Tag: society

The unchanging

Pies and bars were his life. Percentages became everyday parlance. And his tallied spreadsheets set him a class apart. It was picture perfect. He was the ideal high school student: teaches doted on him, classmates frowned upon him, and parents spoilt him for love.

Who needed good friends when you could have great grades?

Pies and bars are his life. Percentages… his wife. With tallied statements stacked in the bank, the picture remains perfect. Raises and praises shower on him, as colleagues thank his genius and bosses appreciate his smartness.

Who needs good friends when you can have great toasts?

A new city, a new me

It wasn’t my first time experiencing high rise buildings, gluttonous restaurants, or the comforts of a first world country. But it was my first visit to Chicago, and everything about the city mesmerised me (more on that later).

I landed late in the evening, on the first day of summer.

It rained through the night. And when I, with high spirits and a spring in my step, came to the entrance of my hotel the next morning, it was still raining. And I had no umbrella. Who would’ve expected rains in summer?

That first hurdle taught me to get over it. None of the locals seemed to be bothered by the rain. Some of them had umbrellas, most of them didn’t. Some wore rain coats, some water boots. The common streak between them all—none of them frowned at the rain.

Chicago through the train

That’s when I realised—if I’m to be like a local, I have to be like a local. I hate typical tourism. Hate the tour buses, group photos, selfies, gawking and pointing at tall buildings. I’d rather walk down the streets in silent rumination. You learn so much about a city just by observing what’s what and the way people behave. And so, I pulled up my hood. Appreciating my sensibility to buy a jacket before the trip, I left the hotel while little drops of rain came down on my hood. It wasn’t so bad.

I kept to the sidewalks and walked about half a mile to the train station. I got myself a Ventra card (the Chicago Transit Authority’s ticketing system) and loaded a seven-day pass, and set off to the Loop—the heart of the city. The rest is history. Although I ended up buying an umbrella, for the next few days, I explored the city like a local. Some days it rained, and some days it shone. But with my backpack and public transportation, it felt good to be lost in the right direction.

I felt grown up.

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P.S: The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is great for a traveller. They offer 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day passes which allow you to travel up and down on any train and bus routes unlimited times. It’s super helpful when you’re new in a city and have more chances of missing a stop or getting down at an earlier stop than making it to your destination on time.

 

Let’s forget

Forgetfulness gets a bad reputation.

Of course, loss of memory is a bad thing and no one should say otherwise. However, for the last couple of days, I’ve been fiddling with the idea of mindful forgetfulness.

The more I think about it, the more I feel its validity. When we’re conscious of what we want to forget, we forget memories that aren’t worth clinging to anymore. Like a bitter breakup, an embarrassing presentation at work, an ungrateful argument with family… all those incidents that we wish had never happened will fade away when we choose to forget.

But even as I write that, I know it’s not just about forgetting. Humans don’t forget the bad things so soon. In fact, we sometimes may never forget, letting it rot inside our mind, poisoning our being, and making us more miserable than we deserve to be.

That’s why we should forgive.

We should forgive ourselves for the mistakes we’ve made. And forgive others who’ve wronged us. Because once we forgive, it won’t affect us anymore. When we forgive ourselves for messing up the presentation at work, we set ourselves free of the bitter memory. We’ll work harder next time, and not let the failure hang over our heads as a threat.

This way, we are free from harrowing thoughts, and our lives will fill up with positive energy. With the negativity gone, we’ll have more time and willingness to remember what matters most to us and cherish the small things in life.

Perhaps mindful forgetfulness isn’t so bad after all.

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Thanks for the muse, Kumud Ajmani and #SpiritChat.

High achiever

Wild dreams realised

with each storey created

wild life compromised

_ _ _ _ _ _

Photo: North Pond, Chicago.

Preservation

In sanctuaries

for the forgotten, dying

plants, of humanland

— — —

Photo: The Garfield Park, Chicago.