"The Bearded Office Goer"

DAY - Tuesday
Weather - Rainy
Status - 2 weeks in a new job, late for office by an hour.
Location - Mumbai

(Kharghar Station)
Struggliing with the crowd, I managed to find my spot at the door of local train while my friend is pushed inwards . Generally, I do not prefer standing at the door but I had to deboard at the very next station so I avoided sliding in with the crowd. The train gathered pace as I heard my fellow door traveller instruct me(I'll call him Uncle Sam):
Uncle Sam - (Harshly)Go In. This door is only for 4 people to stand at a time.
(Oh, now I realised that we were 5 of us standing at the door and also I was enlightened to know the new rule of railways!)
Me- Arrey Uncle, 5 minute ka rasta hai. Belapur me utar jaunga.
U.S - This is the problem with your generation.
Me. - Uncle, take a chill pill. Ye garam hone vali baat nahi hai.
U.S - I'll not take a chill pill. Your generation does not understand the inconvenience of  others and take things very lightly. Thats why you render jobless and unemployed.
(I was amazed at the transformation of the topic, meanwhile my friend who is in the same train shouts from behind:)
"He has a job. A very good job."
Me - Yes. I got a job immediately at campus placements.
U.S -  O.K, now i understand what type of college you must have gone through. They did not teach you basic ettiquettes.
(Now was the time I thought to keep mum and let Mr. Frustrated Uncle Sam burn red with anger and rage over younger generation.)
(And moreover I could not argue about the ettiquettes taught in my college.:p.It would have proved a backfire as NIFT holds a reputation of a disciplined college in the locality of Navi Mumbai<sarcasm>.)
After around a silence of 15 seconds, as the train approaches Belapur station, Uncle Sam starts cribbing again
U.S - kuch nahi ho sakta.
Me - <Ignore>
U.S - I am the training head of ............so and so institute
Me - Uncle I dont care. Stop cribbing now.
U.S - I am the training head. I can read people just by looking at them.
Me -<sarcastic smile>, You know what, uncle I am just 22 and even I can read people just by looking at them.
U.S - I can guarantee that you are jobless. Who goes to the office with a grown beard.
Me - ................................
(Belapur station)

As i deboard the train, following lines by Julian Barnes strike my head:

"One of the differences between youth and age: when we are young, we invent different futures for ourselves; when we are old, we invent different pasts for others."



We live in a country where 70% of population is said to be youth.Especially, we live in an age which saw transitions like a moving train, welcoming every newcomer and waving byes as the new newcomer replaces the old newcomer! We've seen the transition in education system. We've seen the rise of professional education. We've seen private institutions pop up like mushrooms in the rain. We've seen the millennium.

"We" here is the generation "Y". The generation born in 80s and 90s. But what about a generation prior to that.  Like us, they also have  experienced the transitions in day to day life, rather they have witnessed the transition from "Radio to DTH", whereas we were born in the age of chandrakanta and shaktimaan.

But, as observed(by me), we easily adapted ourselves to daily transitions at a good pace whereas the older generation found it hard to, thus creating a generation gap. This generation gap can create misunderstandings, voids, irritation, frustration etc.

I am neither a philosopher, nor a psychologist. I am just a jobless person who catches morning trains to enjoy the wind in his hair.

Khush Raho!