Rhythms of Life

05 Dec

Posted by Arun bhai as General

In the claustrophobic confines of an underground train, heavenly music
fills my ear canals. Feet rhythmically tapping to those familiar
pulsating beats. Fingers playing a salsa to the playful guitar
strings. Lips curled to a blissful smile. I’m in a cocoon of
music. Creating a small discontinuity from the surrounding space, a
familiar microcosm from hundreds of miles across has suddenly
surrounded me.

There must be, of course, a quiet rumble of the train outside. An odd
stranger’s lips are also moving without a sound. But most of them are
in a trance in their own cocoons. Sporting earphones with the classic
white wires or simple black ones or sometimes ridiculously large
headphones; they can be easily spotted. Mine is a white one. Easily
mistaken to be an iPod, but it is in fact a Creative Micro
Zen. Nicknamed him ‘Rave’, less technical and much less mouthful. My
sole companion for routine soulless commuting. A chore that occupies
about one and a half hours of mine everyday. I prefer music to
reading. Reading is engaging, but music is both engaging and
uplifting. I have come to terms with the weird disorientation I had
blogged about earlier. Now, I revel and relish in the pleasure of my
musical cocoon.

Unlike well planned officers-goers with a fixed commuting schedule, I
have travelled to office at different times of the day. Every
time-slot brings up a different set of people. For eg: at the 8:30
slot you will spot the cool-but-busy-business-women, 9:30 slot is for
too-late-to-wait-office-goer, 11:00 slot are for casual slackers. Add
to this varying traffic patterns, school children, helmet wearing
cyclists, road construction workers, windows glass cleaners and the
illusion is complete. To revisit the illusion of that particular slot
one would have to wait for an entire day to pass. That’s London for
you. Never hustle and bustle, never noisy, but a kaleidoscope of life
with diurnal patterns.

Once one gets used to the music-induced deafness, your visual
faculties grow keener and sharper. The familiar sights would now bring
memories and unfurl curious patterns. A study of daily life is more
interesting than it seems. But soon this would be a bore and my mind
would wander to a different idle pursuit. I hate commuting!

They say there is always a calm before a storm. My inactivity in the
blogosphere has worried many and excited some. Unfortunately, ladies
and gentlemen, I’m not going to pull out a bunny from my top hat. My
excuse is the lamest and perhaps most overused one - Been saddled with
work.