By: Sufi Mohammed Hussain
Anytime when we are traveling or sitting idle in a public space and surrounded by people, we want to go ahead and talk to the person next to us out of human curiosity and the basic instinct of communicating. But before we could engage, we are consumed with an idea of what to say and what not to say. We are also concerned about whether that next person will respond to us or feel ‘not so good’ about talking or conversing. We get lost in the story so deep that we lose the moment.
To communicate is the basic nature of human beings. No book can teach a person as much as another person can. Human beings are living books, living stories and living store houses of wisdom. There is a Kashmiri saying “aadam bastan manz che ser basaan” meaning there are secrets hidden beneath human skin. Sometimes a smallest gesture such as greeting another person can make you feel that you should know him or her. It is not important to know the person to initiate a bond of friendship or think about starting some sort of long relationship. Sometimes talking to someone for a little while is what you may feel. Another person may be someone from your workplace, someone you see during your commute, someone you may find in a shopping mall, someone you see on the other side of the road or someone you just saw boarding that bus. It is not always necessary to exchange numbers, to promise to get in touch. It may be a connection for a short while. Not necessarily to network as they say in today’s terminology.
There is yet another breed of people who may not have access to the knowledge as you have, may not be as fortunate as you are, who may feel someone may come and talk to them as they themselves are too shy to do so. You can be of some help over there. If you feel like thanking someone who did a good work and no one went up to say thanks and you felt like the work deserves appreciation, go ahead and thank. If you feel someone needs help, go ahead and provide it, in your own little capacity. If you find someone having difficulty in crossing a road, stop your vehicle and allow him or her to cross it, even if it creates a traffic mess for a moment. Sometimes, you may have to go out and physically hold the hand of another person to help him cross the road, go and do that. Your little gestures can make someone’s day. Offer a glass of water to a delivery boy, handover a fruit to a traffic cop, smile at a soldier, wave at kids, and donate blood to an unknown person.
Do not stay in your head all day long, do not create mountains out of molehills. If you feel like talking, go ahead and talk to anyone not known to you. Be friendly, be happy, spread happiness, we are here for a limited time, live it. Practice it, it is free, and make a habit of talking to strangers every day. A simple hello will also count.
So, if this world has been created for you, you reserve the right to know as many people as you want. In these times when everyone is obsessed with self-recognition, be the one who recognizes and appreciates the unknown, you may be the only one doing that.
The author is an advocate at High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh and can be reached at hussain@xeal.in
