executive rash on the road? What incites the presumably over cautious moms, uncles, grandpas to become aggressive behind the wheel? Doesn’t take much to figure out. We have a rage inciting environment all round us. Poor road infrastructure : In most cities of India, the roads are not prepared to handle the traffic. Road repairs happen during peak traffic hours. Flyovers are constructed when the roads become a dense jungle of vehicles and the construction itself contributes to the traffic. 4 lane roads culminate into a single lane bridge. One vehicle breaks down and blocks the way due to which hundreds of people get stranded in the traffic...

Travel time again- pack your bags, check everything, lock the house. All the signs of travel anxiety begin to crop up as soon as I sit in the cab for the airport. The journey mostly turns out to be an impersonal experience. Am lucky if I manage to speak a few words to other people in the check-in queue, otherwise it’s the mundane routine 1 hour of waiting at the airport with a cup of cappuccino and my phone. As I started on another one of these mundane flights, it made me go back a few years when even the journey was an experience in itself. Flights were either a luxury or used if travelling in emergency. Low cost airlines had not flooded the market and the trains were the preferred mode of travel. We used to prepare ourselves for the journey with an extra bag comprising of air pillows, bed sheets, food for the way packed by mom (the ubiquitous poori sabji and pickle being the staple meal for most passengers). The railway station in itself was an experience. The “station wali chai”...

Had seen this movie a long time back where Rehaan Engineer played a hairdresser who could read people’s thoughts while cutting their hair. I had found it brilliant, especially since I do find a haircut to be my most stress relieving experience. When the scissors snip through those tresses, it feels that they are doing away with those unwanted, unnecessary baggage of thoughts. To most people I know, the salon is a place where women go and splurge hard earned money. Haven’t you heard someone comment “You spent 1000 bucks on a facial, what’s the difference?” While that is a really mean comment, I know a lot of women who have been subjected to it sometime or the other. Of course, these days gold facials are the ‘in thing’ at men’s salons too, but we’ll let them be for now. The point here is that the salon for women is much more than a beautifying experience. It gives us a sense of royalty, individuality, community and of course the most obvious, relaxation. The salon experience ...

A series of surgeries amongst family and friends and a recent self experience opened my eyes to the new face of medical facilities in India. Gone are the days of dreary hospital stays. Circa 2010, the multi-specialty private hospitals have transformed hospitalization into an uber-cool experience with their state of the art facilities. My earlier experience of hospital visits used to be to the big city hospitals such as AIIMS, Safdarjung, Manipal, BHU and so on. Entering into the huge facility teeming with people, figuring out the departments, the typical hospital smells and the sight of illness all around were enough to make one reel in exhaustion. But in the modern private hospitals, relationship managers usher you around the air-conditioned lobbies as counselors explain the various “packages” ranging from economy ( read general ward) to deluxe ( read private ward) to the suites. All kinds of luxuries are available based on the size of your pocket. The rooms are not only equipped wit...