Musings

The title may seem to be misleading, especially given the fact that many parts of India are busy dividing themselves over local languages! But this is what I have been musing over the past few days. Having lived in many parts (regions) of our country, there are strong similarities as well as striking differences. One of the most stark differences is what I would like to pen down in this piece.  Being a part of 'seva dal' - volunteer from Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, I take part in some seva work on and off and can see societies across our country, albeit in a small way. One thing that stands out is the way elders (parents, grandparents, general older people) are taken care by the North Indians over the other parts of the country, especially South. I find that elders are taken care of by their own children in North India much more than in the South of India. My feeling is also backed by the fact that, overall, there are fewer old-age homes and retirement communities in Nort...

The welcome in to my office parking lot every morning would be very warm. As I park my car a familiar hand would wave from far “Good morning Madam”. Smiling at him and also acknowledging my good luck I would think “What a nice cleaner guy, every morning without fail greeting me inspite of me not availing his service”. After several months I decided to employ him to clean our car. Needless to say he was elated to hear my decision. “Sure Madam, I will clean your car every day except weekends”. Happy that I finally had someone to clean it regularly unlike the previous one at home who appeared at his will, I agreed to the “no cleaning on weekend” condition. “Madam, I will start from Monday but I need advance”, was his next statement. It was like a thunderbolt for me, paying advance for something which had not even started. “Yes, people here leave jobs and go off without paying me so I have started taking full advance”. Wow! I thought this is planning, risk mitigation at it’s best. Wondered...