'The joy of experience!'
"Fredrick Douglas in his autobiography, 'Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, An American Slave'' says, "Knowledge is valuable because it is the key to freedom..." Centuries later, under very different circumstances, I would like to emphasise that one of the most reliable and key contributors to knowledge is experience..." said the speaker in his long and eloquent speech. I was invited to the annual day of a prominent company in Bengaluru. It was a well organised function with beautifully decorated halls studded with eminent personalities and top shelf wine to raise a toast. Almost picture perfect!
It was that time of the day when the sun kissed the horizon for the second time and the tired faces showed the efforts being put in by the listeners to keep their eyes from shutting.
"The more you explore, the more you learn. Never stop yourself from taking the next step as you are always meant to be more. Experience is the bridge between classroom learning and skill acquisition..." he continued for the next 20 minutes. Fine words for the occasion, however, not the best time to be distributing the deepest of 'Gyan', I thought.
And above all, little did I know that his words would impact my life on such a scale in the near future.
Post the session, I had a short chat with the speaker, posed for a couple of photos and sneaked out of the hall with a huge sigh of relief. I had played my part well and my presence was evident wherever required. "A job well done", I thought.
Normally, I love socialising. It leads to exchange of ideas and thereby opening up avenues for learning. But, I generally shy away from pomp and grandeur as too much exposure to it sometimes makes me uncomfortable.
It was a long way back and I was in no hurry. So, I decided that the ever faithful BMTC would be my best bet at reaching my destination without a hazzle. The calm and cool breeze hitting my face as I made myself conformable on a window side seat would set the tone for a pleasant evening I thought.
Once in the bus, I didn't even bother searching for a seat, considering the rush my co- passengers were in. The bus was so packed that when one of the passengers accidentally stepped on my right foot in a haste to make himself comfortable, I raised it from the ground reflexively. The very next moment I found myself playing hopscotch, desperately searching for some place to land my foot. There was one instance, when a man, nearly 6-feet in height, weighing an easy 120 kilograms, stomped ahead towards a vacant seat in such a hurry that I was almost thrown off my feet in the other direction. For a second, I felt like a bull from San Fermin had somehow managed to get into the bus, hooked me in its horns and was vigourously swinging me in all directions.
It is at that very moment I realised the importance of the words of my professor, who would end every year with the same speech...
"Listen to me carefully students...for this is about your life" he would start. "As youngsters, you need to shine in a rather competitive world, a world that will trample on you in case you lack the will to fight... So, fight on until fate decides otherwise" he would say with his hands waving in the air like a magician.
As soon as I was scooped off my feet, I realised that competition for a seat in the bus was also in the mix.
Cursing my fate, I managed to regain my hopscotch stance, when by God's grace, a passenger next to me, seated comfortably with his sling bag resting majestically on his lap, found a long lost friend waving at him from the sidewalk. I sensed the overflow of emotions on his face as he immediately jumped on his feet and waved to the ticket collector to stop the bus. I couldn't believe my luck and grabbed on to that seat as quickly as I could, before starting to thank all my good stars for their help. As soon I had reach a quarter of the star count, an elderly man, somewhere in his sixties, with a hearing aid dangling from his left ear, tapped on my shoulder. An indirect gesture meaning, "Boy! Me first..."
The dialogue, "Yeh kismat badi kuthi cheez hai... Saali kabi bhi palat jaathi hai!" from ShahRukh Khan's Happy New Year played on repeat in my head, until the old man made himself comfortable with a beaming smile.
By now my stamina was on it's last legs and my brain was fighting sleep with all its reserves. Was it the heat of summer draining me out or the stress of a long day at work, I was not sure.
"I have had enough for the day..." I thought with a minor grin on my face. But, fate sniggered back as if indicating that it was not done with me yet.
Around half a mile from Shivajinagar bus stand, our bus gave its first indication of a breakdown, a jerk with the loud rumbling of the engine. "No, not now please..." I prayed.
The driver managed to keep the engine running and took some time to stabilize the diesel flow before the bus started moving again. For a moment, it felt like my energy levels, quickly on its way to the rock bottom and the engine of the bus, trying hard to keep its pistons running, had somehow managed to strike a bargain with each other. Both seemed to have an understanding as to keep the other going until the last ounce of strength was drained. It was a test of their endurance and felt like they were both motivating each other to do one better. Considering my impressive power of persuasion, it was definitely my stamina that was working harder in the partnership, not letting the engine yield, lest it had to do the laborious work of taking me home all by itself.
The bus moved at an agonising pace for the next few minutes. By the time the bus reached the next stop, the engine was already gasping for its last breath and it was visible that the health of the engine had worsened beyond the emergency CPR levels. With a second rumble and a loud gut wrenching thud, it breathed it's last.
The partnership had not yielded the desired results. Every cell in my body mourned the loss of its partner, mainly because it had to get it's metabolism running on full steam now. We were still a long way from home.
It appeared as if the universe was also saddened by the engine failure and had decided to express it's sorrow in the form of thundershowers. Dark clouds were all set to clash and burst into raindrops. Flashes of lightning looked beautiful against the dark sky but didn't help my situation one bit.
I stood on the sidewalk second guessing my decision to take the bus. My strong reliability on BMTC had vanished in thin air within a snap. People around me were desperately waving their hands at every autorickshaw passing by, eagerly wanting to reach their homes before the big black cloud above us decided to burst.
Behold the sight as I stood with an impassive face, keenly observing every spherical shaped raindrop falling from the sky as it split into a hundred droplets after hitting the surface, still wondering if this experience counted as a key component of my knowledge basket?
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