Absent Mindedness
Unconventional Connections: Navigating Social Norms Through Suresh Sangwan’s Perspective.
People say I am arrogant because I don’t greet people standing or walking on the road. I don’t inquire about their well-being, nor do I recognise them. I ignore them as if they are invisible. Once, while going to the chemistry practical lab, the chemistry professor met me at the lab gate and said, ‘Suresh Sangwan, come here.’ There were other classmates of mine standing in front of him. He said, ‘She greets them when she feels like it, and when she doesn’t, she doesn’t greet them.’
Oh my God!!! I thought, when did this happen?
I have never done such a thing. This thought kept bothering me for a while, and I couldn’t understand it. But when I looked back at my past days, I realized that it had happened before. I remember an incident where I narrowly escaped a dangerous situation.”
I was in 7th grade, doing my math homework. My mom had to go to the market, so she said, “I’m heading out. I’ve placed dal in the pressure cooker. Turn it off after 3 whistles.”
“I replied, “Alright, got it!” Then I thought of sitting in the kitchen to do my homework. I asked myself, “Why not sit here and work on math problems while the dal (pulses ) is cooking?”
With a pen and my mind buzzing with numbers, I delved into triangles and equations. The fascinating puzzles captured my attention, and I lost track of time. Amidst my mathematical expedition, the kitchen became my sanctuary of learning.
So, I sat in the kitchen, not knowing whether I’d hear the cooker’s whistles from that room. Thinking I was being clever, I began solving exciting problems related to Pythagoras’ theorem. I didn’t know when the first whistle or the second one followed, and so on … I wonder how many whistles roared.
But what happened next was alarming. Suddenly, there was a blast, and the pressure cooker exploded, hitting the ceiling. The kitchen was chaotic, and the neighbourhood gathered to see what had happened. Fortunately, no one was injured. I got scared and started crying.
Everyone tried to console me and made me understand that I shouldn’t be entrusted with such tasks while studying.
When I study, I become so absorbed that I don’t hear anything happening around me. This isn’t just a one-time occurrence; it has happened before, and I recently realized it happened again. It’s a situation where I get lost in my thoughts and fail to recognize even my family members.
They advised me not to be given such tasks anymore. From then on, everyone who knew about the incident said I shouldn’t be assigned such responsibilities.
While studying, I get completely absorbed in my studies, not hearing anything around me.
This has happened several times before and still happens today.
Once, there was an incident where my children were coming home, and I was lost in my thoughts while shopping in the market, deciding what and how much to buy, etc.
My kids called out loudly, “Mom, Mom,” and stood right before me, and then I realized they were my own children. I smiled and thought, “Oh my God, what’s wrong with me.”
Such is the enigma of human perceptions, and I pondered the mystery of my behaviour. Perhaps, lost in thought, I need to look into the magic of simple greetings. But worry not, for this tale serves as a reminder to sprinkle some warm hellos and heartfelt smiles in the colourful tapestry of everyday life!
For more stories.. https://medium.com/@sureshsangwan
