Sunday, June 10, 2012

Time and Distance


I have to travel a lot for work. Now, before you start getting any ideas, let me clarify, it’s not actually ‘travel’ but rather ‘commute’. Aaah....Boring...absolutely. I had always had to travel, be it school or college and now work. I was quite amused when I met my cousins who used to walk to school, come back for lunch and go back to school again. How can there be a school without the yellow school bus and of course the morning frenzy so that you don’t miss it. Anyways, during school days, you have ample of time to do everything and ‘nothing’. I don’t know whether it was because of the fact that I went to a school far away, but the distance became less of a barrier while making a choice.
But by the time, I started working; there was one thing that had become scarce: Time. To get one, you had to give up the other. But the method of making choices that had got ingrained in me was more difficult to change. And hence in the bargain for something good, I took on the challenge of distance once again. I had done it earlier, so why couldn’t I do it again.
But there was one major difference this time. In between, I had tasted the other side and the wonders of it. And that’s where the struggle began. The most important factor in the time-distance equation is the speed. Considering I do not live in a place where bullet trains run, instead the flyovers are meant for a crawl it was just the start of the misery. Every journey was a torture; and just when I thought that I had found the wonder route, it would turn out to be a mirage.
And then one day I stopped the struggle. I had my reasons for the choice I had made, and finally I embraced the journey as the part of that choice. I still don’t always enjoy it and there are times when I feel like apparating directly home. And yet on some days, I am thankful for this distance because the commute time, not only helps me distance myself physically from my workplace but more crucially mentally so. At the end of a not so great day, the soothing music calms me and makes me forget the troubles of the day and worries of morrow. Sometimes, it is the hidden nuances in the oft repeated classical sequences while sometimes it is the mystery of unknown oldies through the Radio. By the time I am home, no wonder I have a smile on my face.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice post! I am very amused to see that you chose this as the topic and discussed the evolution of the journey and your measures to reduce the torture. Obviously this is torture, but Soothing music can compensate for it. Just relax and reflect and it will give you new reasons to smile.

Unknown said...

Good thoughts Manasi. Just like eating a sweet dish or an ice-cream in a hurry doesn't yield satisfaction; not sparing time with oneself (naturally or forced due to commute) doesn't leave a satisfactory taste in a day's work.

vinay said...

Exactly the kind of thoughts I was having last week when I was traveling everyday for a workshop. I felt good in many ways. It reminded me of my college days, especially, when we used to travel by local trains everyday. And also my office days when I used to travel for hours. That phase of traveling indeed helps separate out the day mentally into the work mode and the non-work mode. And yes music is as good a companion as you can get during these daily push-pulls. Loved the post! :)