For a long time, I've been surrounded by relatives and “family friends”. And curious ones at that. They were always keen on knowing what I was doing, where I was going, etc. It never seemed to occur to them that I could use some privacy. They were constantly at my shoulders. In addition to being nosy, they also kept driving me to insanity by asking me all sorts of favours, and pestering me to call them every week and listen to their drab stories and have futile conversations which involved gossip I couldn’t care less for.
And then, the inevitable happened. I decided that once I started to make my own living, I would seek isolation; I would go someplace where none of these fools could find me. But in view of the events of the last few days, I might have to reconsider my plans.
Friday, April 15th. I’m supposed to get my passport renewed. I go to this place called “Shastri Bhavan”, where all things passport related are taken care of. After what seemed like eternity (forgive the superfluous use of hackneyed lines), I was allowed to meet the person who does the job. Unfortunately, since I became a major last year, I would have to obtain a “Verification Certificate”, verifying that the minor me and the major me is the same person minus the age difference. This certificate ought to bear the seal of high-ranking government officials, people like the deputy secretary to the government of India or the State’s government, my district’s magistrate, or the Inspector General of police. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for my dad’s contacts. He knew one of the secretaries to the State.
I can’t imagine how someone who doesn’t know enough people can survive in this world. I thought I could, but now I’m not so sure about it. Does that mean I can’t ever live in utter isolation? I damn sure hope not.
P.S: Does the purple background hurt the eye? I've meddled a lot with the template...
Ranting Human, I feel the same way. There sure seem to be a lot of people that are our "friends," yet when I think about it, what purpose do they serve? These people you speak of, maybe they are co-dependant on people and things? That's what I think. They are so obsessed with being "with it" that they need to know everything about everyone. They are the type that call you on your cell phone (if you have one - I just got rid of mine - huge relief!) and ask you what you are doing. Then you say "Uh ... I'm walking to the parking lot..." Then they try to turn that into a conversation!
ReplyDeleteWell, that's this one's opinion on the matter.