The Unsocial

The guy was riding on his old hawk to the workplace which is about 6 miles. The way people ride and drive in this city is renowned for its haphazard notoriousness.

The guy had worn his regular outfit that usually is barring the dress-code rules in the company he worked for. The guy had headsets on, that didn't cost him much. The typical tech-factory CDAC emblem on his shirt, the MNC-Badge hanging to the waist buckle, and no wrist watch was only emphasizing that he works for a good company and on a computer, and probably as a developer. Developers have already got so many virtual leaches to piss them off.

Though the bicycle was old enough to trash, the guy had religiously loved it for it being his first road-bike ever. If you are in a good physical shape, a bicycle can really be less irritating to ride than a bike in the rush hours of day, simply you being clearly out of the rat race in the traffic.

The guy wasn't a too good a rider at all, occasionally, he would just set off to his home roughly 90 miles away on this bicycle just because he wants to. Traffic does annoy anyone, the guy wasn't an exception. Though he would normally manage to sneak out of the rabble at the traffic signals, desperates honking at the red light, sometimes, very rarely someone, more often an educated illiterate would get to bear his tough looks, or worst case a wrath of bad words for dashing derailleur on his bicycle.

The guy would nod in complete despair and speak to himself, "Didn't they go to school where they teach a Red light is a Stop and a Green is a Go? Honking at the people up front waiting the light to turn Green, doesn't change the light to Green, or does it?"

There are so many situations wherein a Cyclist has given lesser priority over even a pedestrian.

One morning when the guy was riding easy on a reserved bicycle track, came across a fat lady strolling right in the middle of the track. The guy rang the bell so that she gives him a way. But the fat lady had other ideas.

(Translated):

The Fat Lady, "Whats the hurry about? Can't you see I am walking? Is it not now up to us (older citizen she meant, though she didn't look any older than mid-40s) whre to walk?"

The guy tried to explain, "But aunt, this.. <interrupted>.. listen.. <interrupted>.."

Now, that Fat lady would talk a bit louder, such that the guy needed to take his headsets off.

The scene was a good recipe for other older-fitness-enthusiasts to gather around, like the guy had hit the fat lady.

The guy looked at the mob pitifully, grinned and took a stance to explain.

The guy didn't speak much, just pointed at the board that has a Bicycle symbol drawn on it and said, 

"The school where I went in, and the books that my parents made me read when I was a kid, they all taught me with this picture and words 'bicycle' written below it. Hope you all had chance to go to one such basic schooling facility and read similar books. Did it never occur to you all that why would a corporation have pavement reserved to walk and a track reserved for Bicycles only(waving the two fingers to emphasize) where we are standing right now? You guys are mature and old, behave like you are!"

The mob made way for the guy to go, the fat lady was never seen next morning or ever after. The guy would though feel bad for the Fat lady and thought, Why are we so much into the victimized state of mind? We all have handful of things to whine about.

Some other day later, the guy was riding his way to a movie theater. A reputed movie theater can either be a good bird-watching place or can be a place where the crowd tries to behave well and not turn into a rabble, possibly not out of conscience, but out of shame. The crowd we call as public. The guy was never a block to fit in such a crowd, though he would make sure that he has his mind focused on what he is there for, and not on what he should complain about and get irritated by.

The guy and his friends who rode their way to the theater finally bumped into the seats. There was a group of girls, typical college group that he discovered later, who came and took the seats next to guys. These days a few of the theaters follow a thing that after a few minutes of relatively tolerable jewelry ads and health advice, they play our national anthem, which to me is perfectly alright and good-to-have thing. Just when the instructions to stand up in respect were flashed on screen, one of the girls exclaimed, <Translated>

"See, that's why I was asking all of you not to hurry to screen and we had enough time to get us coke and some more chips."

The other girl in total agreement and disappointment said, 

"Yeah, makes sense. I forgot that they play this thing at the beginning, damn, we shouldn't have hurried and instead could have got chips and coke, now we have to wait till the interval."

In the mean time when they were whining about it, the anthem was over and people were taking their seats.

The guy, again in complete despair bumped into the seat and thought, Why are we so irritated to stand for our national anthem and/or being ashamed of doing so? And, then we expect ourselves staying in a better country than our very own. Its not India who made us what we are, its us who make India what it is. The guy grinned again, took a sip of a western beverage, suppressed his thoughts and was lost in the mob..