There is nothing unusual in being caught in a traffic jam, specially in metro cities but when one is compelled to brave that adventure with the backdrop of heavy monsoon clouds pouring and the heaven thundering down with rage and fury, it is a different experience altogether. When there is chaos on the road, being stuck in the traffic makes me think about my past bad karmas and seriously contemplate if there is some way to atonement.
When stuck in anarchy like that, we sometimes realize profound things about life! Day before yesterday, I was engulfed in an absurd scene, a collage of interesting observations. I was stuck in traffic jam for more than an hour. With traffic coming to a standstill, there was no escape from that circus! After the initial furious honking, most people surrendered to the sheer helplessness while some agitated souls continued to fume and fret mindlessly over their cell phones.
The blind beggar couple rushed to take shelter under the half built metro rail bridge. The street urchins were enjoying themselves under the leaked pipe gushing clean water from the building nearby. Some vagabonds were babbling while helping an old man with his car that broke down right in the middle of the road. A cow was frantically searching for her calf that seemed to have lost its way. There was no point in listening to music or working on laptop as there were many distractions with myriad sounds and smells assailing the senses. Shrill giggles of a toddler playing with its mother at the roadside dwelling and even the huge hoardings oozing out endless desires, provided great relief!
One starts to think about absurdity of urban life at such moments. For more than an hour, everything was immersed in complete void and collapsed in some strange nothingness! Everybody at the traffic jam looked stressed and was strangely connected in helplessness and ennui yet was totally absorbed with individual loneliness. There was barely any exchange of smiles! The only exchange that took place was a few wistful glances at some random fellow passengers inside other vehicles.
Surprisingly, when I finally accepted that chaos without any resentment and was at peace with it, I found a few moments of stillness. Guess that is what urban life sometimes teaches you. Once we learn to embrace things as they are with equanimity, life does not really look that bad. Isn't it? I am trying very hard to ingrain that on my emotional and cerebral landscape.
