MATTER OF CHOICE


One place where a buzzing city comes to a halt is at a traffic signal. This is one place where people get time to witness a series of events, think, see, observe etc. This is one place where one stops… though for few moments and watches the city passing by.

One Evening, while going back home from office, I was stopped by the blinking red light. Like others, I too took notice of various activities going around. One thing common between all traffic signals, apart from red, orange & green lights, is young kids asking for money; or to be precise – begging. This signal too, being in the heart of the city was no different. When everyone was in a rush to reach home after a long, busy day, these kids’ working hours had just begun during the peak traffic hours. While I was waiting for the signal to go green, one such kid came yawning near my Scooty. Barely eight years old, he was wearing a pair of shorts and a shabby t-shirt on a chilly, January evening. He was adamant on his demand for money, even after my nodding several times in disagreement. Soon, he started hanging on the handle of my two-wheeler. I don’t know why, but I did not stop him from doing that. He took a chance and started fidgeting the red & yellow switches on the handle – one for the horn and another for ignition. As the ignition was off, he was not able to blow the horn, despite repeated efforts.

Soon the signal went green. I started the ignition. No sooner did I do that, the kid started pressing the yellow switch for the horn. Peep… went the horn once, he was delighted. Peep… went the horn twice and he burst into laughter. Once… twice… thriiiiiccccce and he was overjoyed! The last one was so long that people started giving me those look for the ‘mischief’ my horn was playing. Slowly the traffic moved ahead and so did I, leaving the little boy aside.

But, the small incident got me thinking. So what if honking was disturbing, deafening and cacophonic for me and all of us, it was music to the ears of the little boy. Noise, or rather sound is the same, but the way you hear, is a matter of choice!

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