The one aspect that myself and my co city dwellers have lost in the past few years is the basic instinct of courteousness.....
I remember Madras or Namma Chennai, in the earlier part of this century.. At a time when IT highways and McDonalds and Subways did not exist, pizza was a delicacy , and the largest Mall in Chennai was the Spencer's....when we were able to walk on the roads without getting lost in the heavy rush of automobiles, when the best vegetarian hotel in the whole of Adayar and further south , was the Vasantha Vihar , and when a filter coffee had the warmth of love than fire, and more than anything, when people used to smile at each other..
It was not so long ago, may be a decade and a bit more..I remember waking to MSS and Suprabhaatham, the walks we used to take on the roads of Adayar, the weekly visits to the Padmanabhaswamy and Kapaleeshwar temples and the countless sambar idlies dripping with ghee that we used to eat at Rs.10 each.. When we used to stand in queues patiently without pushing each other or trying to get ahead, and tried to give way to those who had emergencies (except when in Tatkal queues..:) ).. Those days we had enough space for others..
Those were the days when life was simple....
I have seen that Madrasees or Chennaites, including me for that matter , have forgotten to smile these days and lost that extra space , or rather grew selfish and took that for themselves...
I am on the road, the traffic is heavy... And then that indica squeezes in, scraping mine on the side.. I honk and look at him and he shows me one of those nasty fingers.. He doesn't smile, but does he have a cheeky grin ?
The toll plaza is a bottle neck and the hundreds of vehicles with different types and counts of wheels honk and push to get past.. And then that poor guy who got stuck as one of the lanes close.. He tries to request for some space to get through the next one.. Nobody gives way.. I think for a minute, does the same and push through.. Can still remember the look on the hapless guy's face..
Patiently waiting for my turn in the long line at the coffee shop.. Couple of smartly dressed dudes and a dudette comes through and directly goes to the counter... " Master.. Naalu tea, moontru coffee.. Randu tea chakkara jaasthi.. Oru Coffee koncham strongaa.. Innoru coffee koncham lightaa..." Apparently he found one of his friends standing in front.. My blood boils while one of them looks at the other fools standing on the long serpentine line , and smiles..
The kids' school sends me a New Year message at midnight on the 31st..
"Wish you a Happy New Year 2014. Please do not forget that the last day to pay the fees for the third term is 10-Jan. Late comers attract a fine and the kids may not be allowed to sit in the class. "
Could have avoided the second part.. My New Year has gone sour at the thought of raising 40k by the next week...
