Perspective B

About two things that I happened to notice…

One
My workplace is on the eleventh floor of my office building. Therefore the lift is an integral part of our daily routine. The lifts here have these operator guys who are inside these boxes for hours together doing a pretty mundane job. I wonder how they manage it, because we the ‘elite techies’ get frustrated if the lift stops at more than one intermediate floor. It must be such a frustrating and thankless job that they are doing.

Then I started noticing Gayathri (my colleague, classmate, friend and ‘G’ on this blog) say ‘Thank you’ each time she got out of the lift. I didn’t think much about it then, but the other day after giving it some thought I realized the value of such a simple statement. It would make their day so much better. The power of one simple gesture! I have had differences with her attitude, with her behaviour many a time, but I admire her for all these little things she does :) And now I know why every time she gets in the lift, the operator always knows to press the 11th Floor button without her telling him and why that seldom happens to me. A small lesson in inter-personal relationships…

Two
The other day, my friend Ranjith got a call from one of our mutual friends. They had not spoken for a very long time and she said that age old excuse – ‘Was so busy, didn’t get the time’. Then he said something back that struck me then and there. ‘You can’t spare five minutes of your time for a friend? That’s the worst response to that’. It really is when you come to think of it. Aren’t your friends worth atleast 5 minutes of your time? If they are not well there’s trouble. He may have said that just for the sake of responding. But it did make me think a lot. Staying in touch is a virtue difficult to attain and I believe if you manage to do it, it is the armour to have against the bumps on the road in your life. You never know… sometimes the person whom you least expect to, would be the only one there for you. So its always better to keep the numbers high :)

, Tags:
Posted by Anoop Sankar
  • G

    :) As to differences they have to be there right? Variety is after all the spice of life. ;)

  • Anoop

    Off course! If everybody is perfect in everybody’s perspective, what’s the fun in life then.. :D

  • Anu

    @VK –> Simple post!! ….Subtle gestures ==> BIG difference in someone’s life…!
    @G –> :) Midukku..njan padipichu thanna kaaryangalonum nee maranitilla alle… :)

  • Ginu

    I can’t agree more! I thought we learned ‘a bit’ of good manners from Germany, but it was Ms. G who opened my eyes to that little bit of politeness and gratitude (I guess we couldn’t learn that in Germany because the Germans can’t afford lift boys ;) ). And yes, it really makes a difference. You somehow do get a VIP treatment for the 40 seconds you are inside that box with them.

    There was actually one lift boy whom I had become ‘friends’ with… We didn’t use to talk much because of the ‘language barrier’, but a smile was enough (One afternoon I asked him if he had had his lunch and then onwards he used to ask me the exact same thing whenever I got in the lift – be it 9 in the morning or 9 at night! :) ). And yes, the automatic 11th floor button press somehow does good to your ego too.. But haven’t seen him for a while now… Made me realize that I should have at least asked for his name. I could have at least checked with the others whether he got a better job somewhere.
    You meet a person and the first thing you’d normally do is to ask for his name. I can’t comprehend why we (including your’s truly) don’t do the same with these guys. :(

  • Jiya

    Perspective 1… Kudos to Gayu! n to Ginu! :) Good to know that we aint totally mechanical yet…
    Perspective 2 hit a chord somewhere… Somehow I feel pangs of guilt… :(
    I wish someone would invent a gadget that automatically lets someone know when we think of them..
    Well on second thoughts, I do not support that idea cuz then some people might lose the little bit of peace they may possess right now… Its a mad mad world… myself included…. sigh….

  • Anoop

    @Anu – mmm.. mmm.. ;)
    @Ginu – I think he’s still there. He asked me today “ootta aayitha?” and asked me how to say that in Malayalam hehe..
    @Jiya – Welcome back! That gadget has already been invented.. around a 100 years ago… its called the “Telephone” hehe.. just that its not automatic (yet!)