cutting edge technology

Was waiting for the company van this morning. The side of the road was under repair – completely dug up, Bangalore style 😉 At the moment, there was only a single worker – involved in the task of cutting – well, pounding – football sized granite rocks into smaller ones using a hammer. It seemed like hard work. Esp considering that the worker was an old lady.

The bus was late today. I stood idly for some time, and noticed the lady was just working continuously though it was a hot day. There was one colleague waiting along with me (though I didn’t know him apart from the fact that he must be my colleague since he’s waiting at the same place). I casually remarked – that looks like hard work – and he agreed, and both continued to wait for the bus. After a while, he grumbled that the van was quite late today – sometimes they come early and sometimes late, at their own sweet time.

Noticed the old lady again. She’s probably having difficulty making ends meet to have to resort to this kind of employment. I wished I could do something for her. I logically justified to myself, there are so many millions of people in a much worse position than her, whats the point in sitting and worrying about everybody, there’s no end to it. For all I know, she was perfectly fine already and did not even need anything. Besides, what could I do for her anyway, apart from simply silently wishing for her happiness.

But there was a genuine feeling in me, coming from nowhere, something I could neither explain away nor ignore: let me do something, anything for her. I vaguely recollected a comment I myself had made some other time… in someone else’s blog. Suddenly I got an idea – anyway the bus is late, let me give her a 5 minute break by doing her work till the bus comes. I immediately dismissed it as totally nonsensical, the bus was going to come sooner or later. Few more minutes, the bus didnt come. I started to walk towards her. Something in my mind was shouting at me at the total irrationality of the idea – what would people think of an executive in formal clothing doing a stone-cutter’s job… what would my colleague think, and what if anyone else I knew were to see me, my reputation (whatever of it is there) would be in ruins! I could really feel my heartbeat rate increasing. I should be stopping now, and decently continue to wait along with my colleague. There was a definite, though mild, sense of fear. I knew that whether I did it or didn’t, either way it wouldn’t make any difference to anybody in the world. Here was an opportunity to apply all that I’ve learnt – to face my inhibhition, and see through the meaninglessness of it and get over it. Another couple of steps and I was there, for a change actually doing something that I felt like doing. She looked up and I empathised ಸಕ್ಕತ್ ಕಷ್ಟ ಇದ್ದಂಗಿದೆ… (that looks pretty tough…). ಹೌದು (It is), she replied. I said – ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ರೆಸ್ಟ್ ತೊಗೊಳಿ, ನಾನ್ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಟ್ರೈ ಮಾಡ್ತೀನಿ… (maybe you can take a few minutes break, let me try it). She didn’t react with any surprise or anything, just gave me the hammer with a smile and stepped back.

I started on the stones. With my youthful manly strength I should probably pulverise a lot of stones within the few minutes the van would come. But I hammered a couple of times, the current stone simply did not even crack! A few more times, but only sparks and splinters flew around. The lady was very wisely standing a good four feet away and warned me to take care. I suddenly realised how concerned I was about how many passers-by might be staring at me, or what my colleague would be thinking about me. Carefulness was key here. So throwing self-consicousness to the winds, I just focused on the task at hand. I placed the stone more carefully in a relatively more stable position on the other pile of stones, and pounded once more with a lot more attention, and it broke. A few more smaller pieces, and I went on to the next one. There was a certain knack to it, and I gradually started getting it… 😉

Finally the van turned up, and my other colleague called out its arrival to me. I returned the hammer to the lady and told her I gotta go… and ran in. The other colleague simply went and sat at the back of the van sporting the same expressionless face he’d had all the time. It didn’t seem to have mattered to him. I doubt if it had mattered much to the old lady either, though atleast I’d provided her some entertainment, she had a broad smile when I left – showing the only front tooth she had!

As for me, I felt I’d made yet another small scratch in the safe secure wall of apathy I’ve built between myself and the world 🙂 I’m not proud of myself – the old lady continues pounding the stones. And while I appreciate her sense of independence and ability to smilingly work, I still honestly believe she should be taking it more easy at her age…