Human Connections in Old-fashioned Ways

Through much of my life in India, local ground transport has meant being in the back of a chauffeur-driven car, cocooned and insular. In recent years, since access to modern communications technologies, weekday mornings were spent immersed in reading the news and evenings in email or on the phone. Not only have I mostly missed the ever-changing microcosm of city life playing out outside my vehicle window, but I have largely missed viewing the daily grind of Mumbai (it really is like no other city and home to a population equal to all of Australia!) passing on the opportunity of a daily ringside view.

I am doing it differently now, in historic Alexandria and the vibrant DC area. For one thing, I’ve decided not to have a car and find there is nothing quite like public transport, to teach you about a new place and its people. I have also decided to refrain from reading or listening to music on my bus or train, opting instead to be conscious and mindful and, yes, curious.

Each day is an adventure on the Metro – It could be a quiet ride into town in a near empty train, or a standing-room-only experience at rush hour. I can freely indulge my interest in people watching: viewing the passengers around me, using little clues to gauge their states of mind and spinning imagined stories about their context and who they might be. I think  most fellow travelers are regular folk, but am conscious of how each must be unique in his or her own way and special to the people in their own unique lives. Above all, I love the eccentricities – be they in attire or footwear or hairstyles – and never tire of these! While there are established rules that govern behavior toward strangers, I will often smile at someone or comment on something extraordinary. I find that even strangers welcome the human overture and it’s as if they were waiting for someone else to start the conversation, for someone else to first step outside the comfort zone…