Sir Talks-a-lot

-
   
   His talking a lot is not the problem. The problem is that you don't get to participate in the conversation. It's like listening to a soliloquy. You are not best of buddies still he's your friend, so you can't offend him by telling him to shut up. So you get yourself a routine: at regular intervals, you bob your head in polite affirmation, give an occasional smile when all you are doing is staring at a distance at random people passing by. You wonder if he knows what you’re doing but still goes on. But why would he do that? Or maybe he's as doubtful as you are. The best explanation would be that he’s oblivious to everything when he drones on.

 Your resolve weakens at times. You run out of made-up expressions. Therefore, you try to butt in, trying to start a conversation in which both of you can participate, something that concerns both of you. But, no! He thwarts every such attempt of yours by interrupting you and resuming himself. You are not much of a talker yourself. Hence, you give in and go back to your old routine.


   You realize how observant you have become. You noticed a stain on his shirt. You point it out. And the very next moment, you regret doing that. Pointing out the stain brings forth a fresh barrage of comments involving his past maid and how she turned out to be a total loss. You are left in a state of wonderment: how could this man have a story to tell anytime, all the time? You've attended many lectures where you mind just wanders off while your eyes remain focused on the lecturer. Being able to do the same thing at such a close proximity is a recommendable skill that no resume/CV has a column for. 
   
   You are sure if God made someone to compensate for your taciturnity, it's definitely him. And God in his desperation over shot what He was aiming for. Consequently, the world ended up with him. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LIFE AND LIES #51 | The Three Sons

-
Image
Back in the day, my father used to tell me that with the amount of money he had invested in my education, he could have raised three sons. Too much pressure, huh? I won't go into the details about how I evaluated myself a few years ago and found out that despite my best efforts I was doing no better than 1.5 or 1.6 sons. That is when I realized that I was thinking in the wrong direction. There are three sons inside all of us. The first one is the kinsman. He always prioritizes his family before anything else, from being a well-behaved child while growing up to becoming a responsible adult making ends meet. The second one is the stalwart. The studious kid turned employee, he strives hard daily to become a top performer. Employee of every quarter. Huge increments or promotions every other year. And the last one is the wanderer who wants to chill by himself, travel the world, write a book, fall in love, and all that. The kinsman wants to leave the office on time but the stalwart has t
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #17 | Fancy a Haircut

-
Image
Snip-snip, clip-clip Despite its monotonicity, the sound has a certain ring to it. If I concentrate a bit harder, it almost sounds like a well-placed tune. Or maybe I have been listening to it for too long. Nevertheless, the sound has a sense of power because it remains upbeat in spite of the consistent murmur. Then it pauses. A brief silence follows. The boy at the start of the line scuttles to the most demanded chair in the room, to fill the momentous vacancy. A sense of relief is evident on his face. Following this, a wave ripples throughout the line. Everyone takes a few steps ahead and then comes to a stop. Another down, three more to go , I count. The snapping of scissors resumes. The murmur follows suit. My legs ache. I had jogged all the way to the barbershop, after taking a hasty lunch. There, to my dismay, a long queue was already in place. Patiently, I stood at the end. Awaiting my turn, I had spent the past hours shifting my weight from one leg to other, taking se
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #49 | √2 is irrational

-
Image
Back in school, when we were learning about numbers - whole, natural, integers, rational, irrational, and more, there used to be a mathematical question. Prove that √2 is irrational. I found it very amusing when the teacher announced to the class, the first step of the proof. Assume that √2 is rational. Then came the second step, the mandatory condition that every rational number followed, i.e., it can be written in the form of p/q, in which p and q are co-prime integers and q is not equal to zero. So on went the next steps which I have no recollection of, but in the end, we ended up proving that √2 is irrational. What I am trying to say is that in life, it is the same with people. We often meet people who don't come across as rational beings given their first impression. But we shouldn't carry on with that. Try the other route. Why not, to begin with, we can assume even the most irrational people as rational only. Then follow the steps to find if our starting assumption was va
Read more