Hurry the %^@k up!!

My indian people really like to hurry. They love to be in a jiffy, love that state of constant activity. They don't particularly like to be in a "slow ride" or "take it easy". I used to think that they are just very impatient but that is clearly not the case. After a rather long and thorough journey today to the center of Old Delhi (to visit the predominantly muslim area of Jama Masjid to eat some delicious mutton) using various transportation modes, I came to a shocking realization about my own desi peeps: Indians love to live life the "hustling" way; (not the same hustle as selling dime bags on the corner) but the state of perpetual motion. It is as if instead of the restless leg syndrome, its just the restless syndrome.

I saw them hurry at every aspect of life: the traffic, buying food from a vendor, at the doctor's, buying fruits, waiting to be seated at a restaurant, finishing a meal, getting anywhere at all, etc etc. You could be eating food at a roadside cart, and people will literally brush you aside with absolutely no hesitation or civic sense whatsoever, and demand that they be served as well. You have not seen overtaking on a one lane road, and you have not seen people demanding the doctor see them quickly and immediately, not because of the condition/sickness they are in, but simply to just be in a hurry. I saw people running in and out of trains as if it was really some sort of amazing race, when the next metro is always 4 minutes away!! I saw people refusing to wait in the waiting area of a restaurant on a couch, and rather choosing to stand and stare about 5 feet from my table, somehow trying to make me uncomfortable, forcing me to surrender the table. I am sick and tired of hearing the phrase "thodi jaldi karna" or "could you hurry a little". And of course since its normal to "be in a hurry" people don't even say the usual "please" in front of it, in a way almost demanding that you hurry.

I just cannot, or rather the American in Me just cannot understand this ridiculous way of going through with life. If there's one thing I learnt, or rather realized, living on the sunny beaches of California, its that one HAS TO live life slowly in order to have the time to appreciate all the little details. You can sort of not just see everything around you, but actually analyze it and then maybe better understand it. I like to stroll , rather than running or even walking through life. Its actually a bit more amusing in back home in India, as you see everyone just zip by you, like busy little ants.